Having trouble paying your rent?

How about turning it into a sex club and having members “donate” to use the facilities.

That’s what one enterprising couple did in Des Moines, a suburb South of Seattle.

The house, on the 1200 block of South 232nd Street, rented for $2,200 a month. It seemed perfect: It’s a big house on a suburban street, set back from the road and shrouded in foliage, with 6 bedrooms and a huge swimming pool and hot tub.

The perfect place for an erotic sex club, right? Unless the neighbors complain.

Cathy Sorbo weighs in on the wisdom of having a sex club in your rental property.

The Hardwood Cabin’s website’s been suspended, but the Seatac Blog found excerpts from their website.

Fortunately for the Arizona retail branches they will all be moving to PrimeLending effective today. Aimee is moving over with the rest of the loan officers from the Mesa, AZ branch (and all other AZ branches). As for me, Aimee and I decided that I would not be moving over with her, and she would run the business on her own. So, Friday was officially my last day in the mortgage industry. I will continue full time with AIR Marketing as the Director of Interactive Marketing, assisting companies understand and integrate social technologies into their overall marketing strategies.

I will continue to follow the mortgage industry and blog about my opinions and thoughts for what its worth. I may even re-brand this blog to reflect the free agent nature of the content, but that is up in the air at the moment. Nonetheless, it will be a personal journal of sorts and will be written more so from the customers perspective than a lender. I plan on staying on top of major lending practices and developments in the industry, so my regular readers should not see a noticeable difference in the quality of the content on this blog.

Over time, I do not anticipate updating this blog as often. That doesn’t mean I will not be blogging at all. In fact I will be active on the web as the Social Media Wiz and will be a contributor on the AIR Marketing company blog. Be sure to subscribe to both of these two blogs to stay updated and informed on social technologies and its impact on business - large or small.

In the mean time, feel free to contact Aimee Ghimire at Prime Lending for all your home financing and mortgage needs. She’s the best loan originator in the world and will take very good care of you! Her mortgage website will remain as AimeeLoans.Com.

photo credit: Stig Nygaard

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Changes to the down payment requirement: The minimum down payment requirement will increase from 3% to 3.5% starting October 1, 2008. To take advantage of the 3% down payment contracts must be dated before September 15th, underwriting approvals must be made before the 22nd and loans must fund by the 30th. Now, not only is the down payment requirements increasing, but H.R.3221 eliminates down payment assistance programs all together. I personally, don’t understand the reasoning behind this but then again it’s the government.

Status of the Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium: HUD had recently made the FHA Upfront mortgage insurance risk-based. Meaning you paid more if you had worse credit. Now with the new bill H.R. 3221, there is a one year moratorium on these changes. In the mean time FHA will revert back to the single 1.5% premium charge.

New FHA loan limits: The new FHA loan limit will be the lesser of 115% of median sales price for your area or $625,500 but no lower than $271,050.  The median sales price this will be based on will not be published by HUD until November. We do know that if your loan limit since March has been higher than $271,050, the only way your loan limit will not be lower starting January 1 is if your area home prices have been having a significant rise (not true of hardly any area).  However, we don’t know what the new loan limit will be for sure until FHA does their math, only that it will be somewhere between the floor of $271,050 and the cap of $625,500.

Bottom line is that if you are planning a home purchase and would need a FHA loan, then you need to be aware that the loan limits will most likely be falling and the down payment amount will be rising after the first of the year. In essence, might as well purchase before end of the year.

$7500 tax credit: The recently signed bill provides a $7,500 tax credit for first-time homebuyers that will expire July 1, 2009, must be repaid over 15 years — making it, in effect, an interest free loan. First-time home buyers are defined as those who have not had an ownership interest in a real estate property in the past three years. North Phoenix Agent, Heather Barr, has a great post on her blog with details on this tax credit.

As you can see there are lots of changes in the industry. If you are in the market for a FHA loan, my best advice is ask lots of questions.

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In my never-ending quest to write about Elvis and Real Estate, imagine my glee when I spotted this life-size gold lame clad Elvis cut-out at the entrance to this home for sale on Capitol Hill in Seattle. This was a few weeks ago, but I saved the photo for Elvis Death Day (tomorrow will be the 31st anniversary of his passing.)

Why? Who knows? But thank you, thank you, thankyouverymuch for giving me, again, this opportunity to combine two of my most favorite subjects in one mindless post.

Graceland Live Webcam

Reports are coming from Ann Brenoff at the LA Times that Donald Trump is buying the McMahon home for an undisclosed sum.

And the really cool part is that McMahon will be allowed to live there after the sale is complete. The iconic sidekick, McMahon was facing foreclosure and eviction in the next couple of weeks if he could not find a buyer of the 4.8 million dollar (listing price) home in Beverly Hills.

So tonight I salute you Donald, you have done a great thing.

Trump said he stepped in because helping McMahon “would be an honor.” His plan is to buy the home from the lender and lease it back to McMahon.

“When I was at the Wharton School of Business,” Trump said, “I’d watch him every night. How could this happen?”

The deal with Trump was cemented this past weekend when McMahon’s listing agent, Alex Davis of Hilton & Hyland in Beverly Hills, flew to New York to make a personal appeal to Trump. Davis declined comment.

The six-bedroom, five-bathroom house had been on the market for about two years. At one point, it was listed at more than $7 million but dropped in increments, winding up this weekend at $4.6 million. McMahon purchased the house in 1990 for $2.6 million, according to public records. via Los Angeles Times

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit The Real Estate Bloggers. where it was originally published.

Donald Trump Buying Ed McMahon’s Mansion - McMahon Can Still Live In His Home

The Seattle PI had a story about Steven Flynn, a Seattle musician who is trying to save a 1908 Craftsman house scheduled for demolition. A developer wants to clear the space for more townhouses and Flynn is in a last-second bid to make arrangements to buy the house and move it to his Fremont property 10 blocks away.

Nickel Brothers House Movers has a list of homes that need to be moved on its website, and it’s not unusual for older homes to be removed and repositioned on other lots around town.

Mack McCoy shared this post from HistoryLink about the 100’s of homes that were either moved or destroyed when I-5 cut a swathe through downtown Seattle.

The unusual thing about the home Steve Flynn wants to move is that it’s a very famous S&M B&B, the Gypsy Arms. The house is a 1908 box Victorian Home in the middle of old Fremont- the hippie area of Seattle during the 60’s and 70’s and local legend says it was the home base of a group of “outlaw bikers” who parked their cycles in the living room and dining room areas by driving them up the steps on some 2″ X 12″s. On the old website, they tell tales of skeleton sketches on the walls, and floor to celing covered with smoked mirrored tiles. As they say on their site

What is today the dungeon was divided into 8′ X 8′ cubicles, made out of whatever boards and cardboard was available, thus creating “personal” space. We will leave the activities there up to your own imaginations! We are sure that some of their energy still resides at the inn.

While the home operated as a regular Bed & Breakfast, what set the Gypsy Arms apart from other B&B’s in the area was the dungeon.

The dungeon was built into the lower level of the house when the inn was remodeled in 1994.

The dungeon was divided into two areas; one for play and the other for relaxation and videos. The subdued red lighting was adjustable by dimmers in three separate areas and guests could independently control the lighting with strategically located spots.

To set the proper mood the owners equipped the dungeon with a stereo system and the atmosphere was also enhanced by a multitude of visuals: From the sling or any other place, one could see hard hats, football pads, sports equipment, firemen’s helmets, motorcycle regalia, boxing gloves, handcuffs, whips and more.

The owners names were Wayne and Gary and they got the idea of Gypsy Arms on vacation in 1994 when they were exasperated that they couldn’t find places to stay where they could play comfortably. Seattle had no such venue, so they created one.

Rumor has it that one of the men passed away and the house was sold, hence the dire position of the house and its imminent destruction if not purchased and moved to its new location very, very soon.

Zillow lists this same home in foreclosure. The ultimate fire sale.

It remains visible in Google Maps.

Here at HotPads, we are known for our awesome homes for sale and apartments for rent that can only be described as "Hot Pads."  In fact, we even have a whole channel for the Hottest Pads on HotPads where you can see the most expensive and lavish homes for sale on our interactive maps! 

However, none are quite as hot as this hotpad:

Check it out for yourself here: Google Maps

As you scroll around, you can see exactly how far the smoke is visible, and can even see the stream of water from the fire hoses!

*Credit where credit is due-- saw it first on The Big Picture

On holiday in Wales, Boing Boing contributor Cory Doctorow found this old owners manual for a post-war pre-fab bungalow.

The bank has given the couple 30 days to find a buyer, but realistically unless a good Samaritan comes forward, it is very unlikely to sell. The home, while nice, is overbuilt for the neighborhood. That is the curse of the Extreme Makeover homes, they do not fit the communities they are in.

If the families that get this lavish gift live there is a great benefit. But when the time comes to sell, they will never get what the home is worth if built elsewhere. That old adage comes to mind; location, location, location.

But the whole idea of the home was never to be a piggy bank like the Clayton County family used there gift as. They instead created a mess and now have to face the consequences.

The home was listed with ReMax — with an asking price of $950,000 — until the listing expired a few weeks ago. Max Chavez, a ReMax associate broker who listed the home for the Harpers, said it appeared the Harpers were still interested in selling the home when the listing expired.

“I’m hoping that they’ll re-list the property with me,” he said. Their house wouldn’t be the first “Extreme Makeover” to be sold. Extreme Makeover homes in Idaho and New Jersey were also put on the market earlier this year.

An ABC-TV spokesman declined to discuss problems some show participants have faced. via AccessAtlanta.

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit The Real Estate Bloggers. where it was originally published.

Selling The ‘Extreme Makeover’ Home in Clayton County, Georgia

Mortgage fraud was so rampant it was even being committed using the prison phone in Atlanta City Jail. Fortunately the felon called another suspected felon and the calls were recorded.

Now the perpetrator, Riley Graham, will be serving 10 years for the offense.

Graham was convicted in February of mortgage fraud in federal court in Atlanta and was sent to the Atlanta City Detention Center to await sentencing. But before and after his trial, Graham used the jail phone to lure people into a new mortgage fraud scheme, according to testimony presented Friday in federal court.
The testimony was presented to U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Thrash, who was not happy to hear it.
Thrash threw the book at Graham, sentencing him to 10 years in prison. The prison term, Thrash ordered, will start after he finishes a 20-year sentence Graham already is serving for drug crimes in Michigan. via ajc.com.

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit The Real Estate Bloggers. where it was originally published.

Mortgage Fraud Using The Prison Phone

One of the things that I have preached on here and when talking to others about the housing market is that first time buyers will be the key to the turnaround. There are way to many potential first time buyers sitting in apartments waiting for the market to find it’s base. For for those moving up from their starter homes to bigger homes, they need buyers.

Well, the housing bill that was signed last week is the first step to the process. There is a provision in it providing a $7,500 tax credit to first time home buyers in it. While this will not make a huge dent in the expensive markets, for most of the country it will mean about a 5–10 percent discount on a first home.

Pulte Homes is jump starting the competition for these first time home buyers by adding another $7,500 in discounts for all buyers. Take into consideration the discounts already out there, this should bring buyers into the market that have been sitting on the sidelines. Once they enter the market, velocity will ensue and stabilization will occur.

Richard Dugas, president and chief executive of the Bloomfield Hills-based homebuilder, said the idea is to bring more focus to the tax credit and get waiting buyers off the fence and into new homes. About 40% of home buyers are making their first purchase.

“Our plan is to match the tax credit with a $7,500 offering of our own, and we will extend it to all buyers, not just first-time home buyers,” Dugas said on a conference call Monday hosted by the National Association of Home Builders. via the Detroit Free Press.

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit The Real Estate Bloggers. where it was originally published.

Pulte Homes To Match Housing Bill $7,500 First Time Borrower Benefit

Next time you quote me, please link to this site too and add a photo, would you?

Signed,

Real Estate Poodle

The credit market continues to get tighter and tighter. Morgan Stanley has put a freeze on thousands of their clients home equity lines of credit. The company says that the customers had declining home prices and they needed to protect their interests.

But for homeowners, buyers, and sellers, this is an ominous sign. The credit markets are in a bad spot, but instead of working their way out of it with smart lending, it seems like they are turtling up. Hiding and not doing business will  not turn things around. Smart and responsible lending is the answer.

But if home sellers can find buyers and those buyers can not find financing, the house still will not sell. My biggest fear is the credit markets are getting so tight that even well qualified buyers  will be left  out of the market.

Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest U.S. securities firm, told several thousand clients this week that they won’t be allowed to withdraw money on their home- equity credit lines, said a person familiar with the situation.
The action mostly affected clients with properties that have lost value, according to the person, who declined to be identified because the information isn’t public. The New York- based investment bank will review home equity lines of credit, or HELOCS, monthly from now on, the person said.  via Bloomberg.com

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit The Real Estate Bloggers. where it was originally published.

Morgan Stanley Puts Freeze on Thousands of HELOCs

Movie site: IOUSA

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Joel at Future of Real Estate Marketing had a post about the Flip Video camera, a device which coincidently I’ve been trying to figure out how to use. I was sent one by FrontDoor and invited to make real estate videos for their blog FrontDoor: Unlocked. They’ve been assembling a group of 10 or so real estate bloggers to create videos for the website and they’re calling it the FrontDoor Blogger’s Council. Joseph Ferrara had a little post about it today and published a short list of members.

Each new member received one of the Flip Video camera’s with a directive to go out and create an introduction. Thankfully, mine is not up yet, and hopefully will never see the light of day.

I did use it to create a video montage of a Seattle Home Lounge & Bar Tour though, but there’s room for improvement. It’s a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, but I managed to add a soundtrack. It’s the editing that’s tricky. Plus, the quality isn’t quite as good as I had hoped. Or it could be operator-error…..

FrontDoor just announced today that they inked a deal with Terabitz. The deal centers on two Terabitz components: a beta version of the company’s iPhone home search application and Neighborhood Explorer, which delivers rich local data in an elegant map interface. Frontdoor’s new iPhone application, which can be accessed at m.frontdoor.com, enables users to search for homes based on several criteria. The Terabitz Neighborhood Explorer allows FrontDoor’s iphone users to view a wide array services and amenities around any given home listing. Schools, places of worship, restaurants, banks, ATM machines, coffee houses, grocery stores and much more can be displayed with one click.

I’d rather now start making sure those the bill intends to help get the information they need so they can move forward with this new opportunity. So, I’ve put together a guide to help you determine if you are able to take advantage of this bill.

Eligibility

You are eligible if you meet the following criteria:

1. The loan in question is on your primary residence (no allowances are available for second homes and investment properties)
2. The loan was obtained between January 2005 and June 2007
3. Your mortgage payment is at least 31% of your gross monthly income (before taxes - not take home pay)
4. You do not necessarily have to be late on your mortgage payment (you can be current and still take advantage of the program)
5. Whether you are late or current you need to prove that you are not deliberately late on your payment (point #3 above should help you prove your case)
6. You must retire any second mortgages you have taken out (this is going to be tough one for many people - I guess you’re going to need to explain to the second lien holder your plans and ask them to write it off - not sure on this one)

As a side note you must be aware that you will not be permitted to take a second loan in the future without FHA approval and the total will not be allowed to exceed a combined loan to value of 95%. Also this bill makes major changes to the FHA Loan program.

Getting Started

To get started you will first need to obtain approval from your current lender. Please be aware that the current lender is not under any obligation to automatically approve your request. It is a voluntary requirement that the lender comply with the bill. Remember, the lender is being asked to take a loss - writing down the value of the loans up to 90% of its value - so it’s not a walk in the park. Also, in the Phoenix market where we’ve seen a 26.47% drop in home prices from last year alone - the lender is being asked to take an even larger loss. So, be forewarned that you will face resistance from the lender.

Once your lender has agreed to the write down, then you will need to contact a FHA approved lender and go through the loan application and approval process. This means you will need a full appraisal on the house as well. The original lender under the agreement should write off any fees and penalties on the original mortgage such as prepayment penalties. Additionally, the old lender is being asked to pay the FHA up-front mortgage insurance premium of the principle balance (you can see why they will be very careful on who they approve). Once all this has been completed, the old lender is required to then declare the old loan as paid in full. You are now off the hook for the old loan.

The Catch

Now that you have a new loan - more manageable and affordable you need to be aware of a few things.  The first is that you will be required to share any appreciation you gain on your home with the FHA (HUD). You will have to pay the FHA 100% of any profits if you sell the house in the first year - this percentage decreases by 10% every year and stays at 50% after the fifth year. So, if in year seven you make a $30,000 gain you still agree to pay $15,000 to the FHA! Finally, if this wasn’t enough, an automatic 3%  will be charged as you sell or refinance your loan. I guess you can view it as a nice “thank you gift” back to the government for saving you from foreclosure!

Overall it’s a not a bad deal for many who are facing dire financial choices. Considering the alternative, I would recomment that anyone who thinks they might benefit should look into the matter closely.

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Read WSJ story related to this video.

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