The ins and outs of Real Estate

Lender Discrimination Help from HUD

No Black Folk Allowed, originally uploaded by war2d2.

For much of our country's history, it was common practice for banks to refuse to make mortgage loans to minorities, blacks, Hispanics, and even recently arrived white immigrant groups who were deemed 'bad' and to have not been 'fully integrated' into the American society.

Finally in 1974, in order to combat discrimination in lending, the government passed the Equal credit opportunity act, which prohibits discrimination in the extension of credit and lending based on the basis of�race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age.

Yet, despite this law, during the Real Estate boom, many of the largest banks in the country, including Countrywide and Well Fargo Financial, have discriminated against borrowers based on their race!

Making mortgage loans to minorities (because the government mandates it) yet charging them higher fees, costs, and interest rates than Whites is almost as bad as not giving minorities mortgage loans in the first place.

Not only were Blacks and Hispanics given higher cost loans than Whites, but Chinese Americans were given more favorable and lower cost loans than Whites even when income and credit scores were the same.

So, not only do African American and Hispanic minorities have a vested interest in the fair and equal extension of credit, but Whites do as well!

http://cbrkelvinrealestate.typepad.com/the_ins_and_outs_of_real_/2008/03/blacks-hispanic.html

The foreclosure rate has risen to levels unseen since the great depression of the early 1930s and continues to grow In addition to economic factors, many of the problems associated with the foreclosure crisis were caused by lender greed and even discrimination (in the issuing of higher cost loans based on race). �If feel that you have been discriminated against and unfairly targeted for a high cost loan, call HUD at....

1-800-669-9777.

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing/housing_ecoa.htm

�

30 Year Fixed Mortgage Rates

�

SubPrime Mortgage for Mr. Fish, originally uploaded by sujathafan.

30 Year Fixed Mortgage Rates

Are at 6.42%

from 6.09% last week!

Even with the steep declines

in housing prices, given the week economy

and the still elevated housing prices,

rates on 30 Year fixed Mortgages are

STILL TOO HIGH!

And don't even think about

an adjustable rate mortgage or

a sub-prime loan!

�

Even Village Trustees Traped by Mortgage Crisis!

Members of Congress raise their hands, originally uploaded by MatthewBradley.

The list of people caught in the mortgage crisis has continued to grow.  Now it appears that the village of Matteson, IL's trustee; Usher Sawyer III has been added to the list.  If Mr. Sawyer doesn't sell his home, which has already been on the market for 8 months without an offer and has had it's asking price fall from $445,000 to $378,000, he and his wife will loose their home.

Although the Smith's have a fixed rate mortgage, they have been victims of a weak and weakening economy as many have, with the intermediate result being Mrs. Smith being laid off in 2006.  If they don't sell the home (which took two incomes to purchase) soon, the end result will be that they will loose their home to foreclosure.  The Smiths say that 35 percent of the homes in their subdivision are in or have been in foreclosure recently! 

Nothing lasts forever, not booming economies and not dream jobs.  As i've stated before on this blog, buying a home that is cheaper than what you've been qualified for, or based on one income, is a great hedge against inflation and also a recession or depression!  However, if you have also been a victim of the economy or mortgage and credit crisis, don't feel bad, it isn't your fault, the guy next door, celebrities, and even village trustees are also victims!

  
The Chicago Sun Times ran a story on the Smiths on 7/24/08

 

 

The Benefits of Alley Cats!

Passing on experience - part 1: "C'mon kiddo, I'll show you how this is done!", originally uploaded by <andreea>.

 

Within the last year I have noticed a significant increase in the number of alley cats, and cats that are allowed by their owners to free roam at night.  In fact, Now, I seem to see several ferral or free roaming cats a week.  And since cats are  primarily nocturnal, I usually see them at night.

     
Garbage Can 1, originally uploaded by cbrkelvin.         Garbage Can 2, originally uploaded by cbrkelvin.

[Do  you see the holes chewed  through these two garbage cans!]

 

Something else that I recently noticed is an absence of rats in the alleys near my home!!!!  I hadn't even thought about it much, but after thinking about it I realized that, I haven't seen any rats scurrying under cars, or under garages, or behind garbage cans, or ......yikes, jumping out of Garbage cans as I open them to throw in the trash!  Yes, those nasty, disease carying city rats are being displaced and exterminated by Alley Cats! 

Rat Warning, originally uploaded by cbrkelvin.

Part of the increase in the feral cat population is due to the housing depression and a percentage of foreclosed owners unable to secure housing that allows pets (while others simply can't afford to feed their pets and themselves with the rising cost of food, Gas, and the general economic recession) and deciding to turn their animals out into the streets.

This is generally seen as a bad thing and a negative.  But, I have to admit, a year after the appearance of alley cats in the area that their is a huge upside to having ferral cats in the area!

Alley cats have done for free in my area, and many others that have seen their numbers increase, what the city of chicago has, and many other major metropolitan areas have, spent millions of tax payer dollars (over several centuries) trying to do but failed......exterminated rats!

 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2008-03-24-foreclosures-pets_N.htm

Ed McMahon Facing Foreclosure!

ed-mcmahon, originally uploaded by Ranger Rad.

 

Tonight show co-host/announcer, Star Search Host, and Publisher's Clearing House Spokesperson; Ed McMahon is facing foreclosure on his 6 million dollar Beverly hills mansion!

 

85 year old McMahon was once reportedly worth over $200 Million dollars!  Today, after several divorces, bad investments, and bad financial advice, McMahon is over $644,000 behind on mortgage payments!

 

Yet, in 2003 McMahon won a 7 Million dollar law suit against his home's developer because of toxic mold in the home that killed his dog.  Yet, after his attorneys fees, and rebuilding and repairing the mansion, he apparently wasn't left with much!

 

The next person that McMahon, and many other stars in his shoes, should sue is his financial adviser! 

 

Stars, Celebrities, Athletes and Multi-Millionaires, listen up!  I am not a financial adviser nor financial planner, but I can tell you that when you have net worths in the multi-millions of dollars, don't finance homes that are less than 1/5th of your net worth, BUY THEM OUTRIGHT!

 

$6,000,000.00 is only 3% of $200,000,000.00!

 

(unless it's a super hot real estate market and you are buying the home to flip it for a fast profit) Forget about the mortgage interest being tax deductible, save the interest by paying cash, and prevent future foreclosure!   

 

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2008-06-04-mcmahon-foreclosure_N.htm?csp=34

 

Banks Ask Courts to Return Empty Foreclosed Homes to Past Owners!

Broken Soul, originally uploaded by Weird Rock´n´Roll.

Banks are over-run with foreclosed properties that they have taken back from their previous owners.  With the current Real Estate depression, banks unwilling to cut the prices significantly enough to move foreclosed properties, and underwriting guidelines - used to qualify buyers for loans - being stricter, in many cases the homes remain empty for so long that they litterally start to fall apart.

As these non selling foreclosed homes fall apart they also accumulate code violations.  With banks now being the owners of record numbers of these dilapidated repossessed homes, they are beginning to ask the courts to vacate the foreclosure orders and return ownership of the homes (along with responsibility for repairing the code violations)  to their previous owners!

Historically, the courts and judges would side with the banks and vacate the foreclosure orders, but now, the trend is reversing and many judges, to the dismay of banks, are not returning ownership of the foreclosed homes to the previous owners..........leaving banks on the hook for repairs, violations, and fines!

I hope this current trend continues.  If it does, banks will be more reluctant to foreclose on properties in the first place, and will be more flexible in giving homeowners loan modifications, interest rate freezes or reductions, or will reduce prices enough to make homes more affordable.

So, if you are a distressed seller/homeowner, and in danger of loosing your home, try renegotiating the terms of your loan with your bank, and stress the fact that homes in your area are not selling and that if the bank takes the home back, they will likely end up with another empty home that won't sell, won't rent, won't produce any income and will rack up fines and code violations!

 

World's Most Expensive (27 Story Single Family) Home!

billion dollar home, originally uploaded by andy_utoledo.

If you were one of the richest men in the world and had a net worth of over $43 Billion dollars, how big a family compound would you build and how much would you spend for it.

Mukesh Ambani, of Mumbai, India is worth $43 Billion dollars and he's building a 27 story 400,000 square foot single family home!  The home includes...

• A 65 seat theater
• A swimming pool and spa
• Six stories of parking
• Separate gyms for each family member
• four stories of open air gardens
• A ball room
• An ice room, (that makes snowfall as in winter climates)

Personally, I'm much more conservative than Mr. Ambani.  [No, seriously, when I was searching for homes I ultimately purchased one that was 30% less than I was approved for!]  If I were sitting on $43 Billion dollars, I'd build a family compound also, but on several hundred private acres and with everyone having their own separate abode.

For less than $50 million, one could build a luxury family compound with all the bells and whistles, and have it include 10 luxury single family homes for relatives and family members. 

With the savings I'd start a charitable organization, fight world hunger and poverty, give small business loans, and bail out home owners by allowing them to refinance at lower than the going interest rates, say 3.8% fixed for 30 years. 

Mr. Ambani's home was supposed to cost $1 Billion but is already over budget at $2 Billion and still isn't finished yet!

The home is obviously more about having the most expensive single family residence in the world, and the record and status symbol that goes along with it, than anything else!  The only problem is, that can't last.  Someone else will come along sooner or later and have to build a more expensive, taller and larger single family home, just to have the new world record!

Complete Article

http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/30/home-india-billion-forbeslife-cx_mw_0430realestate.html

Pictures

http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/30/home-india-billion-forbeslife-cx_mw_0430realestate_slide_2.html?thisSpeed=20000

Videos

http://www.forbes.com/video/?video=fvn/billionaires/er_billionairehome043008

At $140 million the previous world's most expensive home seems like a bargain.

 

Bill Gates and Foundation pledge Billions to Charity, but ask Congress to Raise Cap on H-1B; Foreign National Employees, and displaces American Workers!

"Just because a practice or policy is legal, doesn't make it right!"

        Kelvin Stokes

                                                                                                                                    
Bill and Melinda Gates in T.O August 2006, originally uploaded by TEDizen.

For as long as I can remember I have admired Bill Gates.  He and his partner Paul Allen had the insight to buy MS Dos; an obscure operating system when no one else wanted it, and turned it into a Billion dollar plus enterprise! 

And he and his wife; Melinda Gates' commitment to Charity with the gifts to schools and education, and their Gates Foundation are extremely admirable.  Gates was on the cover of the July 1st-7th 2006 issue of The Economist magazine titled 'Billantropy'

Bill Gates, Billanthrophy, originally uploaded by cbrkelvin.

Wife Melinda was on the cover of the January 21, 2008 Issue of Fortune magazine titled The $100 Billion Woman.  Both articles talk about their Gates Foundation; which (With the Gates' and Buffet's combined pledges) is the largest charitable organization in the world!

Melinda Gates, The $100 Billion Woman!, originally uploaded by cbrkelvin.

Yet, I've never seen them on the cover of any magazine proposing to raise or eliminate the cap on H-1B Visas; which allow foreign nationals to work in the US for a fraction of what American workers are paid, and which is exactly what he wants to do!

                                                                            
                                                                             Bill & Melinda Gates, originally uploaded by VDP-OL.

Gates' Microsoft corporation has already off-shored call center and tech support job positions to India (which translates into job losses for Americans) and already hires the maximum number of H-1B Visas currently allowed by congress.

An even greater problem is that "the Department of Labor states that current H-1B law doesn't require employers to seek local talent before recruiting abroad for their US job openings and H-1B Visa renewals do not count towards the annual limits!" 

So every year, Gates and owners of other multi-national corporations are allowed to add to the number of foreign nationals that they already employ here, up to the yearly limit!  Gates claims that he just 'can't find enough local talent' to fill his job openings and that India is full of talent and the Indians are so smart.....'

[I'm also certain that companies are firing small percentages of American workers for any number of (false and trumped up) infractions just so that they can replace the workers with lower paid H-1B Visa workers!  Wait until those lawsuits start!] 

http://news.cnet.com/Study-400,000-IT-jobs-lost-since-2001/2100-1022_3-5364627.html 

Another thing about Bill and Melinda Gates that bugs me is that Bill Gates got his start with a small business loan from the SBA!  The SBA gives loans for business start-ups from money allocated to it's budget which ultimately comes from tax payers.........the same tax payers (and their children) who are now being screwed out of well paying jobs by Gates!

In the Economist's Billanthropy article, Gates claims that he was taught by his mother that he had a responsibility to "give back."  If he truly believed that, why wouldn't he 'On-Shore' jobs and companies and hire more American citizens vs trying to raise the level of Foreign nationals that he hires!  Especially since "Charity begins at home!"

Melinda Gates is from a middle class upbringing, but by not advising her husband (which both of them claim she does) to lead by example and hire more Americans vs foreign nationals (a practice that hurts the middle class), she shows that she has forgotten where she came from', namely the middle class.      

http://www.pbs.org/wsw/tvprogram/offshoring.html

Also, many large Companies brag about how many minorities they hire yet don't tell you what percentage of those minority employees are actually lower paid H-1B Visa workers, while in many instances the employer gets tax incentives and breaks for having hired the minority (in these instances H-1B) worker whom they've hired at a fraction of the salary they'd be expected to hire an American at!

http://www.programmersguild.org/docs/h1b_abuses_april2005.html#1)_H-1B_visa_used_to_drive_down_U.S._wages

http://www.programmersguild.org/docs/h1b_abuses_april2005.html#2)_H-1B_visa_used_to_displace_American_Workers

All of this translates into American citizens having to accept lower and lower wages in order to get hired, while depressing wage and salary growth and deteriorating the overall economy!  Yet, many economists claim not to understand why real wages haven't grown at a pace even close to the growth in housing prices!  Go figure!       

Sorry, but no matter how many Indians or other foreign nationals occupy lofty (job) positions in this country, from Doctors, Staff Attorneys, Teachers, Aircraft Mechanics and yes even staff (Employee vs Independent Contractor) Real Estate agents, the real reason that they are being hired is because their employers are paying them less than they would have to Pay an American worker to do the same job and not because the foreign worker is any smarter!   

Recently, a foreign national from India filed suit against his employer over deceptive pay.  He was promised by the recruiter in India that he would be paid $43,000.00 a year (as a computer engineer-I believe), but was in fact paid only $23,000.00 per year, for a job that Americans get $65,000.00 per year to start!

Education in India is unbelievably cheap compared to the US!  And Americans spend a fortune to go to college and get a good job, only to not even be considered for would be lucrative jobs as employers hire cheaper H-1B Visa workers!

Weve also learned that students were steered by their Universities to preferred lenders who charged higher interest rates on student loans and gave the Universities a kick back on the loans.  American students are then stuck paying back a student loan yet often lack job opportunities, partially due to H-1B Visas!

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2007-04-11-sallie-mae-settlement_N.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2007-04-16-student-loan-probe_N.htm

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/04/student_loan_sh.html

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/120537510537290.xml&coll=7#continue

They have already eliminated the incentive to keep jobs in this country with the proliferation of "Free Trade" agreements and tax incentives to companies that offshore American jobs!

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2008-03-20-corporate-tax-offshoring_N.htm

So, now, jobs that aren't off-shored, or outsourced, are still lost as employers replace American workers with imported cheap labor in the form of foreign nationals on H-1B Visas!  These visas can last for 6 years, while the foreign nationals apply for citizenship and consequently erode American salaries and pay rates!

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_10/b4074041212646.htm?chan=search

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_25/b4039001.htm?chan=search

These practices, in large part, explain why real wages have not risen enough to keep pace with housing.  And large companies, many of which are the main employers in their areas want to raise and eliminate the cap on H1B Visas.

http://www.news.com/H-1B-visa-limit-for-2005-already-reached/2100-1022_3-5392917.html 

Multinational corporations, like Microsoft, have too much power and undue influence over the government.  One way that they maintain their control is through bribing public officials in the form of positions on boards, ghost patrolling jobs to the relatives of lawmakers, and by hiring lawmakers' relatives (at outrageous wages) to lobby congress and the house of representatives!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-10-16-lobbyist-family-cover_x.htm

And big business, while reaping substantial tax breaks, often ends up costing us many Billions, soon to be Trillions, of dollars in Tax payer bailouts.    

http://www.sfomag.com/article.aspx?ID=1135    

http://www.rttsweb.com/outsourcing/statistics/   

Gates is a Genius.  He's playing Congress and the American public for fools!

http://cbrkelvinrealestate.typepad.com/the_ins_and_outs_of_real_/2007/10/alan-greenspan-.html

       

This is all just plain wrong.  The more that larger and growing segments of American citizens have less money to spend and make mortgage payments, as now with the current credit crunch and economic recession, the less real value that real estate has!

                                                             

What they don't know is that the people are starting to talk......"bout a revolution!"

                            

                      

Metal Thefts on The Rise Nationwide!

Scrap Metal Yard, originally uploaded by ~Dezz~.

Due to increased demand from China and India, the price of metals, namely copper, aluminum and bronze, are up dramatically.........
along with theft of these materials! Over a five year period, copper rose to $3.60 a pound from .75 per pound!

From coast to coast around the country, catalytic converters are being stollen from cars, and aluminum siding has been stripped from homes, while empty foreclosed homes are being gutted of copper and other metals!

The only way to stop it is for neighbors to look out for each other and each others properties.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2008/03/27/price-hikes-lead-to-rash-of-metal-thefts.html

DEET bug spary in our Drinking Water! Safe or Not?

My Goldfish, originally uploaded by cbrkelvin.

I love the Chicago Sun-Times and especially like their investigative reports and exposes. But, as much as I like them and as often as they are right, they aren't always right.

One recent example is the front page story, by Chicago Sun-Times reporter Stepanie Zimmermann, on DEET bug spray in our tap water!  What could be more alarming and disturbing than the thought of bug spray in our household water supply?

Yet, the tests done for the Chicago Sun-Times found that the concentration is only 8.3 parts per trillion, which most experts agree isn't significant enough to pose any health risks.

In March, Illinois state officials announced planned testing of both untreated and treated water for chemical compounds. The cities of Chicago, Elgin, Aurora, Rock Island and East St. Louis will all have their water supplies tested.

In addition to DEET, other chemical toxins such as flame retardants, pharmaceuticals and plasticizers have recently been found in our local tap water!

With DEET flushed down our shower drains, and also finding it's way into streams (since it's widespread commercial use began after 1965) some experts are concerned about it's long term effect on fish and birds as it is extremely toxic to both!

No, I'm not an expert on the long term effects of chemical toxins on the environment or even humans.  But, because DEET is so toxic to fish and birds, and as it has been used extensively over the last 43 years, the fact that fish and birds continue to thrive, proves that it is not concentrated enough for us to worry about it being in our drinking water.

                      
                       Baby guppies!, originally uploaded by cbrkelvin.

In fact, frogs, fish and birds are a good barometer or first indicator of our drinking water being safe or not.  My goldfish and two week old baby guppies in the above pictures are thriving in their untreated tap water!

And generations of their ancestors have also thrived in their untreated streams, lakes, ponds and other watering holes and have gone on to breed and leave generations of offspring in their wake.

Given the fact that the baby guppies are so fragile and susceptible to the slightest temperature changes and especially toxins in their water environments, if our drinking water were unsafe, the baby guppies would have either not been born, been still-born, or would have died already!

So, I have to side with the majority of experts who say that our drinking water is perfectly safe for consumption!

http://www.nbc5.com/news/15950486/detail.html?subid=10101401

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/905720,CST-NWS-water21.article