Sellers

Well, you have to hand it to CNN Money. They present both sides of a story. Their recent headlines regarding the Fed’s updating of the the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) vacillate between describing it as a “lifeline,” to accusing the Fed of using the program as a band-aid on overall housing recovery.

The bottom line for some homeowners is this: If you have a loan backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and it was originated before May 31, 2009, you may qualify, under HARP, to refinance at today’s lower rates.

The most significant change in HARP concerns the loan to value limit, which was previously capped at 125 percent. It now allows underwater homeowners who have been current on payments for the past six months, and have had no more than one missed payment in the last year, to refinance no matter how deep underwater they are.

There are a few caveats, however, and the most significant is that if you currently have a non-recourse loan, refinancing does away with that safety net and you become a recourse loan holder. This is significant if you ever default on the loan – go into foreclosure or perform a short sale. With recourse loan the lender can go after your other assets and even garnish your wages to recoup the amount of money lost. With a non-recourse loan the lender is only entitled to the collateral used to secure the mortgage: typically, the house.

While it’s a move to include more homeowners in a program that, until now, has helped few, some experts are claiming that it does practically nothing to ease the problems in the housing market. Over 3 million American homeowners are either in foreclosure or seriously delinquent on their mortgage payments. These people don’t qualify for HARP.

Details of the new and improved HARP should be hammered out by mid-November with implementation due to begin December 1.

Guest Post Written By: Kimberley Kelly is a professional Realtor helping buyer’s and sellers with Rancho Mirage real estate as well as Indian Wells Real Estate. For more information, you can visit her website at http://kimberleyjoykelly.com/.

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Because the Logan real estate market is still a strong buyer’s market, it is now more important than ever to make sure your home is priced competitively with other homes on the market. If you need to sell your home in a timely fashion, you must make sure it is priced accurately to reflect the conditions of the market.

Here is what you need to know before pricing your home:

• Price with the market – not with emotions.  Your perception of your home’s value may not be in line with the buyers’ beliefs.  When pricing your home, it is important to take emotion out of the equation, and instead, look strictly at the facts and financials.  Many sellers develop a natural attachment to their home, but buyers don’t have the same emotions.
• Expect buyers to be well educated in the real estate market. Because of tighter lending restrictions, the real estate market has purged the buyer who may not be financially savvy, leaving buyers who are smart when it comes to the current real estate market conditions. Today’s buyers know full well what the market will bear in terms of real estate values.
• Make sure to factor in the location of the home, and not just the home itself, when pricing your home. There are some areas of Logan that have fared better than others when it comes to real estate values, so it is now more important than ever to consider location when determining the price of a home.
• Never underestimate the value of a good real estate agent. A good real estate agent will be one who researches market trends and recent sales and listings to come up with an educated decision regarding the price of your home.

Selling your home can indeed be an emotional process, but with these tips, you can price your home competitively in today’s market.

Tina Fountain is the Broker/Owner of Tina Fountain Realtors an Atlanta real estate company. For more information on Tina and to view homes for sale in Atlanta visit tinafountain.com.

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