NOAA site on Lake Union on the market

By Eric Pryne

Seattle Times business reporter

The owner of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Operations Center on Lake Union has put the soon-to-be-vacated property up for sale, marketing it as "a great future development opportunity."

NOAA's lease expires in June, and the federal agency is moving its research fleet to Newport, Ore., after nearly 50 years at the Lake Union site.
Biotech and office buildings are among the development possibilities, said Jason Rosauer of GVA Kidder Mathews, one of the brokers marketing the property. "A Carillon Point or an Elliott Bay Marina would be an option," he added, referring to waterfront developments in Kirkland and Seattle, respectively.
Or the site, with 915 feet of waterfront and three piers, could provide moorage and other services for fishing vessels or luxury yachts, Rosauer added: "We want to let the market decide its best use."
The market also will decide what it's worth, he said: There's no published asking price.
The 8-acre property, at 1801 Fairview Ave. E., has been owned since the 1920s by a corporation controlled by several families. The corporation's manager could not be reached for comment Monday.
NOAA has leased the site since 1963. The agency moored four oceangoing research ships there until fire damaged the piers in 2006. The facility also has serviced six NOAA ships based in Alaska, California and Hawaii.
The property includes a two-story office/lab building and a 12,000-square-foot warehouse.
NOAA decided last year to move its research fleet to Oregon, in part because governments there offered generous subsidies. Seattle-area political leaders tried to get the decision reversed, but Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who oversees NOAA, said in August that it was too late.

Tiny house movement thrives amid real estate bust

By TERENCE CHEA

Associated Press

As Americans downsize in the aftermath of a colossal real estate bust, at least one tiny corner of the housing market appears to be thriving. To save money or simplify their lives, a small but growing number of Americans are buying or building homes that could fit inside many people's living rooms, according to entrepreneurs in the small house industry.
Some put these wheeled homes in their backyards to use as offices, studios or extra bedrooms. Others use them as mobile vacation homes they can park in the woods. But the most intrepid of the tiny house owners live in them full-time, paring down their possessions and often living off the grid.
"It's very un-American in the sense that living small means consuming less," said Jay Shafer, 46, co-founder of the Small House Society, sitting on the porch of his wooden cabin in California wine country. "Living in a small house like this really entails knowing what you need to be happy and getting rid of everything else."
Shafer, author of "The Small House Book," built the 89-square-foot house himself a decade ago and lived in it full-time until his son was born last year. Inside a space the size of an ice cream truck, he has a kitchen with gas stove and sink, bathroom with shower, two-seater porch, bedroom loft and a "great room" where he can work and entertain - as long as he doesn't invite more than a couple guests.
He and his family now live in relatively sprawling 500-square foot home next to the tiny one.
Shafer, co-owner of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, designs and builds miniature homes with a minimalist style that prizes quality over quantity and makes sure no cubic inch goes to waste. Most can be hooked up to public utilities. The houses, which pack a range of amenities in spaces smaller than some people's closets, are sold for $40,000 to $50,000 ready-made, but cost half as much if you build it yourself.

Mortgage Modifications Co's are put under the Microscope

The promoters have names that resemble federal foreclosure-intervention programs such as Making Home Affordable or Home Affordable manipulation. Some even flash pics of President Obama or the great seal of the United States.

You've probably seen the pitches on TV & radio and the net or found them stuffed in your mail: official-looking communications complete with logos & letterheads that look vaguely like those used by the Treasury, IRS & other federal agencies.

Bogus firms always insist on getting your funds upfront with often thousands of dollars; then do little or nothing. But now the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cutting off the main fuel supply for mortgage-modification scammers: Under new rules outlined Nov. 19, the agency designs to ban virtually all upfront payments, institute mandatory disclosure rules; clamp down with new federal restrictions on lawyers who participate in mortgage-modification schemes.

They are in lieu criminal enterprises posing as do-gooders who promise to get you out of the mortgage jam you're in, whether you're severely delinquent or deeply underwater. they claim they can persuade your lender to cut your every month payments, forgive all penalties, slash your rate of interest & even get your loan balance reduced. If your lender won't cooperate, they say they'll perform "forensic audits" on your mortgage; persuade a court to cancel your whole loan transaction because of technical mistakes in the paperwork.

Reserve a ticket for Garden d'Lights in Bellevue

If you haven't experienced the Garden d'Lights Festival at the Bellevue Botanical garden, you're missing out on an brilliant holiday experience. From Nov. 27 through Jan. 1, the garden is ablaze with thousands of plants, flowers & animals, all created from strings of lights. The light total is over a half-million now, & dedicated volunteers created each artistic piece.

This year, a tortoise will join Charlotte in her web, Willie the slug (complete with slime trail) & the 30 or so other animals throughout the garden.

Tickets cost $5 per person. babies 10 & more youthful are free. Entry is free on a variety of nights, but you still must reserve a ticket & have it with you to enter the garden. For information or to reserve tickets, visit www.gardendlights.org.

Not surprisingly, Garden d'Lights has become so popular that the organizers of the festival are limiting the number of visitors that will be allowed in each night. To gain entry to Garden d'Lights, you now must reserve a ticket in advance.

Kick Off to the new Holiday Season 2010

Happy Thanksgiving

Mom on a Mission

More snow expected to fall this evening

Lauren Barkley, 8, left, and her brother, Richard, 6, play in the snow at Downtown Park after an early release from Sacred Heart School in Bellevue on Monday.
Chad Coleman/Bellevue Reporter
By NAT LEVY
UPDATE, 4:32 p.m.The Bellevue School District announced that all schools will begin two hours late Tuesday, as a result of weather conditions. Release times will follow the standard schedule. Bus trips to the south end of Bellevue will be on limited schedule, according to BSD's website.
More than an inch of snow has already dropped on Bellevue, and the rest of the Seattle metro area, and it won't stop anytime soon.
The Monday evening commute is expected to be impacted by another snow system that has settled over the area and could drop several more inches of snow on the ground by the end of the day.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the Puget Sound Region early Monday, predicting anywhere between two and six inches of snow this evening.
NWS Meteorologist Dennis D'Amico said Monday afternoon that the snow will continue to fall through the night with drier conditions Tuesday. Wind will be a factor, with the potential for gusts as high as 40 miles per hour.
But when the snow fades, the issue of it freezing and turning into sheets of ice comes into play.
"Ice will be a problem if roadways are not treated well," D'Amico said. "Our highs tomorrow will not go above freezing."
To this point, treatment of the roadways has prevented accidents. There have actually been fewer incidents Monday in Bellevue than a normal day, in which more cars might be on the road, said Sheryl Mullen, spokeswoman for the North East King County Regional Public Safety Communication Agency (NORCOM), which operates dispatch centers for Bellevue and other nearby cities.
Mullen applauded road crew work for keeping snow and ice off main arterials and preventing the kinds of accidents that can lock up an entire city, or even the whole Eastside.
"Either people are doing better in the snow than we think," Mullen said, "or the road crews are keeping the roads really clean. We're waiting for things to pick up but they just haven't."
Plows from state and local municipalities have been at it all day, working on highways and city streets.
Plows from the Washington State Department of Transportation have been out all day clearing highways as snow falls on and off.
In Bellevue, the city's 14 plows have been extremely active. Mike Jackman, assistant director of utilities for Bellevue, said all major arterials and neighborhood roads have been cleared.
The vulnerable roads are the small residential streets and those at higher elevations south of I-90. Jackman said utilities crews will continue to work on the main streets, but he hopes to get into most of the neighborhoods overnight so ice doesn't become a problem.
"Our biggest concern is as the temperature begins to drop, there could be some real icing conditions developing overnight," he said. "We'll be all out and trying to de-ice all night long ahead of the morning commute."
But the snow is continuing to impact travel. Roads are beginning to stack up as travel times soar above their average times, according to WSDOT travel times.
For those seeking protection from the weather, Bellevue's severe weather shelter at the Crossroads Community Center will be open beginning at 8:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The shelter, located at 16000 NE 10th St., accommodates 50 individuals and is run by the Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns Council. For more information, the council can be reached at 425-614-8544.

It's Still Coming Down

Seattle, Jane Calbreath Dec. 2010

As the day went on in Seattle and Eastside Neighborhoods, the snow continued to fall. Drivers and People on foot were slipping on icy roadways and sidewalks. As I look out the window in Bellevue at 9:23pm I can see the snow isn't seeming to let up. If you are out in the weather, please bundle up and stay warm, remember that as the wind blows it causes the temperature to drop even more against your exposed skin.

HERE IT COMES!

Light flakes of snow visited Bellevue on Sunday afternoon, not sticking here on Richards Road, but makingthe day pretty.

Craig Groshart, Bellevue Reporter

Magnolia manse inspires a designer to move and compromise

By Rebecca Teagarden

photographed by Mike Siegel

BETTER BUCKLE up, because we're going over to Kelly Rivelo's. And I'm betting, based on the previous homes of this crazy-for-interior-designing woman, that Kelly Rivelo has more energy than all of us put together. "This house is a bottomless pit of want/need," she says. Uh-oh.
"The kitchen was bad. Really bad. The ceiling was falling down. There were rats. It was a foreclosure on its way to being condemned when the previous owners bought it." Rivelo is standing in what is now the charming French-country kitchen of her latest personal project. Another stately brick home in Magnolia with water/city views. And from this, her fourth residence in that neighborhood in 16 years, Rivelo could rappel down to Palisade for dinner. If she so desired.
When we last visited Rivelo it was in another stately brick, just down the road, the old Blackstock Lumber family manse. She spent a fair amount of time scraping, rebuilding, papering, painting, tiling, carpeting and pampering that house into perfection.
And then she went to an open house.
"A Realtor friend of mine called and said, 'Kelly, I think you should see this house. It's just coming on the market.' I told her, 'I am not going to buy another house.' But I went. As I got to the bottom of the steps the owner saw me, grabbed my hands in hers and said, 'I know you're going to be the one to buy my house. And I want you to be the one to buy my house.' "
Can't fight fate.
Rivelo bought the house in 2007 and set out to make it her own. This is a woman who goes both ways: loves "The Great Gatsby" and "Me Talk Pretty One Day," classical music and Cheap Trick. Is a fan of the Facebook page "I'm not cranky, you're annoying." In other words, she has a wild sense of great taste.
But Rivelo has remarried, and her husband, Dr. Bill El-Kawa, is a contemporary man who does not share his wife's taste for eclectic-country-traditional.
In compromise, "I've really toned down my drag-queen chic," she says, laughing. A magnet of drag-queen Divine reminds. It is stuck to the front of the royal-blue Lacanche in the expanded kitchen. But, still, there's a Carerra marble farm sink. Matching custom zinc counters and exhaust-fan hood (crafted by Christopher Lee Plummer of CLP Designs, flown in from Pennsylvania).
The home, designed by Joseph Cote, was built in 1915 for Charles L. Hibbard in 6,800 square feet over three floors; three bedrooms, a den and five baths. Separate staircase for the servants. The backyard sits on two levels on more than half an acre. You can see it all Dec. 4 during this year's Magnolia Holiday Tour of Homes.
Yes, one 1940s bathroom with mint-green everything remains. But Rivelo is working her way through the square footage. Thirteen can lights in the master bedroom are gone.
This house has good energy and loves a crowd, Rivelo reports. "I can seat 25 in the dining room," she says. "Yeah, it's a party house." Case in point: Rivelo hosted a friend's wedding recently. Seventy-five people and a band. An anniversary party included 120 guests and another band.
"I put in two dishwashers. It's so easy to cook for parties. The kitchen closes off; it's great for caterers.
"I'm not moving again," she says with a big sigh. "I can't.
"Maybe France. For the winters."

Downtown Seattle: Where things are looking up

By Abraham Aboraya

Special to The Seattle Times

In 2003, Sam Cunningham was living in a big house in Issaquah, spending 45 minutes a day in a car commuting to downtown Seattle every weekday. Weekends were spent tending to the yard.
He loved the experience of occasionally staying in hotels in downtown, waking up in the morning and walking out the door for a bagel and a cup of coffee. He was tired of driving into downtown to visit friends, to eat and play.
On Valentine's Day in 2003, while he was staying in a hotel he came across the sales center for a planned condominium project downtown. He said he quickly bought in, waiting two years for the building to be constructed.
"People who are coming from outside of understanding the lifestyle, there's that trepidation about what the [condo] market's doing," Cunningham said. "But for those of us who live here, we don't really care much. This is how we live."
And living downtown is something that a growing number of people are doing. Not too long ago, downtown Seattle was seen mostly as a place to shop, work and get out of before it got dark.
The relatively few people who lived there were mostly in low-rent apartments in older buildings.
Today, there is still plenty of affordable housing available downtown through various programs and agencies. But they've been joined by many new condo and apartment projects catering to residents of all income levels.

Mortgage rates jump to 4.39 pct. as Treasurys rise

By JANNA HERRON

AP Real Estate Writer

Rates on fixed mortgages jumped from their lowest levels in decades this week.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate for 30-year fixed loans rose to 4.39 percent from 4.17 percent, the lowest level on records dating back to 1971. The 15-year loan also climbed to 3.76 percent from 3.57 percent, the lowest since that survey began in 1991.
Rates rose because Treasury yields climbed to their highest level since July. Mortgage rates tend to track those yields.
The yields rose mostly because traders dumped Treasurys they bought up before the Federal Reserve announced its $600 billion bond-buying program to spur the economy. Republican economists and lawmakers have criticized the Fed program, saying it could lead to runaway inflation. Those fears have led investors to sell their bonds.
Before last week, mortgage rates had been at or near historic lows since April as investors, worried about the economy, shifted money into the safety of U.S. Treasurys. Mortgage rates fell to their lowest point as traders snatched up Treasurys ahead of the central bank's announcement.
The recent jump in rates rippled through the mortgage market. The number of people filling out mortgage applications slumped last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. Purchase applications dropped by 5 percent from the previous week, while refinance applications tumbled 16.5 percent.
While refinancing activity got a boost, low rates did little to buoy the struggling housing market. Potential buyers are worried about their jobs or unable to qualify for a loan because of tighter credit standards. Others can't sell their own homes before buying another.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac collects rates from lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a single day.

Foreclosure class actions pile up against banks

By CURT ANDERSON and MICHELLE CONLIN

AP Business Writers

Foreclosure-fraud class action lawsuits are starting to pile up against major banks across the U.S., threatening a besieged industry with billions more in potential losses.
Bank executives are swarming Capitol Hill this week to defend themselves against multiple foreclosure-related investigations, including one by all 50 state attorneys general. Talks are under way in that probe in hopes of reaching a settlement, but that wouldn't extinguish the mounting threat of an avalanche of class actions.
A congressional watchdog said in a report issued Tuesday that the foreclosure document debacle could threaten major banks with billions of dollars in losses, further prolong the housing depression and damage the government's effort to keep people in their homes.
The class actions, which could be expanded nationally, seek damages for homeowners whose properties were illegally foreclosed upon by banks using fraudulent documents. Suits have been filed in Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts that target Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., HSBC PLC and JPMorgan Chase & Co. In Florida and Maine, Ally Financial, formerly known as GMAC Mortgage, is also being targeted.

Trustee's pursuit of Mastro assets has cost $3.6M so far

By Eric Pryne

Seattle Times business reporter

The team of lawyers, accountants and other professionals battling bankrupt Seattle real-estate magnate Michael R. Mastro in court has run up unpaid bills totaling more than $3.6 million so far, recently filed documents show.
That money will come out of Mastro's estate before his numerous unsecured creditors are reimbursed. But the team's leader, court-appointed trustee James Rigby, said Monday those creditors stand a better chance of recovering something eventually because of the team's efforts.
"There was zero money in the pot when this [bankruptcy case] got filed," he said.
James Frush, one of Mastro's lawyers, said the documents underscore an argument he's been making for months â€” that Rigby and his lawyers are pursuing a "scorched-earth" campaign against Mastro only to enrich themselves.
"Never has so much been spent to obtain so little," Frush said.
Rigby's job is to find Mastro's assets, liquidate them and distribute the proceeds to creditors. Under bankruptcy law, the trustee collects a percentage of whatever he recovers, and his legal and other administrative expenses are paid off the top.
Rigby's team, which includes lawyers from four Seattle firms, has not been paid anything yet, more than a year after most started working on the complex case.
They moved to rectify that last week, submitting their bills through Oct. 31 and asking U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marc Barreca to compensate them in part by awarding them prorated shares of $930,000 Rigby has recovered so far.
A hearing on those requests is Dec. 10.
Mastro, a prolific real-estate developer and lender for 40 years, was pushed into what probably is Washington's largest bankruptcy in July 2009.
He has listed debts totaling more than $570 million, and Frush has said there's no money left to reimburse creditors whose debts weren't secured by real estate or other collateral.
But Rigby contends Mastro, anticipating bankruptcy, schemed to hide some assets and put others out of most creditors' reach. The trustee has filed several suits to undo those deals.
One lawsuit, to determine who's entitled to proceeds from the pending sale of Mastro's Medina mansion and sale of another house in Clyde Hill, is scheduled for trial in March.
Rigby said Monday his bills wouldn't be so high if Mastro hadn't fought him at every turn. Legal wrangling over the Medina house alone has cost more than $1 million, he said.
Rigby said he understands Mastro's creditors, including about 200 individual "Friends & Family" investors, might be upset if his team gets some money soon while they get nothing. But "if the creditors got paid first, no professionals would take on work like this," he said.
And if their lawsuits against Mastro fail, he added, he and the lawyers and accountants will get little or nothing for their work.
But Frush said Rigby should have worked with Mastro instead of taking such an adversarial stance from the start.
"It's a real tragedy for the unsecured creditors. If this had been handled right, there might have been something left for them."

Downtown buildings' owner misses loan's $154M balloon payment

By Eric Pryne

Seattle Times business reporter

The owner of two prominent Denny Triangle office towers, Metropolitan Park East and Metropolitan Park West, has missed the deadline to pay back big loans it took out five years ago to buy the buildings, according to reports this week from the loans' servicers.
Walton Street Capital of Chicago was supposed to pay back all the principal a total of $154 million when the two interest-only loans matured Nov. 6.
It hasn't, according to servicers ING Clarion and LNR Partners.
ING said Walton Street has defaulted on the Metropolitan Park East loan. LNR didn't use that word, but did label the Metropolitan Park West loan "non-performing."
LNR and ING are "special servicers" who deal with troubled debt. Oversight of the Metropolitan Park loans was transferred to them months ago because of concern Walton Street wouldn't be able to refinance when the loans matured.

A Walton Street principal did not return a call or email. Twenty-story Metropolitan Park East and 18-story Metropolitan Park West, nicknamed the "Twin Toasters," were built in the 1980s just off Interstate 5 by longtime Seattle developer Martin Selig.
Walton Street, a private-equity investment firm, bought them in 2005 from Seattle's Benaroya Company for a total of $183 million, according to county records.
For financing, Walton Street borrowed about 80 percent of that sum from Greenwich Capital of Connecticut, which then packaged the debt with other real-estate loans and sold them to investors as commercial mortgage-backed securities.
King County now values the two buildings for tax purposes at about $135 million less than Walton owes on them.
LNR's notes on the Metropolitan Park West loan say a modification is under discussion. ING's notes on the Metropolitan Park East loan indicate the servicer and borrower are talking, and a new appraisal is in the works.
Walton Street is far from the only Seattle office landlord to encounter financial trouble in this difficult market.
Vacancies have climbed. Rents have dropped. Many owners are struggling with maturing debt. At least one building has gone back to the bank, and foreclosure looms for several others.
About 38 percent of Metropolitan Park West's 336,000 square feet and about 20 percent of Metropolitan Park East's 364,000 square feet is listed as available on commercial real-estate database Officespace.com.

Report: Foreclosure mess could threaten banks

By MARCY GORDON

AP Business Writer

The disarray stemming from flawed foreclosure documents could threaten major banks with billions of dollars in losses, deepen the disruption in the housing market and hurt the government's effort to keep people in their homes, according to a new report from a congressional watchdog.
Revelations that several big mortgage issuers sped through thousands of home foreclosures without properly checking paperwork already has raised alarm in Washington. If the irregularities are widespread, the consequences could be severe, the Congressional Oversight Panel said in a report issued Tuesday. The full impact is still is unclear, the report cautions.
Employees or contractors of several major banks have testified in court cases that they signed, and in some cases backdated, thousands of certifying documents for home seizures. Financial firms that service a total $6.4 trillion in mortgages are involved, according to the new report. Big banks including Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage have suspended foreclosures at some point because of flawed documents.
Federal and state regulators, including the Federal Reserve and attorneys general in all 50 states, are investigating whether mortgage companies cut corners on their own procedures when they moved to foreclose on people's homes.

Lender seizes desperate borrowers' homes

By Christine Willmsen

Seattle Times staff reporter

Emiel Kandi forever changed the lives of a pregnant hairdresser, a jobless mechanic and a single mom when he loaned them money.
These unsophisticated, desperate borrowers thought a short-term loan from the well-dressed professional could save them from financial collapse or foreclosure. But the very asset they were trying to hold on to their home as what Kandi was determined to take.
Kandi is the lender of last resort for some people who've been turned down by banks because of poor credit or limited income. He says his requirement for a borrower is merely "a pulse and a legal ability to sign."
He admits he charges borrowers as much as he can get away with 45 percent interest in one case â€” and makes it clear to them that if they fail to comply with the loan agreements, he will take their property.
"I am a wolf," he explained.
A Seattle Times examination of numerous Kandi loan deals shows that they are set up so he can quickly take borrowers' homes and in some cases flip them for a profit. And he gets away with it.
"He's in the business of taking people's property," said Martin Burns, a lawyer who sued Kandi on behalf of the mechanic. "He finds vulnerable people and exploits them."
Kandi, 34, of University Place, Pierce County, is part of the hard-money lending industry. It provides short-term commercial loans to people with businesses or real-estate investments who can't get conventional bank loans or have poor credit. Lenders charge high interest rates, typically 10 to 14 percent, and require real estate as collateral.
Hard-money lending has quietly served knowledgeable commercial borrowers for centuries, providing quick capital or solving cash-flow problems.

Friendly, upscale Lakemont just right for walking

Watching the sun rise over the Cascade Mountains is one of Raeanne Balzarini's favorite parts of living in the Lakemont neighborhood in...

By Jolene Gensheimer

Distance to downtown Seattle: About 13 miles

Recreation: Lakemont Community Park, 5170 Village Park Drive S.E. Lakemont's community park features jogging trails, a softball field, a skate park, a basketball court, two tennis courts, playground equipment and greenbelts.
Historic fact: There is a small mistake stamped into a concrete barrier of the $12.6 million Lakemont Boulevard Southeast project. It is the year "1998," meant to commemorate the completion of the most expensive road project in Bellevue's history; the project was not finished until June 1999.
— Seattle Times news researcher Miyoko Wolf

Price points: What your Money will Buy in The Seattle area

By Lisa Pemberton Butler

Special to The Seattle Times

Lull? Slump? Grinding halt?
No matter how real-estate watchers define the regional housing market, buyers are still being wooed with record-low mortgage interest rates, deep price discounts and a vast selection of single-family houses and condominiums in the Seattle area.
Here's a peek at properties in various price ranges and locations sold between July 1 and Oct. 31.

$250,000-300,000
Housed in the century-old Queen Anne High School, this top-floor condo is a bit of Seattle history with hardwood floors, large windows and sweeping views of the city. The kitchen boasts stainless-steel appliances, an island and slab-granite countertops. There's also a shared rooftop deck for entertaining.
Living area: 683 square feet
Bedroom/bathrooms: 1 bedroom, 1 bath
Year built: 1908
Sold for: $257,500 on July 22
Near Bothell, this two-story home in Wandering Glen Estates features new kitchen countertops, tile back splash and stainless-steel appliances. Other updates include new laminate flooring and carpet throughout the home. The 7,840-square-foot lot is fenced and backs a protected area.
Living area: 1,500 square feet
Bedroom/bathrooms: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths

Year built: 1985
Sold for: $267,500 on Sept. 27

Bair Says Regulators Need More Data to Break Foreclosure Logjam

By Meera Louis and Phil Mattingly

Bloomberg News

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Chairwoman Sheila Bair said regulators will need to gather more information on mortgage documents to relieve a foreclosure bottleneck that threatens to derail the U.S. economic recovery.
"There is still more important information to be gathered," Bair said at a recent Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conference in New York. "I do have a concern that the problems will slow down even further the foreclosure process."
JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage unit are among loan servicers that temporarily halted home seizures to review paperwork after court documents showed employees may have submitted affidavits in foreclosure cases without confirming their accuracy.
"This is a serious problem," Bair said. "I see some serious issues with documentation."
The Dodd-Frank financial regulation law gave the FDIC new authority to create a mechanism for unwinding failed firms whose collapse might undermine the economy. President Obama, who signed the measure in July, proposed the rules overhaul after the 2008 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings sparked a credit crisis that led to a U.S. bailout for banks.
The financial system is "so much better off" since the enactment of Dodd-Frank, Bair said at the conference. The FDIC is one of several regulators responsible for implementation of the law over the next few years.
Bair, whose five-year term as FDIC head expires next year, said she doesn't want to extend her stay.
"I do not want to be reappointed," she said. "New blood and fresh thinking is always important for regulators."

Sustainability means not having to worry about affording The mortgage or The taxes.

Seattle Times

Sustainable homeownership, rather than just owning a home, is the new American dream.
Sustainable not in the sense of building houses with "green" materials, but in the sense of buying a house and keeping it for the long haul.
I found the phrase at the end of an interesting paper on "The Long-Term Value of Home Ownership in the U.S." by National Association of Realtors spokesman Walter Molony.
Sustainability means not having to worry about affording the mortgage or the taxes, or watching the mail every day for the court notice giving you 30 days to answer a lender's suit to foreclose on your house.
It also means that when you get into trouble, a government promise of help isn't the empty one it has turned out to be for hundreds of thousands of homeowners looking to modify their loans, who instead have been left hanging out to dry by their lenders.
Housing is, first and foremost, shelter and, second, an investment. That is something too many of us have forgotten for too long.

Mortgage rates fall to fresh lows this week

By JANNA HERRON

AP Real Estate Writer

NEW YORK — The mortgage rate bar is even lower, but few homebuyers are making the jump.
Rates on fixed mortgages again fell to their lowest levels in decades this week, Freddie Mac said Thursday, after the Federal Reserve unveiled a massive bond-buying program to help spur economic growth.
That marked more than a half-year of record lows. But housing activity has still faltered.
"I have zero purchase deals," said Wisconsin mortgage broker John Stearns. "That's how it's been for months."
Stiff headwinds - unemployment, foreclosures and tight credit - are undermining attractive rates and forcing buyers to the sidelines.
Home sales logged their worst summer in decades, with third-quarter sales falling by 21 percent from a year ago, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. Median home prices fell in half of U.S. cities in the July-to-September period, up from a third in the previous quarter.And banks are on pace to take back more than 1 million homes this year, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday. Recent investigations into faulty paperwork have postponed some foreclosure sales, resulting in a 9-percent drop in home repossessions in October from the previous month.

Walkaways rattle credit scoring

By Kenneth R. Harney, Syndicated columnist

With foreclosures soaring â€” and homeowners with unblemished payment histories abruptly walking away from houses with no advance warning to lenders â€” the two major producers of credit scores have begun changing how they evaluate consumers' risks of default.
The revisions could affect you personally the next time you apply for a loan.
In late October, both Fair Isaac, the developer of the FICO score that dominates the mortgage field, and VantageScore Solutions, a joint venture by the three national credit bureaus and marketer of the competing VantageScore, outlined modifications they are making to handle the vast credit-disruptions caused by the housing bust, the recession, high unemployment and behavioral changes by consumers.
Overall, credit-industry experts agree, consumer creditworthiness has deteriorated in the United States since 2006 â€” especially among what used to be considered the credit elite, people with the highest scores.

Fall Back Tonight

>> Saturday, November 6, 2010 – Fall Back 2010

11 Ways to Beat the Winter Blues

>> – 11 Ways to Beat the Winter Blues

by Allie Gardner

The first snowfall of winter is magical. The frosty temperatures are a welcome change. But when the novelty wears off and the long winter settles in, many people suffer from a case of the winter blues.
It’s cold and overcast most days. Daylight is limited and staying inside becomes more appealing than venturing out. While cozying up to the fire and treating ourselves to comfort food is great for a month or so, it starts to get old and play havoc on our moods… and our waistlines.

You don’t have to have a serious case of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) to get a case of the winter blues. The days are much shorter, we can’t go outside without bundling up, and it’s dark before we’re out of work. No wonder we get a little depressed. The good news is that there are steps you can take to keep the blues at bay.

Reverse Mortgages as a Possible Answer

For many seniors the equity in their home is their largest single asset, yet it is unavailable to use unless they use a home-equity loan. But a conventional loan really doesn't free up the equity because the money has to be paid back with interest. A reverse mortgage is a risk-free way of tapping into home equity without creating monthly payments and without requiring the money to be paid back during a person's lifetime. Instead of making payments the cash flow is reversed and the senior receives payments from the bank. Thus the title "reverse mortgage".

Many seniors are finding they can use a reverse mortgage to pay off an existing conventional mortgage, to create money for a down payment for a second home or to pay off debt. Popularity is skyrocketing. Over the last five years the number of reverse mortgages nationwide has tripled. The uses of this untapped wealth are only limited by a person's imagination.

Interesting... Hail Storm in Arizona

>> – Interesting... Hail Storm in Arizona

Market Conditions Summary for Lakemont, Washington

>> Thursday, November 4, 2010 – Market Conditions

The median sales price for homes in Eastgate / Cougar Mountain, Bellevue for Nov 08 to Jan 09 was $670,000 based on 5 sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median sales price decreased 14.9%, or $117,000, and the number of sales decreased 73.7%. Average price per square foot for Eastgate / Cougar Mountain was $247, a decrease of 12.1% compared to the same period last year. There are currently 55 resale and new homes in Bellevue on Trulia, including 2 open houses, as well as 29 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process. The average listing price for homes for sale in Eastgate / Cougar Mountain was $718,147 for the week ending Nov 03, which represents an increase of 1.3%, or $9,305, compared to the prior week.

Ways low mortgage rates can work for you

Get mortgage-free relief sooner

It's easy to see why more than a quarter of borrowers today are choosing a 15-year mortgage, according to analytics firm Core-Logic, up from about 9% in 2007. A 15-year lets you save in two ways: You get a rate that's about half a percentage point lower than that of a standard 30-year, plus you can save tens of thousands by retiring the loan in half the time.
Let's say you took out a $270,000, 30-year mortgage at 5.9% when you bought your house in 2005. You're paying $1,596 a month in principal and interest and now have a $250,000 balance.

Let's further assume that you roll $5,000 in refinancing costs into a new 15-year mortgage at 3.8% (so the loan is for $255,000). Your new monthly payment will be a heftier $1,860, but you'll save more than $147,000 in interest over the life of the loan.
What if you can't manage the bigger monthly bite? Refi to another 30-year and simply pay more in months when you're able to, assuming you're disciplined enough to actually follow through with that plan.
Given that few new mortgages carry prepayment penalties anymore, kicking in extra money shouldn't be a problem, says Keith Gumbinger, vice president of mortgage data tracker HSH Associates.
Caveat: If you have only a few years left on your current mortgage, or you plan to move soon, a refi may not pay off. Calculate how long it will take to break even on your closing costs, up to three years is typical.

Improve cash flow

Freeing up cash may be your biggest priority right now. Maybe you're trying to replenish your emergency fund after being out of work, or you have lots of high-interest credit card debt to pay off.
Maybe your twins got into Harvard, and you need to cover some of the tuition out of current income. Or maybe you see enough investment opportunities around that you want to lower your monthly payment and invest the difference.
In those cases, choose a 30-year loan. Using the previous example, if you refinance to a $255,000 30-year at 4.4%, you'll lower your monthly payment from $1,596 to $1,277.
True, you won't save nearly as much in interest as you would with a 15-year. But that's not so bad, says Matthew Keeling, a certified financial planner in Mashpee, Mass., as long as you do something smart with the extra $319 a month you'll save.

Double down on real estate

Do your retirement plans call for moving to a house near the beach or a cabin in the mountains? If you can afford another mortgage payment, you may want to start your search now, while rates are in your favor and prices are depressed. Ditto if you've been wanting to buy a second home or an investment property, says Jonathan Bergman, vice president of Palisades Hudson Financial Group in Scarsdale, N.Y.
Assuming you're buying the place as a true second home, lenders generally charge the same rate they would for a primary residence. But if you intend to rent the place out, even if just for a few years until you retire and you need rental income to qualify for the mortgage, it's considered an investment property.
And mortgage rates on investment properties are running about a half to a full percentage point higher. Still, the numbers are "pretty compelling," says Justin Krane, a certified financial planner in Los Angeles.

Home Ownership at Lowest Level in a Decade

Published: Tuesday, 2 Nov 2010 | 11:34 AM Eastern

By: Associated Press

The nation's homeownership rate remained at its lowest in more than a decade, hampered by a rise in foreclosures and weak demand for housing.

The percentage of households that owned their homes was unchanged at 66.9 percent in the July-September quarter, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. That's the same as the April-June quarter.

The last time the rate was lower was in 1999, when the rate was 66.7 percent.

The homeownership rate was around 64 percent from 1985 through 1995. It then rose dramatically during the Clinton and Bush administrations, hitting a peak of more than 69 percent in 2004 at the height of the housing boom.

After the housing bubble burst, the rate has been declining gradually.

About 18.8 million homes, or 14.4 percent of all houses and apartments, were vacant, according to the government survey. Without vacation homes, that rate would be 11 percent.

The number of vacant homes has soared over the past four years from about 16 million at the start of 2006. It has been hovering around 19 million since the end of 2008. There are around 131 million housing units nationwide, according to the Census Bureau.

About 2.5 percent of all primary residences were vacant and for sale and 10.3 percent of all year-round rental units were listed as vacant and for rent.

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Home Sales in Lakemont for October

>> Monday, November 1, 2010 – Homes sold in Lakemont for October

(8 Total)
$1,620,000

$670,101
$695,000
$699,000
$843,000
$1,065,000
$508,000
$680,000

Use a short sale to escape foreclosure

>> – Use a Short Sale to Escape Foreclosure

If you owe more than your house is worth and can't afford your payments, you might be able to sell it for less than you owe -- without having to pay the lender the difference.

By Bankrate.com

If you can no longer make your mortgage payments and your home is now worth less than you owe on it, foreclosure may not be your only option.

A short sale, in real-estate terms, is the sale of a house for less than what the owner still owes on the mortgage. If the lender agrees to a short sale, the rest of the homeowner's debt typically is forgiven. Lenders sometimes agree to the procedure in order to take a small loss and avoid the lengthy and costly foreclosure process.

While there are some significant negative consequences to a short sale, an ever-increasing number of properties are being advertised with that label.

Short sale: Win-win-win situation

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