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Whether you are trying to minimize the credit losses associated with a foreclosure, or trying to maximize the return on a real estate portfolio investment, the decision always comes down to one thing: Optimizing the balance between the asset’s sales price with the avoidance of holding expenses. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire

By Susanne Dwyer

Low-income families already vulnerable due to strained finances have had to contend with lengthy waiting periods and closed waiting lists for affordable housing, a recent report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) reveals.

Importantly, affordable housing applicants are being shut out of the Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) program, according to the report, entitled Housing Spotlight: A Long Wait for a Home. Fifty-three percent of HCV waiting lists were found to be closed to new applicants, and 4 percent were found to be available only to certain types of applicants.

“Most of the poor families that are unable to obtain affordable homes spend more than half of their limited incomes on housing,” said Diane Yentel, president and CEO of NLIHC, in a statement on the report. “They face impossible choices between paying the rent or paying for food, medicine, transportation, or child care.”

According to the report, 65 percent of the HCV waiting lists closed to new applicants were closed for at least a year, with those on the waiting list having to wait a median of at least 1.5 years for assistance. One-quarter had to wait at least three years.

The amount of households on HCV waiting lists, on average, is 2,013, the report found.

“Congress can make more housing affordable to the lowest income people by significantly increasing investments in deeply targeted and highly effective tools like Housing Choice Vouchers, Public Housing and the national Housing Trust Fund,” Yentel said.

Bills on the docket, according to the NLIHC, include the Pathways out of Poverty Act (H.R. 2721), the Ending Homelessness Act of 2016 (H.R. 4888) and the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (S. 3237).

“Home is the foundation for success in every aspect of our lives,” said Yentel. “Investing in homes is an investment in education, healthcare and economic mobility. As a nation, we understand the housing affordability crisis we face, we have the solutions, and we know how these solutions benefit families, communities and the economy. We lack only the political will to rebalance housing policy and target resources towards those with the greatest need. When we achieve that, we will end the long wait for a home for the nation’s lowest income families.”

To view Housing Spotlight: A Long Wait for a Home in full, click here.

Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC)

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From:: Real Estate News

By Susanne Dwyer

In a move driven by the wishes of its members, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) has initiated a new Sustainability Program designed to position NAR as a leader in the conversation about sustainability in real estate for Realtors®, brokers, allied trade associations and consumers. The new program’s efforts will focus on coordination and articulation of NAR’s existing sustainability resources, while also supporting a growing area of interest for consumers, helping members to assist homebuyers and sellers.

Why Now?
With each passing year, interest in sustainability continues to grow. Research shows that consumers have a strong preference toward the benefits provided by resource-efficient homes and communities. The building, design and home product industries have responded with various solutions that improve a home’s performance by reducing its operational costs—features that will continue to evolve and become increasingly common in the marketplace.

Many real estate agents have already observed this trend in their local markets and recognize that a resource-efficient home, especially one that holds a certification (such as ENERGY STAR® or LEED for Homes), has a competitive market advantage. Research also shows a correlation between sustainable development and property values. But how do brokers and their agents easily identify such shifts in local markets, and locate such properties and features?

After increasingly grappling with these and other questions, members turned to NAR, asking for a fully coordinated effort to address sustainability within the real estate industry. NAR has been actively involved in various sustainability initiatives for many years, including NAR’s Green Designation, Smart Growth Program, Complete Streets, home automation research, legislative initiatives, and greening the MLS, to name a few. What had been lacking, however, was a central point to consolidate, evaluate or articulate matters that impact members, brokers, associations and consumers.

Finding Answers to Complex Questions
Sustainability is a complicated topic that’s too big for any broker to tackle individually. In addition to questions regarding preferential home features and adjusting home values accordingly, brokers and their agents also need to identify helpful resources for buyers and sellers.

To make matters more complex, sustainability topics and solutions are constantly evolving. The Sustainability Program will help increase awareness on the topic within our national association, our members and other industry associations, and the broader real estate and sustainability industries. This program will benefit NAR members through the dissemination and delivery of existing and new resources, information and education, including a new Sustainability Summit in Washington, D.C. It will also introduce corporate social responsibility and triple bottom line concepts into NAR’s decision-making practices.

As a broker, the Sustainability Program also helps you discover ways to incorporate sustainability into your business model so your brokerage can stand out among competitors as a resource that shares a core value with more and more consumers.

Additional Benefits
Other cooperating industries already focused on sustainability include appraisers, builders, architects and MLSs. Each of these provide resources, direction and outreach on sustainability for their members.

NAR is even better positioned to respond more directly to members’ sustainability questions and informational needs. The new program also strengthens influence for the …read more

From:: Real Estate News

By Susanne Dwyer

Fans of the Fox show “24,” listen up: Jack Bauer’s fictional home is now for sale for a cool $3.9 million. The posh space, located at 4620 Rubio Ave in Encino, Calif., was also featured in “CSI” and the 90s classic “Beverly Hills, 90210.”

Stretching 6,000 square feet with five bedrooms and six bathrooms, the modern home was designed in 1939 by prominent architect J.R. Davidson, who went on to design three Arts & Architecture magazine Case Study homes.

The one-story home sits on two-thirds of a seriously lush acre, with a pool perfect for lounging, sleek spaces for entertaining both indoors and out, a home gym, an outdoor kitchen, fireplace and fire pit. If that’s not impressive enough, you’ll be comforted to know that early photos of the residence hang in the Getty Center.

Listed by: Alan Taylor of the John Aaroe Group

Listed for: $3,999,000

Photos by James Moss

This was originally published on RISMedia’s blog, Housecall. Visit the blog daily for housing and real estate tips and trends.

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From:: Real Estate News

The industry’s last chance to change the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures rule just closed. On Tuesday, the door shut on the ability for the industry to comment on the bureau’s proposed updated to the new rule. Now the industry can only sit back and wait. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire

In 2013, the National Credit Union Administration filed suit against some of the world’s biggest banks over the sale of nearly $2.4 billion in faulty residential mortgage-backed securities to several corporate credit unions, which subsequently failed during the financial crisis, due in part to losses from those very same mortgage bonds. The total amount recovered for the failed credit unions in those settlements is more than $4 billion, but for the first time, the NCUA revealed just how much it cost to reach those settlements. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire