To discover the answer, let’s look at two different periods of time - 8/07 to 8/08 (Post National Mortgage Meltdown) and 8/06 to 8/07 (Pre National Mortgage Meltdown)

Solds from 8/9/07 to 8/13/08 reveals:
Average Sales Price: $240,254
Average Sold Price Per Sq. Ft.: $93.38/sf
Median Sold Price: $243,500
Low Sales Price: $183,500
High Sales Price: $295,000
Average # of Days On Market: 99
# of Sales: 13
Excludes 2 REO Sales
 
Solds from 8/9/06 to 8/13/07 reveals:
Average Sales Price: $245,100
Average Sold Price Per Sq. Ft.: $86.02/sf
Median Sold Price: $239,500
Low Sales Price: $180,000
High Sales Price: $400,000
Average # of Days On Market: 97 Days
# of Sales: 14

In the 2 Comparison Periods, the average sold price declined by $4,846.  However, the 8/06 to 8/07 period statistics may have been skewed due to the higher than average $400,000 sales price in that period.   In the most recent period of time, the highest sales price was $295,000.   However, the average sold price per sq. ft. increased by +$7.36/sf or 8.56%  and the median price increased by +$4,000 or 2.67%.   So, based on the total picture of all 3 indicators, the Woodland Ridge market still gained in home prices.  

A comparison of the two different time periods, despite the troubles in the national housing market, shows a modest increase in median Woodland Ridge home sales prices of +$4,000 and +$7.36/sf or +8.56% increase over a 1 year period.  The Point here is that when one reads the constant negative national real estate headlines, the fact that Woodland Ridge had this many closed sales and values are still increasing in a “Post Mortgage Meltdown” and a “Tight Credit Crisis” market, that’s good news for the Baton Rouge Housing Market!

Woodland Ridge information is provided with the permission of the Greater Baton Rouge Board of Realtors.

FHA mortgages are excellent tools which can be used to help many first time home buyers with no credit or past credit problems enter into the housing market. The “subprime” mortgage crisis going on now has resulted in a buyer’s market and prices on homes for sale are lower while seller concessions are higher than they have been in years. Yet, most of the 100% financing conventional and subprime loan programs which were available to potential homeowners are long gone now. FHA is the only mortgage program available for quite a few prospective buyers to use to buy a home. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners who bought homes financed with subprime mortgages over the past few years now face huge interest rate adjustments of up to 5 percent or more. Spend 5 minutes watching a business news channel these days and it is easy to understand why these people believe they have no other mortgage options left.

Here are 5 myths about FHA loans that prevent many from trying.

1. FHA loans take longer to get approved.

In today’s mortgage world where automated underwriting and paperless processing dominate, FHA loans don’t take any longer than conventional loans to close if you are being helped by a loan officer who understands how to process FHA loans.

2. FHA loans require a lot of extra paperwork.

The documentation required for an FHA loan is nearly the same as the paperwork required for a conventional loan. FHA only asks for a few more documents than a conventional loan, and the extra documents that FHA does require take very little extra time and exist to protect you during the process.

3. FHA loans cost more than conventional loans.

FHA loan interest rates are set based upon the same market factors conventional loan interest rates are based on. As a matter of fact, even when the FHA mortgage insurance premiums added to your payment are factored in, FHA loans are often less expensive than conventional mortgages for first time borrowers and borrowers with past or even present credit problems.

4. FHA required mortgage insurance is too expensive.

Even conventional mortgages higher than 80% of the value of the property being financed require mortgage insurance which will pay off a portion of the loan should the borrower default. Before the invention of mortgage insurance programs, all lenders required 20 percent down payments to obtain a mortgage. FHA’s mortgage insurance program requires a small upfront mortgage insurance payment which is automatically added to your loan, and a small yearly mortgage insurance premium which is divided up and added to your monthly payments. This is often less expensive than new conventional mortgage insurance rates which can require almost 3% per year in mortgage insurance to be added to the the typical borrower with lower credit scores! As of July 14, 2008 this mortgage insurance costs less if your credit is better.

5. FHA loans have very restrictive guidelines.

In fact, the exact opposite is true in many respects. Although FHA loans have lower maximum loan amounts than conventional mortgages, they don’t have the income restrictions placed on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac community lending products. Getting an FHA loan with limited or no credit history, or credit problems is much easier than obtaining a conventional mortgage. FHA allows for manual underwriting. This means that if the automated underwriting system does not approve your loan, an underwriter can actually look at your file and determine if common sense dictates that you would be able to afford the mortgage. The underwriter can approve your loan even if the automated system turned it down. Manual underwriting is common for FHA loans and very rare for conventional loans. In addition, if interest rates later go down, FHA loans allow for a streamlined, no requalifying refinance process.

About the Author:
FHA training and an expert understanding of FHA guidelines is necessary to prevent being left behind in the mortgage market today. Mortgage brokers will make more money and truly help more borrowers by mastering FHA.

ORDER BATON ROUGE FHA HOME APPRAISALS HERE

Source: Anthony Blackburn, FHA Appraisal Reviewer

From Bill Cobb: I found this to be a very good reminder / refresher article on FHA Appraising.   Enjoy!

After reviewing a batch of about 25 reverse mortgage appraisals made for HUD, post-funding, I found that not a single one complied with all of HUD’s requirements and guidelines, based on their Appendix D: Valuation Protocol. In order to help appraisers check their own work, and avoid these errors, I made the following a list, for publication by Real Estate Valuation Magazine.

The most common errors and omissions I found were as follows:

1) Failure to Include patios, porches, garages, breezeways and other offsets on the sketch.

2) Failure to state “covered” or “uncovered” to indicate a roof or no roof on a porch structure (such as over a patio).

3) Failure to include a street scene photo which shows a portion of the subject site.

4) Failure to enter a legal description of the property.

5) Failure to state that the use of the appraisal is to support FHA’s decision to provide mortgage insurance on the real property that is the subject of the appraisal.

6) Failure to include in “intended users” both the lender/client and FHA.

7) Failure to clearly define the boundaries - north, south, east and west - of the subject’s neighborhood. Providing a description of neighborhood boundaries by physical features such as streets, rail lines, other man-made barriers or well defined natural barriers (i.e. rivers, lakes, etc.) is required to detail the make up of the neighborhood and enhance understanding of its composition.

Failure to adequately and accurately describe current market conditions in the subject’s neighborhood.

9) Failure to list all the dimensions of the site, beginning with the frontage. If the shape of the site is irregular, all of the boundary dimensions must be reported. (e.g., 85′ X 150′ X 195′ X 250′).

10) Failure to describe the view from the property (”None” is not an acceptable response!).

11) Failure to include the correct zoning information, based on local zoning maps and statutes.

12) Failure to correctly report the number of comparable sales in the past 12 months and include active listings on page 2.

13) Failure to correctly calculate time adjustments from the contract date of the sale, and report both the contract and closing dates when time adjustments are made.

14) Failure to enter the name of the subdivision or PUD in the location field in the sales comparison approach.

15) Failure to describe the view from the site on the sales comparison approach (e.g., similar homes, commercial area, water view, scenic view, etc.). Such terms as “Average” or “Good” are only acceptable as modifiers: “Residential/Average”, “Water view/Good”.

16) Failure to enter the actual age of the subject in the “age” field of the sales comparison approach. The effective age may be considered and described in the Comments section (for example, if there has been substantial upgrading and renovation of an older structure) but not on this line, which is reserved for actual age only.

17) Failure to accurately report the subject’s condition as “Fair” when it is indeed “Fair”. Like a teacher’s reluctance to give a C grade to an average student, due to universal grade inflation, appraisers are falling into the broker puffing trap of overrating properties. Fair is a lower rating than Average, which in turn is below Good.

18) Failure to analyze and report the analysis of the subject’s prior sales. This is an essential aspect of appraising for FHA in the current market, and is required to help HUD and other agencies spot “flipping” of substandard properties which have been cosmetically enhanced without genuine structural repair.

19) Failure to research prior sales or transfers of comparable sales. (See #18 - same reason.)

If you are guilty of these errors yourself and want to clean up your act, it pays to re-read the HUD Valuation Protocol, a PDF download available from REV. Just click here: HUD Valuation Protocol 4150.2 Appendix D (Note: This is a big file; it may take several minutes to download.)

A real estate appraiser since 1986, Anthony Blackburn began his career as a staff appraiser with First National Mortgage of San Jose. He later worked for Diablo Appraisal in San Ramon and joined Apple Appraisal in Martinez, CA in 1991. In 1996, he became a partner in the firm. Mr. Blackburn founded Apple Appraisal’s review department and managed it directly for several years. Mr. Blackburn has taught appraisal review for the CA Association of Real Estate Appraisers, and served on numerous industry boards of directors. He was State Board President in 1998. Mr. Blackburn continues to be very involved in the local lending community and speaks regularly to affiliated industry groups. He writes for various media outlets. Mr. Blackburn is married, with two children. He enjoys making award winning wine, playing competitive league soccer, and riding his motorcycle. He may be reached at Apple Appraisal Inc., ph: (925) 313-5900 • http://www.appleappraisalinc.com/ • email: ablackburn@goapple.com

Source: Carl Pruitt FHA Loan Advice

The comment period for HUD’s rule banning the use of seller assisted down payment programs is still underway but in the meantime, as I noted in my previous post today, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Fran, D-Mass., recently told The Washington Post (registration required) that the House has agreed to accept Senate provisions that ban seller funded downpayment assistance on FHA loans and impose a 12-month moratorium on the charging of risk-based premiums by the FHA. The White House has also dropped opposition to the bill, so it is now on the fast track to passage.

Here is the text of an email sent out today by the Nehemiah Corporation, the largest of the down payment assistance groups:

Dear Friend,

I am turning to you in the 11th hour, urging you to take action to oppose a
housing bill that will eliminate downpayment assistance. The Senate and House of
Representatives are fast-tracking this bill. See the Washington Post article
below. Upon the President’s signature, downpayment assistance will be shut down
in the United States. Failure to act now will ensure the immediate death of
downpayment assistance.

In recent weeks, I have come to you requesting your help in defeating HUD in
their attempt to eliminate downpayment assistance. HUD and the Senate are now
attempting to ci rcumvent the rule making process by going after downpayment
assistance via legislation. This course of action is being pursued in spite of
the strong support of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic
Caucus, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Congresswoman Maxine Waters.

The consequences will be devastating! By FHA’s own estimates, DPA comprises
nearly 40% of FHA’s volume. This means more than 300,000 working class families
will be locked out of homeownership in the next year alone. Communities across
America will take the brunt of the $50 billion in lost real estate sales, not to
mention the indirect impact on the real estate, mortgage and building sectors
that will be forced to shed tens of thousands of jobs due to this dangerous
legislation.

Act now! Please call your Congressional Representative, Senators, trade
associations and community groups IMMEDIATELY to voice your support for
downpayment assistance and your opposition to this bill. Urge your legislators
to oppose these provisions that would ravage your local economy by bringing the
housing sector to a screeching halt.

Locate your elected officials.

1. Enter Your Zip Code and click “Go”.
2. Click on the link of the Representative you would like to call and then click
on the Contact tab to find their Washington D.C. office phone number.

Sincerely,
Scott C. Syphax
President & CEO
Nehemiah Corporation of America

For those interested, the website Nehemiah has set up to help locate and contact your Representative is located here.

FHA Appraisers Baton Rouge