Foreclosures are still impacting the housing market and this will likely continue through 2010. This Updated Field Guide provides foreclosure information and resources for REALTORS® and their clients, including information for those interested in investing in foreclosed properties.

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Important advice to anyone planning to contact their lender directly for a loan modification: The key here is to be tenacious. These lenders and servicers (lenders) are large with hundreds, and even thousands, of employees. Whenever you call your lender, you should plan on being on the phone for a long time (figure an hour [...]

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The latest idea bubbling up in the world of real estate is the use of principal reductions to stem the foreclosure tide, the theory being that if we lower mortgage balances then homeowners will have smaller monthly payments and fewer foreclosures. It sounds great, but don’t look for lenders to gleefully cut mortgage balances anytime soon. In fact, principal additions rather than principal reductions are the rule of the day.

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As millions of Americans begin to realize that it will be years if not decades before their houses are worth what they owe on them, there has been lots of talk about whether it’s okay to just voluntarily walk away from your mortgage.

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Sometimes there are so many good topics out there to write about that we just don’t have time to cover them all in depth. In the same vein as our weekly recap, I wanted to touch on several interesting topics that have been both relevant and interesting this week.
J.P. Morgan Earns More than Expected in [...]

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There is a lot of speculation of what house prices are going to do in the next 12 months. And, when many other elements that all influence what is about to happen to the property market are considered it still does not give us a clear idea of what the future will be.

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Note: Before reading this article, remember Real Estate is a local business and that LA County real estate prices have held better than the national average in most cases, but I want readers to be more aware on a national level.
By Nick Timiraos
Where will home prices head this fall? It depends, in [...]

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From Capitol Hill: Written Testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity on September 9, 2009
Chairwoman Waters, Ranking Member Capito and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today about the Treasury Department’s comprehensive initiatives to stabilize the US housing market and support homeowners…

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