Local Lake Havasu City eateries are now promoting patriot packages.  Red Robin owner, Dante Marinelli, is one of the organizers for Patriot Days in Lake Havasu City who is partnering with Operation Gratitude.  Operation Gratitude is a nonprofit organization that sends care packages to soldiers for the holidays. 

This year’s Patriot Days will be a ten day celebration of patriotism in Lake Havasu City that is scheduled for September 15 through September 26.  Organizers are expecting over 40,000 people to attend. 

Local restaurants around Lake Havasu City have been challenged to raise enough money to send 20,000 boxes, which will total 60,000 packages in time for the winter holidays.  Many restaurant owners are taking this challenge to heart and doing their part. 

Participating in Lake Havasu City Patriot Days is a great way to show soldiers oversees that you are thinking of them while they defend our country.  The average age of soldiers fighting in today’s wars is 18 to 23 years old.  It’s an age group that still needs our support. 

There are over ten local restaurants in Lake Havasu City that are asking for donations to ship the boxes.  It costs $11 to ship just one box, so none of this money will go to any area restaurant or organizers.

In many cases, the $11 donation is more than the meal patrons are purchasing, but asking for this donation is a risk several restaurants are willing to make.  It goes to show the level of all around commitment that Lake Havasu City has.

So, come out and celebrate during Patriot Days.  It’s one of the more exciting events to be a part of.  The events will be more than fun.

This article originally appeared on the Irvine Housing Blog.

As the economy improves, lenders will start to liquidate their inventory. When they do, the lending cartel will collapse, and prices will get pushed lower.

No time wasted, smile on your face
Gotta get out, out of this place
And I’ll lend a helping hand
Cause we got it now, we got it good

Cartel — In No Hurry

Cartel Behavior

Despite the huge backlog of inventory of both bank-owned properties and shadow inventory, the banks are in no hurry to liquidate. It is classic cartel behavior.

When OPEC first formed, a group of oil producers had an idea: if they all agreed to restrict production, it will drive up prices and make them all rich. When they first put their plan into motion in the 1970s, it worked. The member countries curbed production, and prices went up. Once prices were high, each member country had incentive to cheat to obtain more income at the higher price, so the cartel weakened, and many argue it has little or no power today.

Similarly, the heads of all the major lenders today are like minded: they all agree that processing foreclosures into a weak job market will lower prices and reduce the value of their holdings. They all came to this conclusion in 2008, and during 2008 and 2009, they stopped processing foreclosures and restricted the inventory on the market to keep prices high, and it worked.

As the economy pulls out of this recession, each of the members of the banking cartel will change their opinions about the economy and the market. Some will evaluate their procedures and determine changes are in order, and some will evaluate the amount of inventory they must chew through and determine they better get going or they will own real estate for the next 20 years.

The 2:00 problem

Years ago I attended a seminar where the speaker was Kevin Haggerty, 7-year head of trading at Fidelity Capital Markets. He described what is known as the 2:00 problem.

When mutual fund managers want to buy or sell stock, they call the trading desk and place an order. Since these orders are often very large, it may take quite some time to get their orders filled. Let’s say the trader was asked to fill a 100,000 share order, and at 2:00 he has only accumulated 60,000 shares. He informs the head of trading who calls the fund manager. The fund manager has to make a choice: (1) either wait and get the order filled tomorrow, or (2) have the trader fill the order regardless of what it does to the stock price. Filling a large order at the market can cause a major change in price.

The banks have a 2:00 problem… almost. It is only 12:00 in their world. They have only filled a tiny fraction of their original, market-clearing order, and they feel no urgency to fill the order through lowering price… yet.

Two o’clock is coming. When the economy starts to recover, banks will get pressure from regulators and stockholders to clean up the mess on their books. Lenders are not synchronized, and each one will hit 2:00 at a different time. The volume necessary to clear the garbage is simply not going to happen at current price levels. The price-income mismatch makes that impossible. At some point, the pressure to liquidate will force them to impact the market.

Procrastination on Foreclosures, Now ‘Blatant,’ May Backfire

American Banker | Friday, August 27, 2010

By Jeff Horwitz and Kate Berry

Ever since the housing collapse began, market seers have warned of a coming wave of foreclosures that would make the already heightened activity look like a trickle.

The dam would break when moratoriums ended, teaser rates expired, modifications failed and banks finally trained the army of specialists needed to process the volume.

But the flood hasn’t happened. The simple reason is that servicers are not initiating or processing foreclosures at the pace they could be.

It really is that simple. I see uninformed shills write that there is no shadow inventory and other nonsense that realtors tell their customers to dupe them into a false sense of security. The fact is that shadow inventory does exist. It is very large, and eventually banks are going to have to liquidate this inventory. This liquidation will be the collapse of a cartel and may not be the orderly flow they are hoping for.

By postponing the date at which they lock in losses, banks and other investors positioned themselves to benefit from the slow mending of the real estate market. But now industry executives are questioning whether delaying foreclosures — a strategy contrary to the industry adage that “the first loss is the best loss” — is about to backfire. With home prices expected to fall as much as 10% further, the refusal to foreclose quickly on and sell distressed homes at inventory-clearing prices may be contributing to the stall of the overall market seen in July sales data. It also may increase the likelihood of more strategic defaults.

I have pointed out on many occasions that lender policy is encouraging strategic defaults.

It is becoming harder to blame legal or logistical bottlenecks, foreclosure analysts said.

“All the excuses have been used up. This is blatant,” said Sean O’Toole, CEO of ForeclosureRadar.com, a Discovery Bay, Calif., company that has been documenting the slowdown in Western markets.

Banks have filed fewer notices of default so far this year in California, the nation’s biggest real estate market, than they did 2009 or 2008, according to data gathered by the company. Foreclosure default notices are now at their lowest level since the second quarter of 2007, when the percentage of seriously delinquent loans in the state was one-sixth what it is now.

Let that sink in: banks have six times as many delinquent borrowers, but they are foreclosing on less of them. What do they expect to do with all these squatters?

New data from LPS Applied Analytics in Jacksonville, Fla., suggests that the backlog is no longer worsening nationally — but foreclosures are not at the levels needed to clear existing inventory.

The simple explanation is that banks are averse to realizing losses on foreclosures, experts said.

“We can’t have 11% of Californians delinquent and so few foreclosures if regulators are actually forcing banks to clean assets off their books,” O’Toole said.

Officially, of course, this problem shouldn’t exist. Accounting rules mandate that banks set aside reserves covering the full amount of their anticipated losses on nonperforming loans, so sales should do no additional harm to balance sheets.

Within the last two quarters, many companies have even begun taking reserve releases based on more bullish assumptions about the value of distressed properties.

That is mark-to-fantasy accounting. The banks are using bullish assumptions that can’t possibly come to pass given the huge inventory that must be liquidated.

Now there is widespread reluctance to test those valuations, an indication that banks either fear they have insufficient or are gambling for a broad housing recovery that experts increasingly say is not coming.

Banks did not choose the strategy on their own.

With the exception of a spike in foreclosure activity that peaked in early-to-mid 2009, after various industry and government moratoriums ended and the Treasury Department released guidelines for the Home Affordable Modification Program, no stage of the process has returned to pre-September 2008 levels. That is when the Treasury unveiled the Troubled Asset Relief Program and promised to help financial institutions avoid liquidating assets at panic-driven prices. The Financial Accounting Standards Board and other authorities followed suit with fair-value dispensations.

These changes made it easier to avoid fire-sale marks — and less attractive to foreclose on bad assets and unload them at market clearing prices. In California, ForeclosureRadar data shows, the volume of foreclosure filings has never returned to the levels they had reached before government intervention gave servicers breathing room.

Some servicing executives acknowledged that stalling on foreclosures will cause worse pain in the future — and that the reckoning may be almost here.

“The industry as a whole got into a panic mode and was worried about all these loans going into foreclosure and driving prices down, so they got all these programs, started Hamp and internal mods and short sales,” said John Marecki, vice president of East Coast foreclosure operations for Prommis Solutions, an Atlanta company that provides foreclosure processing services. Until recently, he was senior vice president of default administration at Flagstar Bank in Troy, Mich. “Now they’re looking at this, how they held off and they’re getting to the point where maybe they made a mistake in that realm.”

Did you catch that? That is the beginning of the end for the lending cartel. Once they lose their like-minded action, once some of the cartel members begin to liquidate, prices will fall, and the cartel will crumble.

Moreover, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have increased foreclosures in the past two months on borrowers that failed to get permanent loan modifications from the government, according to data from LPS. If the government-sponsored enterprises’ share of foreclosures is increasing, that implies foreclosure activity by other market participants is even less robust than the aggregate.

“The math doesn’t bode well for what is ultimately going to occur on the real estate market,” said Herb Blecher, a vice president at LPS. “You start asking yourself the question when you look at these numbers whether we are fixing the problem or delaying the inevitable.”

I am amazed that anyone involved really thought the bailouts and false hopes would actually solve this problem. There was never any chance. Those programs were obviously delaying the inevitable.

Blecher said the increase in foreclosure starts by the GSEs “is nowhere near” what is needed to clear through the shadow inventory of 4.5 million loans that were 90 days delinquent or in foreclosure as of July 31.

LPS nationwide data on foreclosure starts reflects the holdup: Though the GSEs have gotten faster since the first quarter, portfolio and private investors have actually slowed.

“What we’re seeing is things are starting to move through the system but the inflows and outflows are not clearing the inventory yet,” he said.

I find it surprising that the government is actually leading the collapse of the cartel. Don’t be surprised if the GSEs stop their foreclosure activity under pressure from banking interests that would rather see us become Japan than see themselves forced out of business.

Delayed foreclosures might be good news for delinquent borrowers, but it comes at a high price.

Stagnant foreclosures likely contributed to the abysmal July home sales, since banks are putting fewer homes for sale at market-clearing prices.

Moreover, Freddie says a good 14% of homes that are seriously delinquent are vacant. In such circumstances, eventual recovery values rapidly deteriorate.

Defaulted borrowers were spending an average of 469 days in their home after ceasing to make payments as of July 31, so the financial attraction of strategic defaults increases.

One possible way banks are dealing with that last threat is through what O’Toole calls “foreclosure roulette,” in which banks maintain a large pool of borrowers in foreclosure but foreclose on a small number at random.

O’Toole said the resulting confusion would make it harder for borrowers to evaluate the costs and benefits of defaulting and fan fears that foreclosure was imminent.

For as cold as Sean’s idea is, it would probably be effective. Random violence is an effective method of generating terror, and what Sean is suggesting is that lenders become terrorists.

Is that what this has devolved into? Are lenders going to resort to terrorist tactics to compel people to pay for lender’s stupid lending mistakes? Are we going to allow lenders to do this? When will the government act for us rather than for the lenders?

The idea that lenders could and would do this makes me want to see them die.

California now enters September with no budget in place and a $19 billion budget deficit.  As we edge closer to issuing coveted IOUs, the spin cycle is out in full force.  A report was issued showing that CEOs at the 50 firms that laid off the most workers since the recession started earned an average of $12 million.  I guess the recovery will depend on who you are asking.  Here in California, looking at income data is a good indicator on how the “rest of us” are doing.  The state of California depends heavily on personal income taxes.  Nearly half the state budget revenue comes from this one source alone.  Common sense would tell you that if more people were working, personal income tax collections would be up.  That is not the case.  You would also expect hiring to pick up and this is something California is not seeing either (with a 23 percent underemployment rate).  The definition of recovery has gotten muddled in this deep recession, the deepest since the Great Depression.

Let us look at 10 charts and try to examine what they mean for the future of California.

Chart 1 – Unemployment Insurance

See the rest…

A Dream House After All – Karl Case (of Case-Shiller), NYT

But for people with a more realistic version of the American dream, buying a house now can make a lot of sense. Think of it as an investment. The return or yield on that investment comes in two forms. First, it provides what is called “net imputed rent from owner-occupied housing.” You live in the house and so it provides you with a real flow of valuable services. This part of the yield is counted as part of national income by the Commerce Department. It is the equivalent of about a 6 percent return on your investment after maintenance and repair, and it is constant over time in real terms. Consider it this way: when Enron went belly up, shareholders ended up with nothing, but when the housing market drops, homeowners still have a house. And this benefit is tax-free.

Why houses are like dishwashers – Felix Salmon Deconstructing Karl Case

Essentially, what Case is saying here is that once you own a house, you’re guaranteed to be able to live there as long as you like, and that guarantee has real value. If what you want from any investment is an annuity — the ability to get constant real value out of it indefinitely — then in that sense a house is an investment. But that’s emphatically not the same as thinking of a house as an investment in a mark-to-market sense of how much you could sell it for.

Case is a long-term bull on housing: “sooner or later”, he says, prices will rise. Well, yes. But if it’s later rather than sooner, and if they fall a lot from current levels before they start rising, then you might not take much solace in the fact that you’re still getting the same kind of value out of your home that you’re getting out of any other durable good.

Mapping Troubled Housing Markets – Richard Florida

The first map above, prepared by Zara Matheson of the Martin Prosperity Institute based on data from Core Logic, shows the percentages of mortgages that are underwater across U.S. metros. Las Vegas tops the list with nearly three-quarters of all mortgages underwater. More than half of all mortgages are underwater in Stockton, Modesto, Vallejo-Fairfield, Bakersfield, and Riverside, California; Port St. Lucie, Orlando, Cape Coral, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Phoenix, and Reno. In Miami, Tampa, and Detroit, more than 45 percent of all mortgages are underwater.

The Next Stimulus is Coming – WaPo

More spending on infrastructure – particularly transportation projects – is also under discussion, sources said. But a person familiar with the talks said it would be easier for a package consisting purely of tax cuts to “avoid the stain of a ‘bailout’ or ’stimulus’ label.” Although many economists say the stimulus package helped pull the nation out of recession, it has been attacked relentlessly as ineffective by Republicans and is viewed with deep skepticism by voters.

Why Obama’s mortgage-relief program failed – SF Weekly

Hiding the truth about home values is something banks have been happy to play along with. Whereas foreclosures might take a few months in better times, banks and loan servicers are sometimes waiting a year or more to face the reality of mortgages gone bad.

“There’s a lot of phantom inventory that could be foreclosed in a twinkling, but they’re not,” says Mountain View attorney Cathleen Moran, a certified bankruptcy specialist who has helped many clients who have failed to enroll in the HAMP program.

Vancouver’s high housing prices threaten growth – Vancouver Sun

‘We did it: We are the least affordable city in North America.”

Realtors, Builders oppose another Housing Tax Credit – CR

“We are not advocating another one. We think it’s important for the market to have time to recover on its own,” says Walter Molony, spokesman for the National Association of Realtors.

Deep-fried beer invented in Texas – Telegraph

The beer is placed inside a pocket of salty, pretzel-like dough and then dunked in oil at 375 degrees for about 20 seconds, a short enough time for the confection to remain alcoholic.

When diners take a bite the hot beer mixes with the dough in what is claimed to be a delicious taste sensation.

I found this quote yesterday and it is so very true for some of the feelings I have experienced lately. I spent over a week updating my website to a new slick version that is 400% MORE AWESOME but soon started on the long overdue July 2010 real estate market reports for Upstate South Carolina.

And as much as I try to be both totally honest and upfront about the local real estate market AND have a positive attitude, it gets tough sometimes to remain positive considering some of the news and statistics I see.

Like the fact that according to the July 2010 Market Indicators, Months Supply of Inventory increased by 12.8 percent to arrive at 20.2 months! Which means it would take over 20 months at the current pace to sell every home on the market. Read the rest of this news that depressed me at Upstate South Carolina Real Estate Market Indicators July 2010

Or maybe the decreasing number of sales in Anderson as reported in the Anderson South Carolina Real Estate Market Report for July 2010 was the news that soured my normally positive outlook….

Or maybe the 16 months of inventory in Belton was the one factor that diminished my Happy Thoughts. But if you really want to know about current market conditions in Belton read it here.

And it just continued as I did real estate market reports for Central and Clemson. And knowing that I have 13 other areas in Upstate South Carolina that still need market reports, I am wondering if I will be ready for a padded room by the end of the week.

But I think about the homes we have listed and sold in a very short amount of time at Silver Star lately and it gives me a glimmer of hope. If a person that wants to sell will listen to our advice about what it is going to take to sell their home, we can and do sell homes quickly. It might not be for the amount they had hoped for but some homes are selling quickly when priced correctly.

Not even discovering one of my many blogs I use to drive traffic to my website was picked up by The Washington Post has lifted my spirits. Oh well…I will keep on plugging along, telling people the cold hard facts about market conditions while trying to remain positive and upbeat. And humming Happy Happy Joy Joy

Mark Brian

Silver Star Real Estate

Office 864-225-1883

Please Visit

View Upstate SC Real Estate

As far as transactions are concerned August is turning out to be another solid month for sales of Orlando real estate. As of yesterday there were 2,287 sales posted. Of those 1,136 were bank owned with a median sales price of $66,900, 498 were short sales with a median price of $98,500, and 654 (less than 29%) were equity sales with a median price of $165,000. The two things that stand out to me about these sales is the drop in the percentage of equity sales and the drop in the median prices. The median price overall has dropped to $96,000.

Active listings were down to 16,544 with 2,222 bank owned and 6,152 short sales making up just over 50.6% of all the homes for sale. Pending sales also continue to be overwhelmingly made up of distressed properties. There are 9,063 contracts pending with 2,150 bank owned and 5,678 short sales for a total of almost 86.4% of all pending sales. Cash also remains king with nearly 54.7% of the closed sales posted as cash transactions with a median sales price of $57,000. Financed transactions closed with a median sales price of $149,200.

David Welch Real Estate Optimist, Orlando Real Estate

The good news is that home sales numbers for Cache County Utah during August were substantially improved compared with last month. The bad news is that although the 68 homes sold is an improvement, it is still down nearly 40% compared with last August of last year. This graph shows the comparison of home sales numbers during 2010, compared with the average monthly home sales over the previous five years.

The other good news is that it looks like September home sales will be even better than August home sales. There are more Cache County Homes under contract than there have been in the last two months. We currently have 107 homes under contract compared with just 98 at this time last month.

One interesting thing about the Logan Utah Homes that sold during August is that they were bigger than the Logan Real Estate that has  sold over the previous four months. The average home that sold was 2,489 square feet, and had an average original list price of $221.767. During April, the average original list price of homes sold was just $176,975, and the average square footage was 2,093 square feet. I think this statistic shows that a much larger percentage of August home sales were made by non first time buyers, whereas, during April the large majority of homes were purchased by first time buyers.

via Logan Utah Real Estate Market Conditions: Cache County August Home Sales Numbers Improved.

Today NAR reported that their Pending Home Sales Index rose 5.2 percent in July, compared with June. This suggests existing home sales in August and September should rise slightly higher than the abysmal July figures, but probably not enough to pull months-of-supply down into the single-digits.

From NAR Pending Home Sales Rise

Following a sharp drop in the months immediately after expiration of the home buyer tax credit, pending home sales have modestly risen, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator, rose 5.2 percent to 79.4 based on contracts signed in July from a downwardly revised 75.5 in June, but remains 19.1 percent below July 2009 when it was 98.1. The data reflects contracts and not closings, which normally occur with a lag time of one or two months.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, cautioned that there would be a long recovery process. “Home sales will remain soft in the months ahead, but improved affordability conditions should help with a recovery,” he said. “But the recovery looks to be a long process. Home buyers over the past year got a great deal, and buyers for the balance of this year have an edge over sellers. For those who bought at or near the peak several years ago, particularly in markets experiencing big bubbles, it may take over a decade to fully recover lost equity.”

Yun added, “Affordability could reach a generational high in the second half of this year because of rock-bottom mortgage interest rates, helped partly by the Fed’s very accommodative monetary policy. The loan underwriting standards are tighter, but home buyers can improve their chances of getting a loan by staying well within their budget.”

The PHSI in the Northeast rose 6.3 percent to 62.5 in July but is 21.1 percent below a year ago. In the Midwest the index increased 4.1 percent to 66.7 but remains 25.7 percent below July 2009. Pending home sales in the South rose 1.2 percent to an index of 86.3, but are 15.6 percent lower than a year ago. In the West the index jumped 11.6 percent to 95.0 but is 17.6 percent below July 2009.

The national index had fallen 29.9 percent in May and another 2.8 percent in June.

The Ezra Charles’ Texas Blue Band, affectionately called “Houston’s Band” by its fans, will make its debut performance at the Keller Williams Free Concert Series at Kings Harbor on Friday, September 17 from 7-10 p.m.

The six-member band is famous for its namesake’s flashy piano antics and for having ladies playing in the horn section.  Ezra Charles is Houston’s best-known keyboard artist. He was a five-time winner of the Houston Press Readers Poll Award and the leader of the official band of the Houston Rockets from 1993 to1996.

Ezra has played private performances for The Rolling Stones, President George Bush and the 1990 Economic Summit, The NBA All-Star Party, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the 1992 Republican National Convention, and the 2010 Boy Scout Centennial Celebration in Minute Maid Park.

Music played by the band consists primarily of Ezra Charles songs from their six albums: Design for Living (1989), Modern Years (1994), Drive Time (1996), Texas-Style (1998), Beaumont Boy (2001), and King of Texas Blues (2010).  The band is described as having a horn-drenched rhythm and blues, boogie-woogie, Texas Rock and Roll sound.

With Ezra taking the lead on piano and vocals, the band includes: Nancy Dalbey, trombone, trumpet, backing vocals; Michael Seybold, guitar; Damien Sonnier, saxophone; Rachelle Akpanumoh, trumpet, backing vocals; and Dave Sartin, drums.

This will be the first Friday night Keller Williams’ concert to offer Food To-Go specials from the Kings Harbor restaurants. Featured guest, the Kingwood Chamber of Commerce, will be selling tickets for $8 per item. Proceeds from the sales of the items will benefit the chamber, which is celebrating its seventh year of service to the community.

The restaurants will offer the following to-go items only available during the concert: Sharky’s, seven fried shrimp with rice or fries; Chimichurri’s, grilled beef tenderloin and chicken skewers with a South American touch; Zammitti’s, Italian sausage with grilled vegetables on a hoagie bun; Raffa’s, crab cakes; and the Wine Loft, pork egg rolls.

Concert-goers are welcome to bring lawn chairs or blankets to sit on the lawn. Glass containers are not permitted at the Harbor Plaza concert site. Kings Harbor is located at 1660 West Lake Houston Pkwy. in Kingwood between Kingwood Dr. and FM 1960. For more information, visit www.clickKWne.com or www.kings-harbor.com.

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This is a photo of downtown St George just as the sun is beginning to set. You can see several historical buildings, including the LDS temple.  If you have any questions about current market conditions here in St George or any other area of the county, please feel free to give me a call.  I’ll be happy to assist you in any way.

Supply and Demand Report
For 8/1/2010 To 8/31/2010
Todays date: 9/1/2010
Price Range: 0 to 999,999,999,999

St. George Utah REALTOR®

Stout & Associates Realty

Please feel free to contact me if I can assist you in any way with St. George Utah Real Estate or St George Utah Homes for Sale.

Recent plans for the Nautical Beachfront Resort may be exactly what Lake Havasu City needs.  The resort has unveiled a brand-new multiple-phase, 41,000 sq ft master plan that will add a beach club destination with a resort-style pool, new conference center, 180 new units, new fitness facility, restaurant / bar, 200 dry boat storage units and other amenities.  And responses for this project have been overwhelmingly positive. 

The city and its residents have been waiting for a first-class resort destination on the island for quite some time.  This new addition will also help promote tourism, which will make Lake Havasu City even more of a premier vacation destination.

Demolition has already begun, trees and shrubbery are being removed and the official groundbreaking will be soon.  Although specific cost estimates have not been released, the project is expected to be in the seven digits. 

Nautical representatives are estimating construction on the resort addition to be complete by April 2011.  Demo permits should all be in order by next week and the rest of the project can begin.

The new additions will be very unique, especially with the addition of the Vegas-style pool, outdoor bar, grills, cabanas, refrigerators, and TV’s all surrounded by lush green landscape. 

While residents are looking forward to the new addition, many frequent visitors to the area are also looking forward to the finished project. 

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http://www.batonrougerealestateappraisal.com/ – Greater Baton Rouge Real Estate: Understanding the difference between an appraisal and an assessment!

Lea Miller has written an article I wanted to share locally: Understanding the difference between an appraisal and an assessment . Here are a few snippets (not the entire article) from her article below:

“A real estate appraisal is an estimation of market value. Lenders usually require appraisals for homes on which they are asked to lend money in the form of a mortgage or home equity loan. Appraisals are performed by trained professionals who are licensed by the state in which they operate. The appraiser may be hired by you or by the lender, but is an impartial third-party who provides an objective analysis of the property’s value.

An assessment, on the other hand, is conducted by a municipality when evaluating properties for the purpose of levying property taxes. Municipalities look at the overall value of properties in an area and the specific use of a particular property. For example, commercial properties like professional offices are assessed at a different rate, even though they may be in buildings that are just like homes in the same area. Property tax may also vary depending on the last date the property changed hands. Today, computer technology streamlines the process of assessment and allows for sophisticated statistical models. Many states offer homeowner’s exemptions, which reduce the assessed value of a property when it is the owner’s primary residence.

Municipalities typically send assessment notices yearly in advance of the issuance of property tax bills for the year. A provision is made for an appeals process if the property owner does not feel that the assessment is correct.

In a stable real estate market, appraisal and assessment values may be similar, but never make the assumption that if you have one that you know the other. Market fluctuations, lag time from assessment to notification, and recent renovations or improvements may cause a disparity between the two numbers.”

Tags: Baton Rouge Real Estate, appraisal and tax assessement differences

In sad news yesterday, more than 900 workers at HomEq lost their jobs in Sacramento County. Another HomEq servicing center in Raleigh is closing. I wonder how many employees at HomEq have a mortgage through HomEq and whether HomEq would qualify these homeowners for a short sale if they did. I wonder how many of these employees will call me for help with their Sacramento short sale? There surely seems to be an uptick in short sales lately.

The last HomEq short sale I negotiated was a horrible transaction. The negotiator demanded a seller contribution of $8,500. The next day, the negotiator’s assistant picked up the file and announced there was no contribution. Day after that, the negotiator came back with a second request for $8,500. Well, I asked the assistant to send me the short sale approval letter without the contribution demand. She did. So you know who I continued to correspond with. It wasn’t the negotiator with the demand. No wonder HomEq servicing centers are closing.

This new short sale in Galt does NOT have a loan held by HomEq, thank goodness. And it’s a perfect starter home with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Have you ever been to Galt? If you think Elk Grove is over-developed and too suburban for your tastes, try driving out the 99 freeway a few minutes longer to enjoy the wonderful small-town charm of Galt. Wide, dusty streets. Friendly store owners. Country atmosphere. Slower pace.

This home sits at the end of a cul-de-sac. It has a huge yard, more than 1/4 acre, according to the county records, and RV access. Why, you could store a boat or a gigantic motorhome and still have enough room in the yard to roll around with a football on Sundays. In fact, there are two yards, separated by a fence. The north side, which has an uncovered patio, a swing set that stays with the home, and the RV access, and the south side, which has another lawn, a dog pen and a workshop building.

Of course, it has a 2-car garage with an opener. There is also a fireplace in the living room, vaults, and an open floor plan. The kitchen has a built-in dishwasher and free-standing gas range. The home was built in 1988 and is located in the Reynolds Ranch subdivision, just off of C Street and Wagon Way.

216 Stirup Court, Galt, CA 95632 is offered exclusively by Lyon Real Estate as a short sale at $160,000. For more information, contact your Sacramento short sale agent, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916 233 6759.

Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub

I almost threw my wedding ring down the toilet yesterday. We all do doofus things from time to time, but most of us don’t talk about it. That’s because we don’t like to put ourselves out there on the chopping block. Unlike me, who will share the doofus things I do in hopes that I can prevent someone else from making the same kind of stupid mistake.

At the moment, I have bandages on three fingers. That’s because in a hurried moment I set my hot flat-iron in the wrong direction on my vanity. I grabbed my hairdryer in one hand and the flat-iron in the other. Instead of picking it up by the handle, I clutched the hot end. Yowsa. I immediately dropped it by instinctively flinging it, and my wedding ring flew across the room with it. This is why I’m pleased that I am one of those people who habitually not only puts down the toilet seat but closes the cover.

There is always a silver lining to any catastrophe when you’re a Sacramento short sale agent. You’ve got to keep a positive outlook on things. Because when you look around, there really is a lot to be happy about.

I am very happy and pleased to introduce you to my new listing in the Riverlake Homeowner’s Association of Stillwater in the Pocket of Sacramento. This is a beautiful one-story home, built in 1990, and located within a prestigious gated community. When you drive through the gates, you’re greeted by a gorgeous lake. The home sits at the end of a private cul-de-sac.

It has high ceilings, a rotunda in the formal dining room, vaulted wood ceiling in the family room and an open floor plan with mostly hardwood floors. The home features 4 bedrooms and a home office: 3 bedrooms in one wing and a guest bedroom in another wing. It also has 3 baths. The master suite bath has a marble floor, dual vanities, a separate shower, and a sunken, jetted tub. Several other nice features are the giant walk-in closet in the master and its diagonal vaulted ceiling, plus outside access.

There is a breakfast nook in the kitchen, tiled counters and tons of cabinets and storage space. For your convenience, you will find a trash compactor, gas cooktop, built-in convection oven, dishwasher and built-in microwave, in addition to a breakfast bar. Two cooks could easily share space in this enormous space. The square footage in this home, according to the county records, is 2,820 square feet. It also has a 3-car tandem garage with a drive-through, which offers additional parking in the yard.

The yard is professionally landscaped with a water feature. Most of the patio area is covered and shaded. The fence is brick, and the lot size is .21 acres, according to the public records.

8 Water Reef Court, Sacramento, CA 95831 is exclusively offered by Lyon Real Estate as a short sale at $499,000. For more information, call your Sacramento short sale agent, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916 233 6759.

Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub

Well, it’s that time of year again.  After this weekend of fun and relaxation for most, it will be time to think about the cooler fall and winter months ahead.  Preparing your home for the weather now is always a great idea.  Here’s a few tips you might want to consider the Autumn.

By following some basic maintenance procedures every autumn, your home will last longer, provide better insulation in winter, and provide for low-maintenance solutions later on.

1. Annual check-up for forced-air or water heating system. For electrical heat, vacuum the baseboard units and check thermostats. For forced air, replace filters and vacuum registers and intake grills.

2. Clean gutters after most of the leaves have fallen. Also, check the wood behind the gutters to see if it is in need of repairs. If you have a lot of leaves, you might consider installing some type of gutter guard.

3. Check for caulk anywhere masonry meets siding, where pipes or wires enter the house, and around window and door frames and at the corner joints formed by siding. Redo the caulk if necessary. Caulking is good for weather proofing, and also keeps out moisture and dirt.

4. Check for proper insulation and add to it if necessary. Your attic floor is one of the most important spots, since the heat from your home will rise and be lost. Seal any air leaks in your home, especially around windows and doors.

5. Protect your plumbing, even if your pipes have never frozen in the past. Check the lines that run through the exterior walls. Wrap with pipe jackets, fiberglass insulation or electric heating tape.

6. Inspect your roof for missing, loose or damaged shingles. Check and recaulk if necessary around plumbing  stacks, cable brackets, antennae, etc. Check and replace your chimney flashing if necessary.

7. Have your chimney inspected every year, and cleaned if necessary.

8. Check for loose or peeling paint on the exterior of your house. This is the time to paint your house if  necessary, or just touch it up in the problem areas. Follow the manufacturer’s advice for weather conditions and wall preparation.

clear skies,

doug reynolds

www.SellWithDoug.com

I am traveling this morning will look at ISM and other data this afternoon. Meanwhile here a a few quick hits on propriety trading, bizarre charts of robo trader patterns, walking away from boats, Blogger fees in Philadelphia, birth rate demographics, and other potpourri.

JPMorgan to Shut Proprietary Trading Unit over Volcker Rule

Bloomberg Reports JPMorgan Said to Shut Proprietary Trading to Meet Volcker Rule

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second- largest U.S. lender by assets, told traders who bet on commodities for the firm’s account that their unit will be closed as the company begins to shut down all its proprietary trading, according to a person briefed on the matter.

The bank eventually will end all proprietary trading to comply with new curbs on investment banks, said the person, who asked not to be identified because JPMorgan’s decision isn’t public. The New York-based bank will shut proprietary trading in fixed-income and equities later, the person said.

Closing the prop trading desk for commodities affects fewer than 20 traders, including one in the U.S. and the rest in the U.K., the person said.

This is a baby step in the right direction.

Developer Sells Zero of 141 Luxury Condos

The Press Enterprise reports Lack of sales spurs developer to lease

After two months of marketing his 141 luxury condos with not one sale, Mark Rubin said he has given up wooing buyers to the Raincross Promenade project in downtown Riverside that cost him $40 million to build.

Prospective buyers kept trying to beat down his prices, even after he shaved $30,000 off the initial list prices ranging from $240,000 for a one-bedroom, one-bath condominium to $475,000 for a two bedroom, 2 ½-bath townhouse. “There were no sales,” Rubin said. “Everyone wants a bargain. They read about foreclosures and think they can buy for distress prices.”

Ruin paid cash for the property and is no looking to lease units.

Walking Away From Boats

The USA Today reports Abandoned boats litter waters in tough economy

States across the USA are taking steps to deal with an armada of derelict boats abandoned by their owners in a tough economy:

In Massachusetts,Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill this month that gave local governments the power to seize abandoned vessels. The problem was growing faster than the state’s ability to deal with it, says Michael Nichols, legal counsel to Democratic state Rep. Antonio Cabral, who introduced the bill.

“The recession was affecting people’s ability to keep and maintain a boat,” Nichols says. “To have abandoned vessels taking up valuable space in the marinas and harbors was a problem.”

Fines for abandoning boats in state waters vary. In Massachusetts, it’s $10,000. In South Carolina: $475.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, as many boats were reported abandoned by the Coast Guard in the first quarter of 2009 as in all of 2008, says Deb Self, executive director of San Francisco Baykeeper, an environmental group. The number of eyesores, many of them leaking fuel and chemicals, continued to grow this year, from 64 in February to 76 this month, even after 12 boats were hauled away, Self says.

Twelve states, including Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee, have passed laws on abandoned boats in the past five years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Most streamline the process of taking title and disposing of boats when owners cannot be found.

If you are going to walk away from your boat, do it in South Carolina, not Massachusetts which has a $10,000 fine. Better yet, donate the thing or haul it to the dump.

Birth Rate Drops Second Year

Physorg reports Recession may have pushed US birth rate to new low

The U.S. birth rate has dropped for the second year in a row, and experts think the wrenching recession led many people to put off having children. The 2009 birth rate also set a record: lowest in a century.

Births fell 2.7 percent last year even as the population grew, numbers released Friday by the National Center for Health Statistics show. “It’s a good-sized decline for one year. Every month is showing a decline from the year before,” said Stephanie Ventura, the demographer who oversaw the report.

The birth rate, which takes into account changes in the population, fell to 13.5 births for every 1,000 people last year. That’s down from 14.3 in 2007 and way down from 30 in 1909, when it was common for people to have big families.

“It doesn’t matter how you look at it – fertility has declined,” Ventura said.

The situation is a striking turnabout from 2007, when more babies were born in the United States than any other year in the nation’s history. The recession began that fall, dragging stocks, jobs and births down.

The US looks more Japanese every month.

Philadelphia Imposes $300 Blogger License Fee

The Washington Examiner reports Philly requiring bloggers to pay $300 for a business license

Between her blog and infrequent contributions to ehow.com, over the last few years she says she’s made about $50. To [Marilyn] Bess, her website is a hobby. To the city of Philadelphia, it’s a potential moneymaker, and the city wants its cut.

In May, the city sent Bess a letter demanding that she pay $300, the price of a business privilege license.

“The real kick in the pants is that I don’t even have a full-time job, so for the city to tell me to pony up $300 for a business privilege license, pay wage tax, business privilege tax, net profits tax on a handful of money is outrageous,” Bess says.

When Bess pressed her case to officials with the city’s now-closed tax amnesty program, she says, “I was told to hire an accountant.”

To say that these kinds of draconian measures are detrimental to the public discourse would be an understatement.

The Broad Street Hockey Blog comments on City of Philadelphia Charging Bloggers

City Hall wants your money. A lot of it.

We don’t get into politics on this blog often. In fact, I don’t believe we ever have. This, however, is an issue that could directly impact this blog and, honestly, any one of you.

When I started blogging two years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to afford a $300 fee. Yet at the same time, I needed to keep ads on my pre-SBN site to earn enough to cover the server costs and the domain registration. None of the money went into my pocket. It wasn’t a lot of money and the small ads were enough to cover costs, but without them, I wouldn’t have been able to run the site.

By enforcing this law on bloggers who make little-to-no-money off of their sites, the City of Philadelphia is robbing its citizens of the opportunity to create. It’s robbing them — and the city itself, really — at a change to innovate.

Philadelphia is amazingly desperate. Any city that would take this action is clearly in deep trouble.

401K withdrawals spike

CNN Money reports 401(k) Withdrawals Spike

Hardship withdrawals from 401(k) retirement saving plans rose to the highest level in 10 years during the second quarter, Fidelity Investments said on Friday, in the latest sign of a dismal economy.

Fidelity reported that, as of the second quarter, 2.2% of all 401(k) participants had made a hardship withdrawal at some point over the preceding 12 months. That’s up from 2% in the prior year, and was the highest level in 10 years.

At the same time, the percentage of 401(k) participants that had an outstanding loan from their account rose to a record high of 22% in the second quarter. The average loan amount was $8,650 at the end of the quarter.

Borrowing against IRAs to meet unsustainable lifestyles or to pay mortgages on underwater homes are both horrendous ideas.

Market Data Firm Spots the Tracks of Bizarre Robot Traders

The Atlantic says Market Data Firm Spots the Tracks of Bizarre Robot Traders

Mysterious and possibly nefarious trading algorithms are operating every minute of every day in the nation’s stock exchanges.

What they do doesn’t show up in Google Finance, let alone in the pages of the Wall Street Journal. No one really knows how they operate or why. But over the past few weeks, Nanex, a data services firm has dragged some of the odder algorithm specimens into the light.

No matter why the bots end up executing these behaviors, the Nanex charts offer a window onto a kind of market behavior that’s fascinating and oddly beautiful. And we may never have seen them, if not for the mildly obsessive behavior of one dedicated nerd.

“Who looks at millisecond charts?” Donovan said. “You’d never see those patterns in any other fashion. The SEC and CFTC certainly weren’t.”

Here are a few more bots at work with explanations of what’s going on.

Here we see a “flag repeater” being executed on the BATS Exchange, the third-largest equity market after the NYSE and NASDAQ. 15,000 quote requests were made in 11 seconds in a repeating pattern. Each iteration upped the quote a penny until $9.36, and then the algorithm went down the same way, a penny at a time.

This chart shows a different kind of strategy. It represents 56,000 quotes in one second all at the same price (the top chart) but with the size of the order increasing by one (i.e. 100 shares) all the way up to 40,000.

There are several other interesting patterns in the article, some with explanations of what they mean. Does anyone think this serves an legitimate purpose? If so what purpose?

Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

On Friday, September 10th and Saturday, September 11th, the Fraternal Order of Police Hammond Lodge 34 will be holding its 4th annual Chili Cook Off in Hammond.  For just $10, you can eat as much chili as your tummy can stand.  This event will be open on Friday from 6-10pm and Saturday from 7am-5pm.  On both Friday and Saturday, come out to see classic cars on display at the Golden Oldies Auto Club Car Show.  Enjoy live music all weekend.  There will also be a live auction and kids’ spacewalk throughout the downtown Hammond area.  What a fun way to celebrate Patriot Day (September 11th).  Prizes will be awarded for the chili cook off and car show. 

If you’re interested in participating in the chili cook off, please call Edwin at 985-969-4101.  And, if you wish to participate in the car show, call either Joe at 985-969-6805 or Tony at 985-662-6332.  Bring the family down this weekend to the Car Show and Chili Cook Off in Hammond.  It’s fun for everyone!

Yvonne Martin, The Martin Team, Let my family bring your family home to Hammond real estate

If you are thinking that selling a home in Upstate South Carolina is tough, just be glad we are not trying to sell a home in The 20 Worst Places to Sell a Home!

With the housing market hurting, and buyers apprehensive about the possibility of of prices falling more, the rumors about another possible Home Buyer Tax Credit have started gaining steam. Read more about the Rumors of a New Home Buyer Tax Credit

After hearing rumors about a possible renewal of the Home Buyer Tax Credit, maybe the most important thing to focus on when buying or selling real estate in Upstate South Carolina are the cold hard facts! Instead maybe you would rather read the facts such as the National Housing news from Freddie Mac, Case Shiller and important local housing market news from Upstate South Carolina

Mark Brian

Silver Star Real Estate

Office 864-225-1883

Please Visit My Website
to View Upstate SC Real Estate

Dixie State College, which is located in St. George, Utah, has announced its 2010-11 performance series season.  There will be 45 theatre, instrumental, dance and choral programs that will be held in the Dolores Dore’ Eccles Fine Arts Center on the DSC campus.

This state-of-the-art center will be the location of many great performances for the third-season. These performances will lead to great recreational opportunities for anyone living in St. George and its communities such as Sun River St. George, Coral Canyon, Stone Cliff, Entrada at Snow Canyon, Sunbrook, Kayenta Desert, Northbridge Estates, Las Palmas at Green Valley, and surrounding communities.

Patrons will have access to all DSC theatre productions, vocal and instrumental concerts for 2010 and 2011.  You can purchase your own DSC Fine Arts Season Pass for $99 per patron.  This is an $85 savings off the regular box office single-event ticket price.

The Theatre-Only season pass is available for $40 per adult, $30 per senior and $20 for youths 5-17.  You can also purchase the Music-Only season pass for $85, which is a $65 savings off of regular box office ticket prices.

Dixie State College Season Performance Line-up

September 30 – October 9 – The Blithe Spirit will be held in the Black Box Theater. 

November 11 – 20 – The Baker’s Wife will be held in the Mainstage Theater.

March 3 – 12 – The Cat on a Hot Tin Roof will show in the Mainstage Theater.  This is a Pulitzer Prize-winning performance. 

March 31 – April 9 – Anything Goes will show at the Black Box Theater.  This performance will wrap up the year.

Vocal and instrumental concerts will feature Dixie’s talented faculty and students in a number of concerts and recitals throughout the season.  The DSC’s Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Band will perform four times each this season.  Patrons will also get an opportunity to enjoy DSC’s talented choral ensemble. 

In addition to all these great events, the DSC’s Sears Art Museum Gallery will be hosting several art exhibits.

For more information about Dixie State College’s seasonal line-up and ticket prices, you can call them at (435) 652-7800.