Foreclosed Properties

Hello everyone,
This is Brad Hammarlund with Exit Homevets Realty once again. I work help buyer search for homes for sale and also help people sell their homes. I work in the Fort Hood area this includes Killeen, Nolanville, Harker Heights, Copperas Cove, Kempner, and Lampsas.
Have you ever thought of buying a foreclosed property?
There are many advantages and disadvantages here are a few of both just to help better educate you on foreclosures.
First and most important you can get a home at a low price. Banks are not interested in owning homes and want to get rid of foreclosed properties, so they are often willing to give a big discount from the market value of the home to get it sold. If you get a good deal you will have instant equity in your home that will help if you decide to sell in the future or if you ever decide to take out a home equity loan. If the home is VA foreclosure or a FHA foreclosure sometimes they will offer special programs to help with closing costs (HopePath program) and they can also qualify to finance repairs along with the loan for the purchase of the property (201K mortgage). Once again the home has to qualify for these programs. For more information about them feel free to contact me.
Now some of the draw backs, First and foremost they are sold as is. This means that if there is a problem you are buying the problem. The banks do not repair home homes before selling them, they all recommend that you get the home inspected before you put in a offer on the home. Another draw back is that they will not pay to a title policy once again you are buying it as is and if there are other liens on the title then when you purchase the home you will be responsible for those as well. Most will allow a small grace period so once you put in a offer on the home and it is accepted you can order a title search on the property, and if there are liens that you are not willing to be responsible for you can back out before you close and not lose your earnest money. Another thing to remember that you will not even be able to put in a offer of a property unless you have already been pre-qualified for a mortgage, or if you are paying cash you will have to have proof of funds to submit the offer. And the majority of the banks will want a minimum of a $500.00 earnest money deposit and there are a lot that require $1000.00 or more. Along with this most banks will not pay for a new survey. It is also had to get them to pay for FHA and VA non allowables. Normally sellers are willing to cover these closing costs and people with VA eligibility can purchase the home with zero down, or if someone qualifies for a FHA loan the sellers will pay these cost so the buyer can purchase the home for a very low down payment.
For more information about foreclosed properties feel free to contact me. 
feel free to search for foreclosed properties .

 

FHA Plays Vital Role for American Homeowners, Realtors® Testify

Hello everyone once again this is Brad Hammarlund with Exit Homevets Realty, my service area if the Forth Hood Area helping both home buyers and homes for sale in the following areas Killeen, Copperas Cove, Harker Heights, Nolanville, Kempner, and Lampasas. I came a cross a interesting article and thought some of you of there might be curious about the FHA and their effect on the economy, and how with their help kept the economy from crashing harder than it did.
Since the private mortgage market collapsed, the Federal Housing Administration has played a critical role by helping make mortgage insurance available to millions of qualified home buyers. That is exactly the way Congress designed the mortgage insurance fund to operate when it was established 80 years ago, the National Association of Realtors^® said in testimony today.
NAR President Gary Thomas testified before the Senate Banking Committee that without the FHA, the housing downturn and economic recession would have been far worse for the nation.
 “FHA helped fill the void over the past five years after private lending fled the market by providing safe, affordable access to mortgage credit to millions of Americans who wanted to purchase a home,” said Thomas, broker-owner of Evergreen Realty, in Villa Park, Calif. “Had FHA not stepped in to fill the market gap, many families would have been unable to purchase homes, current homeowners would have experienced far greater drops in equity and their home’s value, and our nation’s economy would be much further from a recovery.”
In his testimony, Thomas said FHA has always safely provided access to mortgage financing; it has never offered risky mortgage products, used predatory lending practices or engaged in exotic underwriting. However, like other holders of mortgage risk, FHA incurred great financial losses as a result of overall market conditions that led to increased foreclosures.
Thomas said that NAR is confident that FHA has already taken many of the necessary steps to help stabilize the fund as well as numerous administrative changes to mitigate risk. Those changes include five increases to mortgage insurance premiums since 2009, hiring a credit risk officer, implementing credit score floors, requiring higher down payments for borrowers with lower credit scores, and adopting a series of measures to increase lender responsibility and enforcement, he said.
“FHA currently has one of the strongest books on record and the quality of borrowers has skyrocketed; continued market improvements and rising home prices will also help improve the fund’s future financial condition,” said Thomas.
Thomas said NAR welcomes a time when FHA’s market share is reduced to its more traditional levels of 10 to 15 percent of the market, and the private lending market is once again robust, but we are not there yet. Uncertainty about pending financial regulations and the future of the secondary mortgage market are keeping private lenders from returning to mortgage markets.
“Once the rules for mortgage finance are resolved and housing prices stabilize nationwide we anticipate that private investors will return to the market and FHA’s market share will return to more traditional levels,” he said.
Thomas cautioned about making arbitrary changes to FHA, such as further increasing costs to consumers or limiting the use of the program to certain types of buyers, only for the sake of luring back private markets. While NAR supports changes that are vital to the solvency and strength of the FHA fund, actions to deliberately lower FHA’s market share could disrupt the availability and affordability of mortgage credit and undermine the fragile real estate recovery.
“FHA continues to play a significant role in the housing market and recovery. We applaud them for their leadership and strength during the housing crisis, and for continuing to serve the needs of hardworking American families who wish to purchase a home,” said Thomas.
The National Association of Realtors^®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Is There a Window of Opportunity for Sellers Right Now?

Hello all this is Brad Hammarlund again, I am a Realtor with Exit Homevets Realty, here is some more interesting reading, especially if you are thinking about listing you home for sell.   
Is There a Window of Opportunity for Sellers Right Now?

Also here are some links for market information in  Killeen, Harker Heights, Copperas Cove, Nolanville, and for additional areas feel free to go to my website: bradsellstexas.com

Economy Advances 2.2 Percent in 2012

Hello, Everyone this is Brad Hammarlund again, Found some interesting information that might interest you.
Economy Advances 2.2 Percent in 2012

January home sales

Hello everyone, I am Brad Hammarlund, I work with Exit Homevets Realty in Killeen, TX. I just received some new home data for those who are interested. 

 

Killeen, Fort Hood Area Home Sales in January 2013

by  Exit Homevets Realty

The number of single family homes sold during the month of January 2013 was 162.  That was down from the previous month of December 2012 where 185 homes where sold.  But when compared to the same time last year, it is almost the same, where 167 homes where sold in January of 2012.  For more graph and history of sales within the Killeen, Copperas Cove, Harker Heights and all of the Greater Fort Hood area visit  RealtySalesData.

First time home buyers

Attention all first time home buyers!!!
My name is Brad Hammarlund and I want to represent you!!!
If you are thinking about buying your first home the process can be very confusing, Here in Killeen, TX at Exit Homevets Realty our Real Estate service area is the Fort Hood area, including Nolanville, Harker Heights, Killeen, Copperas Cove, Kempner, and Lampasas. I work with Home Buyers and Home sellers and I believe in educating my clients and make sure they understand all their options.
Most people get tired of paying rent and decide they want to buy a house so they start searching on line for houses for sale, fall in love with a house, and go to see a real estate agent, not know much about the industry. They usually they go to an agent someone recommends, a friend or a family member. If they are lucky they have good credit and they are not searching for homes above their means and everything works out. For the majority of consumers this does not work out. Due to different circumstances, either they fall in love with a house they can not afford, their credit score is not high enough, or they have to much debt and can not qualify for a loan.
If you are thinking about buying a house it is good to look around at the different websites to see what is available on the market, but who you choose to represent you means a lot. In most states all agents are required to represent the seller unless you sign a buyers representation agreement with a agent, then at that point his responsibility changes from that of the seller to you the buyer. So when you choose someone to represent you it is best to make sure that he is going to do what he/she is supposed to do, this is why it is best to use the services of a Realtor. For those you do not know the difference between and real estate agent and a Realtor. All Realtors are real estate agents but not all real estate agents are Realtors. When an agent becomes a Realtor he joins an organization, The Nation Association of Realtors, Their State Association of Realtors, and their local association of realtors, when the do this they are held to a high set of standards and a code of ethics. What does this mean to you? Mainly this means that no matter what they are going to put your interests first not because they want to, but they have to, if they don't they face high fines and the chance of getting kick out of the organization and losing their livelihood, also when they are members of the multiple listing service so they have more availability to homes for sale.
So when deciding to seek an agent it is best to find out a little about them first. Now any good agent the first thing they are going to do is sit down with you and explain the process and make sure you understand the whole process , then they will want to get you pre-qualified for a mortgage, now the reason they do this is to make sure that you will be able to get a home loan and if you do not qualify they can work with you and get your credit where it needs to be so you can in qualify in the near future. Also it will let you know how much you can spend. Then they will help you start search from the home of your dreams.