Richard's Real Estate Thoughts: August 2008

To kick off the Labor Day weekend in Chattanooga, a large crowd was treated to three swing bands at the Swingfest in Coolidge Park. The largest part of the crowd was college age or younger. Several couples were dressed in prom attire. A wooden dance floor was set up in front of the Coolidge Park stage. When the dance floor filled, dancers poured out into the Coolidge Park field.

The bands all consist of local musicians. Several band members are present or former local high school and middle school band instructors. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has posted some photos of the evening. Here is the newspaper's article covering the event.

The swing music was excellent and the crowd, again mostly younger, enjoyed showing off their dancing talents. Music included Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra and Glen Miller.

 
Swingfest Coolidge Park, swing lessons between bands.

Swinging in Coolidge Park, on the stage dance floor.

Swinging in the Coolidge Park lawn

It was a fun evening, and a great crowd enjoying great music and singing. To top it off we were treated to a public marriage proposal from one of the band members.

BTW, she said yes.

Side, back, rock step. Ladies your part is a little more difficult.

And the dancers danced.

Richard Smith
American Acceptance Mortgage, Inc
Toll Free 888-474-9920 Cell 423-280-0345
Home financing in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.
Experience matters when it is your home loan.

Chattanooga is blessed with an active arts community. A brief walk around almost any part of the city will bring you to a random piece of art. Sometimes the art is surprising. Always it is striking.

One of my favorites is Full Count by John Dreyfuss. Completed in 1990. For a long time the sculpture was in the Aquarium complex. It is now moved to the Hunter Museum Sculpture Garden.

Full Count by John Dreyfuss, in Hunter Museum Sculpture Garden

Full Count by John Dreyfuss, close up of batter, catcher, and umpire

Plaque for Full Count by John Dreyfuss

Other sculpture in Chattanooga includes:
Ascending Path

Richard Smith
American Acceptance Mortgage, Inc
Toll Free 888-474-9920 Cell 423-280-0345
Home financing in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.
Experience matters when it is your home loan.

Ooltewah Real Estate Sales

Real estate sales information about Oolteway, TN. Call for information about qualifying for a conventional, FHA, VA, or Rural Development home loan.

It helps for both buyers and sellers to understand the trends for local areal homes for sale in the local market.

Ooltewah is a located in Hamilton County east of Chattanooga. Its population is approximately 6,000.

Ooltewah is supported by Ooltewah Elementary and Ooltewah Middle School and Ooltewah High School. The school mascot name is the Owls.

The name Ooltewah is from an Indian phrase that means resting place. The Ooltewah High School Marching Band played in the 2007 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The high school music department also has a string orchestra. The softball team won a state championship last spring. Ooltewah also has the Honors Course, one of the top golf courses in the area.

The community website provides excellent information about events, opportunities, the town council, and organizations.

Here are some local information and pictures about Signal Mountain.

The information in the below 5 charts indicates the local residential market trends over the last 12 months.

Chart 1 Average Selling Price and Average Listing Price
The trend of the average sales price and compared with the average listed price of those sold homes. This can give some insight as to how the market is supporting the asking price for listed homes.

Chart 2 Number of new listings and number of sold homes
The trend of number of homes listed and sold. This gives some indication of the balance between selling and buying in the local market.

Chart 3 Number of listings active on the market and average days on the market
The average day that properties have been on the market as well as the total number of properties listed for sale on the date this report was posted.

Chart 4 Average Price of New Listings
The trend of average price for newly listed properties. It gives an indication of the trending in the average price for the local market.

Chart 5 Median List Price to Median Sold Price
The trend of listing and selling prices. It indicates whether a market has declining or increasing values. The median price is the price at which half the homes sell for more and half the homes sell for less.

Would you like to know what payment you qualify for? or How much home you can afford?

Call me at 423-280-0345 or email me . Visit my website for information about purchasing your new home.

We offer excellent first time home buyer financing, as well as FHA, VA, and Rural Development loans. Visit my website to learn about our different home financing programs.

We specialize in new construction financing.

We have numerous lenders that offer a variety of programs that meet the financing needs of higher priced (jumbo loan) homes.

Your home financing goals can be fulfilled at American Acceptance Mortgage.

Richard Smith
American Acceptance Mortgage, Inc
Toll Free 888-474-9920 Cell 423-280-0345
Home financing in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.
Experience matters when it is your home loan.

One of the MSN.com articles over the last few days has been a feature on single mothers impacted by the mortgage crisis. The statistics if accurate are stunning. 

The article reports that single female homebuyers are now 22% of the housing market, up from 14% in 1995. FNMA projections are for that to increase further to 28% by 2010.  This statistic itself does not surprise me.

The article claims, without analysis of credit and other factors, that women with similar incomes are more likely to receive a subprime loans. African American women were even more likely to receive a subprime loan.

Of course, subprime lending no longer exists, but the problems with the loans remain as does the issue of discrimination, if these figures are not misrepresented.

The article states that a consumer survey indicates women were 46% more likely to receive a subprime loan that man with similar incomes. The article does not address other qualification parameters.

Another report from the Urban Institute claimes that 75% of the women facing foreclosure in Washington DC could have qualified for better financing terms. The details about this statistic are vague in the report.

The basic points in the article are that details of subprime adjustable loans were not disclosed and explained, borrowers were given higher rate loan programs when they were qualified for better loan programs, they were not told that they qualified for better terms, in many cases were told lies about their qualifications, and were actually mislead into thinking that they were not qualified, these practices were more common against women in general and African American women in particular.

These statements involve, in my mind, fraud, steering, deceit, and discrimination.

The article quotes the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, ACORN, in claiming that these mortgage loans were conducting with deceipt and fraud.

The article quotes the Consumer Federation of America amd cites a report dated December 2006 on women and subprime lending. This report does seem to attempt to consider credit profile characteristics and to have reviewed over 4 million mortgage transactions.

This is just not my experience. I have fought for too many home buyers to qualify for FHA financing.

I do think a serious problem for several years was the mortgage brokerages that specialized in subprime loans without offering FHA. Many indicated that the borrower could refinance in 2 to 3 years when there was really no way to become qualified for a prime loan in that time.

Chattanooga has an Office of Multi Cultural Affairs. Its focus is to education about housing rights and  to identify discrimination. At one of the meetings, I asked how prevelant discrimination is.

The answer surprised me, that discrimination remains common.

My question is what is your experience with respect to housing discrimination.

Is it common for women or minorities to be directed to certain areas by real estate agents?

Is it common for women or minorities to receive worse loan terms than men with similar qualifications?

Richard Smith
American Acceptance Mortgage, Inc
Toll Free 888-474-9920 Cell 423-280-0345
Home financing in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.
Experience matters when it is your home loan.

Today interest rates ended the week trending upward. This is largely attibuted to a week of mixed economic reports.

Rates are always unpredictable in the short term and in the long term. Their movement is frequently seen by many as completely arbitrary. The general rule is that interest rates move directly in relation to inflation concerns of the bond traders on Wall Street as they react to various economic reports. 

During this week consumer spending slowed and personal income dropped. This movement would tend to slow inflation.

During the week Gross Domestic Product for the 2nd quarter was revised significantly upward to 3.3%. This movement tends to increase concerns about inflation.

There were other economic reports this week. Combined they communicate a very mixed picture of the economy. It may be that the reports that indicate inflation have been impacted by the stimulus of the tax rebate. Because of the long weekend and the uncertainty over the direction of the economy, bond prices fell this afternoon. This movement in the bond market pushed mortgage interest rate higher. 

 Economic reports are published throughout the month. Economists for various lenders have expectations about what those numbers will be. Interest rates prior to the report are based on those expectations.

When the report is published, rates typically reflect no change if the numbers are as expected. If the numbers are more inflationary than expected, rates increase. If the numbers are less inflationary than expected, then rates may decrease.

These issues are complex, and it is probably not a good idea for a non professional to rely too much on any particular prediction. My recommendation is always to lock your loan, if the payment is acceptable, rather than risk that increasing rates might make the payment too high. Then the new homeowner can just focus on the preparation for their new home. Rates will likely increase and decrease during the period before the purchase closes.

But it is helpful to understand some of the more important economic reports, and to know when these reports are published.

Employment reports - these reports, non farm payroll and unemployment report, measure employment rates. The report is published on the first Friday each month. Increasing payrolls tend to predict increasing inflation. 

Retail Sales - this report relects consumer spending. Increases are of course inflationary, but several factors can produce volatility that can cause significant revisions later in the month. The report is published around the 13th of each month.

Consumer Price Index - the price of a set of goods and services. This is a well known measure of inflation because it is used to set cost of living adjustments. The CPI is published around the 13th of each month.

Gross Domestic Product - the broadest measure of economic activity. This report is published in the 3rd or 4th week of the month for the previous quarter. In each subsequent month, revisions are published.

There are numerous other reports, each with various levels of importance. My website makes available the Daily Interest Rate Advisory Report, a professionally written and understandable summary of the important economic reports for each day and week. You may subscribe to receive this report weekly or daily.

Richard Smith
American Acceptance Mortgage, Inc
Toll Free 888-474-9920 Cell 423-280-0345
Home financing in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.
Experience matters when it is your home loan.

Chattanooga has over 10 Curves fitness centers for women that provide onsite trainers and anytime access to a full circuit training work out. Ladies can do a 30 minute session at their convenience, as often as they like. The recommended program is 3 times a week.

This week the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce held ribbon cutting ceremonies for two Curves centers - Brainerd and Ooltewah.

The sessions give a full body work out for toning and aerobic exercise. Calorie burnoff can be as high as 500 for a 30 minute session. That is an amazing number of calories for 30 minutes.

The work out philosophy is to exercise a muscle group to exhaustion with a 30 second drill. The 30 second time stops short of the muscle break down that is important for building bulk, and gives the muscles tone and flexibility.



Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting at Curves East Brainerd location.

Each 30 second drill is followed by a 90 second recovery period of jogging in place.

The Brainerd Curves location is under new ownership. Michael Reynolds took in July 2008 and has turned the center around.

In the photo the the right Patty Llewellyn is training a Curves member. Patty is a national trainer who came to help with the open houses.

The Brainerd Curves location is at 8644 East Brainerd Road in the Creek Plantation Village shopping center at the intersection of Morris Hill Rd and East Brainerd Rd, near Hurricane Creek subdivision.

Curves in Ooltewah ribbon cutting.

The Ooltewah Curves location is at 9203 Old Lee Highway, in the Bi-Lo shopping complex. During the ribbon cutting ceremony, several members came to run through their work out. Convenience is one of the best selling features of the Curves program.

Michael Reynolds is also owner of an award winning Great Clips franchise. I will post more on this later.

Congratulations to these two Curves centers. 

Richard Smith
American Acceptance Mortgage, Inc
Toll Free 888-474-9920 Cell 423-280-0345
Home financing in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.
Experience matters when it is your home loan.

Part of the great Chattanooga downtown renaissance involves the development of upscale residences. Walnut Hill Townhomes is one of the newest additions. Mike Moon, Don Moon, and Dale Mabee of the Urban Renaissance Group, LLC, the developers, are building the first units of a townhome neighborhood in downtown Chattanooga.

The goal is to combine the feel of Chattanooga traditional downtown neighborhoods with the best of the rejuvenated urban experience. Home buyers will have walking access to down town, Walnut Street Bridge, the Hunter Art District, some of the finest restaurants, The Tennessee Aquarium and Imax Theater.

Floor plan options include 3 and 4 bedroom and 2 and 3 story units. Many custom features are available.

These townhomes are being constructed in the middle of some other upper end condominium and town home developments. Plans are to expand the current phase with additional units.

Prices start at $615,000.

There are 6 units now under construction and 3 have been presold so far.

Walnut Hill Townhomes street view

Walnut Hill rear view

Walnut Hills view in the down town neighborhood.

The new townhomes are across from Cherry Street townhomes and next to Museum Bluff View condominiums. More units are planned in the future.

Richard Smith
American Acceptance Mortgage, Inc
Toll Free 888-474-9920 Cell 423-280-0345
Home financing in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.
Experience matters when it is your home loan.

The first of a series of expected mortgagee letters from FHA on their implementation of the new Housing Law came out this afternoon.

FHA has announced the new upfront and monthly mortgage insurance premiums that will replace the existing premiums that were tiered based on credit risk.

The new premiums are the same for all credit levels, but they are higher than the premiums used to be before the tiered MI pricing went into effect on July 14.

Confusing isn't it.

The new upfront mortgage insurance premium is 1.75% for purchase money and all full credit qualifying loans.

For streamline refinance loans (FHA refinance of an FHA loan) the new upfront mortgage insurance premium will be 1.5%.

For FHA Secure the new upfront mortgage insurance premium will be 3%.

Monthly mortgage insurance premiums for 30 year loans will be based on .5% annually for loan to values equal to or under 95% and .55% annually for loan to values over 95%.

These premiums are actually lower than I had feared, so they seem like good news to me.

Here is the announcement for the new premiums.

The determining date for which mortgage insurance premiums are in effect is the case number order date. The new premiums will be used for case numbers ordered on or after October 1, 2008.

This is the first FHA announcement that I have seen. More are expected soon to address implementation guidelines for the other significant changes brought about in the housing law that was signed July 30.

Richard Smith
American Acceptance Mortgage, Inc
Toll Free 888-474-9920 Cell 423-280-0345
Home financing in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.
Experience matters when it is your home loan.

The FDIC has just today finally updated its regulatory watch list, increasing the number of problem banks from 90 to 117. We have been looking for this revision to guage how the industry is moving. The news report I read indicates that the banks added to the list are larger players.

While the number of banks increased from 90 to 117, the combined assets increased brom $26 billion to $78 billion. Additionally, banks have had to set aside more that 4 times the loss provisions than were required in the 2nd quarter last year.

The impacted banks increased the number of troubled banks by 30%. The assets held by the troubled banks more than doubled.

This will impact liquidity for all types of lending.

This annoucement comes with a couple new reports that home prices have fallen by a record amount this quarter, as compared to a year ago.

These reports follow immediately upon the announcement yesterday that home sales have increased.

There were even headlines that the Housing Crisis Over? July Sales Spike. A closer read of the actual article by Alan Zibel shows that much of the increased sales was bargain priced foreclosures, and that actual housing inventory has increased to record levels.

Combining this with the loss of programs, and the imminent ban on seller funded down payment with FHA loans, and prices must drop. There are just not enough buyers.

I hope that those in charge are paying attention and can put these numbers together.

Richard Smith
American Acceptance Mortgage, Inc
Toll Free 888-474-9920 Cell 423-280-0345
Home financing in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.
Experience matters when it is your home loan.

The Southern Belle is Chattanooga's feature river boat. It has 3 decks, dining, dancing, and wonderful views. You can be down at river level or high on the open upper deck. Day trips and night trips offer different perspectives of the Tennessee River, each beautiful.

This afternoon my wife and I joined a group of Riverbend Festival volunteers for a luncheon cruise. One of the many benefits of volunteering to help with the Riverbend Festival.

We traveled up and down the river, with views of Coolidge Park, the Hunter Museum, and the Tennessee Aquarium. The weather was cloudy but pleasant. The food was good. The entertainment - prizes ( we did not win anything), a DJ and dancing, the Tennessee River, and my wife - was excellent.

 
Captain Ron Robertson of the Southern Belle

 
21st Century WaterPark from the Southern Belle

Tennessee Aquarium seen from the Southern Belle.

Richard Smith
American Acceptance Mortgage, Inc
Toll Free 888-474-9920 Cell 423-280-0345
Home financing in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.
Experience matters when it is your home loan.