FHA Loans in Washington

Maybe you are buying your first home in Washington, or perhaps you're relocating to Washington from another state. Then again, you may be a long-time Washington resident who is looking to either refinance your current mortgage or take out a home equity loan for home improvements. Regardless of your situation, it's important that you educate yourself on Washington home loans before shopping for a home and/or mortgage. This article explains what you will need to know before seeking a home loan in Washington:

The median price of a home in Washington is $211,500. Recently, homes in Washington have been appreciating at rates well above the national average. As a result, income levels in many parts of Washington are too low to purchase a median-priced home with a conventional loan. Although average interest rates in Washington are below the national average, Washington has one of the lowest levels of home affordability in the nation.

In Washington, before a buyer submits an offer on a home, their real estate agent is required to present them with a completed Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement. This document, completed by the seller of the property, requires the seller to name all of the property that will be included in the purchase (refrigerator, stove, alarm system, etc.) and rate certain aspects of the conditions of both the included property and of the house itself. This document requires the seller to disclose any potential problems or hazards that may discourage the buyer from putting an offer in on the home.

Washington's Civil Code Provision of the Real Estate Act regulates the issuance of variable interest rates for the purchase of real estate. Therefore, borrowers who are issued large mortgage amounts are guaranteed a fixed rate mortgage. Washington law also prohibits the charging of interest more than one day prior to the recording of the mortgage even if the borrower received the loan prior to that time.

In July of 2002, Washington law enacted a set of anti-predatory lending laws in order to help protect Washington homebuyers from predatory lenders. Some of the provisions of this new set of laws include the prohibition of a lender charging points and fees in excess of 6% of the total principal financed amount, the prohibition of a mortgage company issuing a loan to a borrower in an amount that the borrower could not reasonably afford to repay, and the prohibition of the financing of single-premium credit insurance, among others.

If you're buying a home in the state of Washington, you qualify for both federal and state FHA, USDA, and VA loans. First-time home buyers qualify for Washington FHA loans with below-market interest rates, and, depending on their eligibility, may also qualify for a loan in order to cover down payment and/or closing costs. Teachers and other professionals who work in an educational capacity may qualify for Washington's Extra Credit Teacher Home Purchase Program, a down payment assistance loan with forgivable interest.

In addition to FHA loans, the state of Washington also offers comparable programs to persons with disabilities or persons who live with and care for persons with disabilities. The state also offers several unconventional loans designed to aid home-buyers with the costs of their monthly mortgage payment. For example, Washington's Interest Only PLUS loan provides qualified home-buyers with a 100% financing 35-year loan that only requires payments toward the accrued interest on the mortgage for the first five years of the loan -- borrowers do not have to pay toward the principal amount borrowed until after the first five years. The individual requirements of each of these loans vary depending on the county in which you are buying a house.

Stop Thinking About It. It's Time to Sell Your House. Inventory is Very Very Low in Northern Virginia

Now is THE Time to Sell Your Northern Virginia House!

The title of this blog post pretty much says it all.

I'll repeat it here:

If you've been thinking about selling your house in Northern Virginia, follow these four important steps:

1. Stop what you are doing right now. Seriously. Stop!
   
2. Stop "thinking" about selling your house.
   
3. Tidy up the house.
   

Why?

Northern Virginia Housing inventory is at EXTREMELY low levels. A "normal" or balanced market means that there is 6 months of inventory of houses on the market. More than 6 months inventory favors buyers who have lots of homes to choose from. Less than 6 months inventory favors sellers who can take advantage of the lack of inventory to entice the buyers to buy their home.

In Northern Virginia, housing inventory is VERY VERY low.

Consider:

City of Alexandria:

• 446 homes on the market
• 1,103 sales in last 6 months or 183.8 Alexandria home sales/month
• Currently ONLY 2.4 Months of housing inventory in Alexandria, VA

Arlington County:

• 593 homes on the market
• 1,495 sales in last 6 months or 249.2 Arlington home sales/month
• Currently ONLY 2.4 Months of housing inventory in Arlington, VA

Fairfax County:

• 2,455 homes on the market
• 8,300 sales in last 6 months or 1,383 Fairfax County home sales/month
• Currently ONLY 1.77 Months of housing inventory in Fairfax County, VA

Oh, one more reason to get started now: Buyers have until April 30th to take advantage of the extended first-time homebuyer tax credit. You might be able to take advantage of the move-up tax credit yourself.

FHA Loan Limits for 2010

In semi-recent FHA news, the House just passed HR 3288, home loan legislation which would continue 2009 FHA loan limits through 2010 for owner-occupied purchase and refinance loans. However, the bill did state that HUD will be reducing loan limits for FHA reverse mortgage loans that are available to senior homeowners who are at least 62 years of age. HUD is now approved to insure FHA home loans worth up to $400 billion.

This is a significant rise from $315 billion last year. The mortgage bill also mandates that FHA mortgage loan limits from fiscal 2008. This means the FHA loan limits will still allow loan amounts up to $729,750 in certain areas. Gone are the days when HUD could copy Fannie or Freddie when setting FHA loan limits for the counties in the 50 states. No more can HUD say “ditto” when it comes to home loan limits, because Fannie and Freddie are silent and appear to be disenchanted with the government bail-outs that have ran-sacked the mortgage industry over the last 3 years.

So with 2010 FHA loan limits all set, consumers looking to FHA for home financing have real numbers to work with. It also helps FHA lenders and brokers, because banks usually won’t roll out new loan programs with government loan limits up in the air. Consumers have been blessed with record low FHA mortgage rates in 2009 and this is clearly good news for FHA rates in 2010. When considering refinancing or a purchase mortgage, check with HUD for local loan limits set by county for each state.

Texas Housing Market

According to Housing Predictor, the Texas housing market isn't immune to the national recession, but most areas have been much slower to see drastic drops in home values. However, Texas has more than its share of problems, including the drug wars, which could have a major impact in terms of housing values.

As the center of the U.S. oil business, Texas is experiencing more job layoffs in the energy business with less energy exploration and drilling rigs being idled due to lower prices being paid for oil. Foreclosures are rising and foreclosed properties are only projected to increase in coming years.

The fallout from the credit crunch will become abundantly clear in the Lone Star state. The drug wars along the Texas border will also impact the value of housing. In El Paso, on the extreme western side of Texas bordering Juarez, Mexico, the economy is just beginning to feel the impact from the Drug Wars in Mexico, which is expected to affect housing values on the most south west edge of the community.

Housing values could suffer as much as a 50% loss from violence associated with the drug cartels. Juarez saw 1,600 murders from drug violence last year. Job lay-offs are also affecting the economy, making it harder for many to pay their mortgages. For now, El Paso is forecast to see average housing deflation of 8.7% this year.

In the state's largest metropolitan area, Houston home sales have been on a dive for close to two years, but values in many areas of the market have held up remarkably for the time being. About a third of all home sales are foreclosures, and as foreclosures increase with the moratoriums expiring values will fall. More business failures, job losses and bankruptcies are hitting the state's largest populated area. The impact will have a devastating blow on the Houston economy, which is forecast to see average home prices deflate 9.8% in 2009.

Despite a huge drop in new home construction mortgage, the Dallas-Fort Worth area still ranks second in the country in new home sales. Houston tops the nation. But home sales are well off their record pace and home values are falling. Sales haven't slowed to a halt like in many other areas of the country, but increasing foreclosures will begin to have a more severe impact on the market over the next year.

With a loss in population in Dallas and an estimated loss of more than 300,000 residents statewide, Texas is hurting. The downward pressure will increase towards the end of 2009 and produce fewer home and condo sales. Housing Predictor forecasts that the average price of a home in the Dallas area will deflate 9.2% by year's end.

San Antonio home prices are on the way down, falling more than most areas of the state as a result of having the most over-built housing market in Texas. Increasing defaults in sub-prime and conventional remodel mortgages are troubling San Antonio, which could see the worst foreclosure rate in the state before it gets through the credit crisis.

Bargain priced properties listed by bankers are making it tough for other homeowners to sell these days. Home sales are projected to slow further in 2009 in San Antonio as fall out from the foreclosure epidemic hits with forecast deflation of 10.2% on the average home.

In some parts of Austin the market has remained fairly stable compared to other areas of the country. The rate of decline hasn't been magnified as much as areas that experienced double-digit housing inflation, bolstered by a strong high-tech business in Austin, and a youth culture that is doing everything it can to buy their first home. First-time home buyers are a large percentage of total home buyers in this area.

Idaho's Housing Market

Increasing home sales triggered by lower priced properties and foreclosures have begun to turn the markets in Idaho. But housing in Idaho is far from stabilizing, which could take at least another year. Unemployment is cooling-off a rebound as the state battles job losses in construction, manufacturing and high-tech.

Home prices nearly doubled in many areas of the state during the boom, and the overly inflated prices are still coming back to earth. In Boise alone, housing values escalated 50% in just over five years due to creative financing and the go-go days of Wall Street.

Although more homes are selling in Boise, it will take at least another year before the market stabilizes to become attractive to more first-time home buyers, despite the federal government's first time home-buyers tax credit. Foreclosures are projected to rise in Boise as more homeowners walk away from their mortgages, triggering a downward trend forecast to deflate housing an average of 10.2% in 2009.

In the neighboring city of Nampa, home sales rose sharply. However, tougher financing standards have made it more difficult for many perspective purchasers to obtain mortgages in the fall-out of the credit crisis causing a slowdown that is entering its third year, despite a spike in sales as a result of the temporary federal tax credit. The crisis has resulted in a rise in defaults, taking a toll on Nampa, forecast to deflate the market 9.1% on average by year's end.

Market Update: First-Time Home Buyers In Portland

I recently read that in Phoenix, 93% of September Home Sales were below $400k. The author says that Phoenix is essentially a tale of two markets, one where homes in the lower priced spectrum are selling & where high-end homes are sitting.

It's interesting to see how the first time home-buyer tax credit has been effecting the Portland market, so I included these numbers to see how Portland compares to the Phoenix sales by price range.

Portland is not quite as high as Phoenix, but still 85% of sales in Portland were below $400,000- which is up about 4% from September of 2008.

Also note that sales below $250,000 are up 9.4% from last September. A lot of those sales can probably be attributed to the $8,000 tax credit.

The tax credit is set to expire on November 30, and the debate rages on in Washington over its extension. It seems to have given the market in Portland a boost, so it will be interesting to see how the market fares if/when it expires.

If the tax credit does indeed expire, it would still take a lot for things to get worse this winter compared to last year. Last January, Portland saw sales activity drag to the lowest total in the Portland metro area since RMLS™ began keeping records in 1992.

Nevada housing market still suffering

The number of residential mortgage loans in Nevada that are either delinquent or in foreclosure reached 18 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, second only to Florida's 20 percent rate, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Thursday.

"It doesn't look good," said Keith Schwer, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The percentage of residential loans nationally that are delinquent or in foreclosure ran 12 percent, six percentage points less than in Nevada.

Nevada's 18 percent rate includes 11 percent of loans that are past due, an increase of more than 2.5 percentage points over the third quarter. Properties going through foreclosure, the other component, jumped 1 percentage point to 6.6 percent.

With the high delinquency rate, Schwer fears the number of foreclosures will rise in Nevada, particularly given the state's high unemployment rate.

"That creates a lot of economic pressure on households that have a mortgage," he said.

But Brock Davis, president of US Express Mortgage in Las Vegas, said many of the subprime borrowers, those with weak credit ratings, already have lost their homes. Lenders have started resetting the rates on adjustable rate mortgages held by prime borrowers, Davis said.

He hopes the number of foreclosures will be smaller, but he is concerned.

"I'm getting questions from good credit people about 'How does it affect me if I walk away' (and allow the lender to foreclose)," he said.

"This new second wave is just as big as the first wave and continues until December 2011," Davis said.

"My personal hope is that the second wave of better credit, first-time home buyers have more credit character and won't have foreclosure rates as high as the first wave of poorer credit homeowners."

Florida Housing Market

I read an article from the Florida Real Estate Journal that I thought I would share for my post this week. Since I have recently expanded the number of states that I can lend in, Florida's housing market is now of a greater interest to me and my readers. The article below is from that publication and discusses what's been going on in the industry, predictions for 2010, and how Florida stacks up against the rest of the country.

The president of a leading Central Florida homebuilder said the worst housing market he’s ever seen could start to show noticeable improvement in late 2010. Until then, homebuilders - and businesses in general - will have to focus on shrewd management to survive.

“In my 37 years of doing it, this is the most difficult time I’ve seen in the overall housing industry and everything that relates to it,” said Robert Adams of Highland Homes.

“This (downturn) is a little different because it was preceded by a high level of demand for housing that was largely artificial in a lot of markets in the country, including Florida,” he said. “Homes were built not for use by the buyer but for anticipated resale by the buyer.”

About 60% of the housing demand was artificial, Adams said, resulting in a near doubling of home prices from 2003 through the end of 2005.

“We have never seen that kind of rapid escalation. It was enabled and facilitated by mortgage programs that allowed a lot of folks to contract for homes who had no business doing it,” he said.

The house of cards began to fall at the end of 2005, Adams said, with housing demand collapsing amid a drop in consumer confidence. The last 18 months have seen an uninterrupted decline in new-home pricing, he said, and new-home starts in Polk County have fallen to an annual rate of 1,000 from 8,500 in 2005.

“We got left with a glut of inventory. Those things combined made this (downturn) very difficult,” he said.

The good news, Adams said, is that existing-home inventory is beginning to be absorbed, which must happen before a market recovery takes hold. The Florida Association of Realtors reported a 20% increase in sales in February from one year ago.

“Meanwhile, it’s a very competitive environment among the homebuilders striving to carve out a piece of a substantially reduced pie,” he said.

Highland Homes - which has about 20 projects in Polk, Hillsborough, Pasco and Lake counties - has seen a 40% drop in business from the most recent peak, compared to 75% for the industry in general, Adams said. Highland Homes’ pricing ranges from the $120,000s to the $250,000s.

Adams said he plans to expand Highland Homes into the Orlando market on a very limited basis, but he doesn’t expect an upswing in the housing market or a change in first-time home buyers confidence for some time to come.

“I don’t see much change for the foreseeable future. We’re prepared to slug it out through 2009, and we’ll be in the same environment through most of 2010. I would hope as 2010 comes to a close that we’ll see some improvement,” he said.

Colorado's Housing Market

Against all odds, the Colorado housing market has made its mark as a place that has gone against convention. When housing markets were booming elsewhere Colorado was slow, and when sales were sluggish for an odd variety of reasons Colorado boomed. That was until the nation's financial crisis, which pulled the state into the housing bust.

However, there are strong indications that many of Colorado's markets are beginning to move back to being unconventional, and that the bottom in much of the state may not be too far off. There are more than a few silver-linings in Colorado real estate. The number of homes selling is on a steady rise amid the fallout of the foreclosure epidemic.

The inventory of homes for sale remains relatively slim, accounting for a six month supply in Denver. Foreclosures make up the majority of sales with lower priced homes. As the mile high city dances to its own beat in the housing bust against the rest of the nation, home values are declining, but not at the rapid double-digit rates elsewhere. Despite a market that was caught in the worst foreclosure epidemic in history, home values are only slipping by single digits and are forecast to drop an average of 9.7% in 2009.

Foreclosures make up the majority of Denver's sales volume as homeowners are unable to make higher mortgage payments due to adjustable rate mortgages. Outside Denver, in the suburb of Aurora sales had a run-up only to slow before bargain-hunters came in to buy up properties at some of the lowest prices in nearly a decade.

Aurora has been hit hard by foreclosures and was one of the first communities in the country to get federal funds to maintain vacant homes. Foreclosures are projected to increase throughout 2009 as more homeowners default on their mortgages, adding to an excessive inventory of homes on the market. Housing Predictor forecasts Aurora will see home prices deflate 10.6% in 2009.

Boulder is also seeing an increase in home-buyers' activity, but hasn't yet experienced an increase in sales, despite the federal government's first time buyer's $8,000 tax credit. Home values have topped double digit losses in Boulder, which has a long way to fall before its housing market re-inflates. Boulder is forecast by Housing Predictor to see average homes deflate 14.8% in 2009.

Grand Junction had been an exception in falling Colorado real estate values for the longest time, at least partially boosted by its natural gas fields. But with the value of natural gas off its' high, drilling and exploration has been cut back triggering job layoffs. The economic fallout has forced businesses in Grand Junction into failure and increased foreclosures. Grand Junction is forecast to see housing values drop an average of 8.8% in 2009.

Near the native Alpines that help make this state a scenic wonderland, Colorado Springs is holding its own in the housing slump, despite an increase in foreclosed properties. Home prices have fallen modestly as the Colorado Springs area fairs much better than most of the state. Housing deflation is forecast to continue through the year hitting a lesser 7.4% in 2009.

During the boom many newcomers moved to Fort Collins to escape big city blues only to see the community grow. With fha remodel financing harder to get for a mortgage, Fort Collins housing sales slowed, sending the market's home values lower and they're forecast to remain that way over 2009 deflating 7.9%.

Hawaii's Housing Market: Single family housing spending up but multi family housing and remodeling still declining

The housing market improved abruptly in July with another large gain in August. However, most of the reported 4.2% August gain was due to a sharp downward revision of July remodeling spending. This is implausible and may well be revised away shortly as several similar huge month to move changes in this market have been.

We interpret the status this way: Single family is clearly expanding but the initial burst will slow when the temporary fiscal pump priming expires in the fall. There is also a risk of a pause or a cutback a year or two ahead if Congress of the Federal Reserve Board balks at continuing to fund aggressive subprime lending by the federal housing finance agencies.

The multi family market will be slipping lower well into 2010 for all of the reasons that plague other commercial real estate market — high and rising vacancies, low and falling rents and reluctance by lenders to fund projects. The remodeling market, as well as remodeling loans, will also be slipping lower well into 2010 until home sales have been rising for more than a year and the unemployment rate is dropping. Unfortunately, the measure mechanism at the Census is unable to capture this trend.

Residential construction spending, construction mortgages and primarily single family, is forecast to jump 14% from the end of 2009 to the end of 2010. This will be driven by a substantial improvement in buyer confidence from again rising employment and income.

Arizona leading in Green States

Arizona has been quietly engaged in the new green economy for almost a decade when a handful of people joined together to ignite innovation and ingenuity in the design and construction of green buildings. And finally, it's really paying off for the entire state.

In just eight years, the Arizona chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council has grown to more than 1,200 members who represent every facet of the built environment, from architects to landscapers. They know that what we build matters.

In the United States alone, buildings account for 72% of our electricity consumption and 38% of all carbon-dioxide emissions. Working together, Arizona's advocates for a green economy are advancing practical and effective solutions to offset adverse environmental impacts.

When the Arizona chapter was organized, Arizona had just one building certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, rating system that is used to assess green-building practices. Today, there are 52 LEED-certified projects and 355 LEED-registered projects that are advancing toward this certification. The impact for Arizona's green economy is tremendous.

Our cities are helping drive this change. In 2005, Scottsdale was the first city in the nation to adopt a policy to construct its buildings to achieve a LEED Gold Certification level.

In 2006, Phoenix adopted the policy that new city-owned buildings must meet the requirements of LEED-certified ratings, and that same year, Tucson committed itself to constructing city-owned buildings to LEED Silver standards.

Recently, Tempe made history by constructing the new Tempe Transportation Center, which is one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the nation. The project stars a three-story, 40,000-square-foot office and retail complex, which is also a bus and light-rail hub. It's designed to be 52 percent more energy-efficient than traditionally constructed buildings and has the first vegetated desert green roof on a commercial building in our state.

Like the Transportation Center roof, decisions to adopt green practices usually start at the top. As more businesses factor in the savings in water and energy costs that these buildings deliver, corporations and entrepreneurs alike are realizing it makes good financial sense to adopt a green approach.

This November will be a milestone for our state as it plays host to the prestigious 2009 Greenbuild International Conference & Expo. It is expected to bring 30,000 professionals to Phoenix in the fields of construction loans, energy, community planning, product development, sustainability and other related fields to hear top international speakers and see the latest technology.

Being chosen to host Greenbuild '09 confirms that Arizona is recognized for its leadership in green building. All this action indicates that we are at a tipping point where sustainable practices and building green are becoming mainstream.

Green-Collar Jobs in 2010

Blue-collar and white-collar are familiar jobs—from plumbers and builders to lawyers and stock traders. Now, the buzz is building for green-collar jobs, the millions of job opportunities created by the green economy. But just what are these green jobs? There are many existing jobs that will be re-purposed and expanded in the new green economy, and others that are entirely new occupations.



A recent report from the Center for American Progress and the Political Economy Research Institute proposed a $100 billion investment in green infrastructure spread out over two years. The study found that an investment like this will result in over 2 million new jobs in six areas: retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency, expanding mass transit and freight rail, constructing “smart” electrical grid transmission systems, wind power, solar power, and next-generation biofuels.

New York City is scheduled to have 1700 hybrid-electric buses on its roads by 2010. As gas prices rise and demand for mass transit increases, there will be a greater demand for new bus drivers, civil engineers, rail track layers, locomotive engineers, rail conductors, welders, and dispatchers trained in the new technology of mass transit and freight rail.

San Diego's Housing Market vs. The Rest of the Country

A blog I read this morning on www.kbps.org discusses the dichotomy in the San Diego housing market, and while there seem to be a few positive signs, most experts seem to agree that the downturn has been unprecedented and is perhaps just the beginning. Check out what KBPS has to say about how San Diego compares to the rest of the country in their blog below.

The most recent good news comes from a report that shows home values grew on a monthly basis for the first time in three years. Prior to May, home prices had been in steady decline since July 2006.

The bad news is it only grew by 0.4 percent, and the housing market usually has some sort of upswing in the spring or summer.

“I think we’re skipping along the bottom of the market right now,” said Gary H. London, a strategic consultant and real estate economist. “We’re seeing an uptick in housing prices and home sales. I’m not sure whether or not that’s a false indicator, but I think it’s safe to say we’re bumping along the bottom right now. I’m not exactly sure if we’ve entered the bottom or we’re already there -- but we’re definitely near the bottom.”

London said during the boom-and-bust real estate cycle in the 1990s, the San Diego market peaked in 1989 and didn’t start to recover until 1996.

“To me this feels like 1992. The worst is over, or at least almost over, but even as things improve it’s going to be a long slog,” he said.

Another positive sign is that median home price has increased for three consecutive months, finally topping out at $314,250. That’s the highest it’s been since October, and up more than $30,000 from the low in January 2009. Perhaps the biggest reason for the increase is that there are just fewer, starter homes on the market to drive the price down. In fact, the county's median price rose $19,250 from May to June -- 6.5% -- the biggest one-month percentage gain recorded by MDA DataQuick since it began keeping records in 1988.

“This is my fourth time on this merry-go-round and I’ve never seen it this bad,” said Mark Goldman, a finance lecturer at SDSU and mortgage broker with Cobalt Financial.

“I think we’re getting near the bottom,” he said. “Entry-level pricing is a very hot market and as the cost-to-own per month is approaching what it costs to rent, then I think we’ll be near the bottom of where the value is going to be.”

Goldman said the market may see a 35-40% correction before getting back on track. Despite having increased in San Diego for three months in a row, the median price had been in free-fall the previous 30 months. In 2008, the median home price was $359,000, a loss of more than 25% from 2007.

“Right now there is a dichotomy in the market,” said Shane Pliskin, lead sales associate with Prudential California Realty. “If you look at the market below $500,000 and especially below $400,000, things are flying off the shelves. It’s not uncommon to get 10 to 15 and upwards of 25 offers per home. The inventory is depleted, it’s the lowest the inventory has been in years.

Pliskin said his office has a personal record of 33 offers on one property. In North County, he read about one property that fielded 80 offers. There’s less than six months inventory for entry-level homes, compared to 15 months or more of inventory for pricier homes. Aside from a huge $23 million sale in La Jolla, Pliskin said, no one is buying at the higher end.

“Above $600,000, and especially above $800,000, they’re dead and they’re not going to move because there are no loan products at that level. Banks are pulling back on (real-estate owned) assets,” he said.

Pliskin also said that Fannie Mae alone has 600,000 assets nationwide they’re sitting on and not putting on the market. Countrywide Financial, he said, has the largest private “shadow” inventory due to the company’s absorption of many of the liar loans left after the sub-prime crash.

“I believe banks aren’t reporting the depth of their inventory out there,” he said.

Banks, Pliskin said, are in serious trouble and trying to shore up their bottom line before the end of the fiscal year, which typically ends in June, July or August.

Starting Aug. 15, he said, banks are going to open up their offers and by end of the third quarter 2009 there will be a huge influx of real estate owned products.

That will mean, instead of the typical pattern of low sales in January and a peak in May or June, there will be a “W-effect” in 2010, Pliskin said, with sales up in the beginning, middle and end of the year with slight valleys between.

“Most first-time home buyers are benefiting from the $8,000 credit and there are some huge investors coming in and taking advantage of a very healthy rental market,” he said.

One of Pliskin’s clients in Northern California is buying as many $100,000 level homes as possible, with the reasoning being there will always be a market for $900/$1,400 rentals from people who can’t afford homes or are new to the area.

“There’s more cash in the market than ever before because of the ability to buy and turn them around,” Pliskin said. “He puts a coat of paint on it and then he can rent it.”

Solar Panels and Tax Credits

Continuing on with our newly adopted "green emphasis," we discuss a great technology that can also save many businesses and individuals money in the long run. Solar panels collect energy from the sun and convert the energy into electricity. Solar panels are generally placed on rooftops to have direct access to sunlight. The solar cells absorb the sun's energy during the day, and that energy is used to generate electricity.

The advantage of using solar is that it is a method of harnessing renewable energy that is clean. The disadvantage of using solar is that there is initially a sizable investment to purchase and install solar panels. That being said, solar panels can pay for themselves in a matter of months or years. Today more than ever, people are becoming very interested in both saving money and saving the planet with eco-friendly solar panels.

Burning oil releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and if that isn't bad enough, obtaining oil destroys the environment and the risks of devastating oil spills when oil is transported are just not worth it. The green advantages of solar panels are that solar energy, unlike oil, is a renewable resource. Solar energy is also non-polluting.

The money saving advantages for individuals and businesses are that by using energy from the sun, it is easy to reduce the ongoing and increasingly more and more expensive costs of lighting, cooking, working, entertaining, heating and cooling. With solar panels you can greatly decrease or even eliminate monthly electric bills.

That's what everyone already knows.

So -- What's New in Solar Panels?

A lot.

If you looked into solar panels in the past and thought they were too expensive, difficult to install or maintain - then it is time to look again. If you're considering solar panels for the first time as a way to adopt more green and economical practices, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Due to lower prices, more user-friendly options, new technologies and laws, it is now a great time to invest in solar panels.

In the past, solar panels were expensive, and silicon, which is used as a semi-conductor in solar panels, was in short supply as well. As interest in solar energy and solar panels increased, (mainly due to the demand for computer chips) the price of silicon rose over drastically. Things are leveling out today as silicon production has increased to over 25,000 tons in 2007. It is predicted that by 2010, silicon manufacture will reach over 75,000 tons.

Even though there is a heavier demand for solar panels these days, new technologies are being developed that are cutting back some of the cost on both solar panels and on gathering the sun's energy. A new solar panel technology uses heliotubes as a conductor to track the sun and gather sunlight. These panels are larger but they are much less expensive than typical solar panels and positioning them is considerably more flexible.

In addition to the lower costs and increased efficiency of solar panels, tax credits are also making solar panels more attractive and affordable. Tax credits are generally more valuable than an equivalent tax deduction because a tax credit reduces tax dollar for dollar while a deduction only reduces the amount of income on which you are taxed. In addition to helpful federal tax credits, there are additional options in certain cities or states. Pittsburgh, Portland and Denver are working hard to make it easier to go green using solar panels. In these cities and a few others, it is possible to recoup part of the initial investment in solar panels through credits.

Green Jobs in a Growing Lending Area

Recently I upgraded my lending areas to include the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington. Info203k is also one of those companies that is trying to make an effort to adopt environmentally safe business practices. So in light of that newly adopted green effort as well as expanded lending area, today's blog post is about green jobs in Oregon.

According to an article in the Portland Tribune, as well as a new state report, Oregon had more than 50,000 “green” jobs in 2008, and employers across the state expect to add many more in the next few years.

Oregon Employment Department’s “Greening of Oregon’s Work force: Jobs, Wages and Training,” reported that the state had 51,402 jobs in energy efficiency or renewable projects and a handful of other environmentally related fields. That accounted for about 3 percent of the state’s total employment.

By 2010, employers say they’ll add about 14 percent more green jobs, according to the state report.

Oregon’s Employment Department released information about the report Monday morning, June 29. The report was based on a survey of employers and found that "green jobs" consisted of 226 different occupations.

A green job is one that "provides a service or a product by increasing energy efficiency; producing renewable energy; preventing, reducing or mitigating environmental degradation; cleaning up and restoring the natural environment; and, providing education, consulting, policy promotion, accreditation, trading and offsets or similar services for related environmental projects."

Construction, wholesale and retail trade and administrative and waste services were the leading industries for most green jobs, about 47 percent of the total, according to the report. The amount of construction loans so first-time home buyers could make home improvements will spike dramatically and become a much larger part of the entire process next year.

The five occupations with the most green jobs were carpenters, farm workers, truck drivers, hazardous materials removal workers and landscaping and groundskeepers.

The average wage for green jobs in 2008 was $22.61 an hour.

According to the report, nearly a third of green jobs required a special license or certificate. The most common requirements were specific to occupations, such as an electrician’s license. Other common requirements were environmental cleanup or abatement certifications, equipment operator licenses and commercial driver’s licenses and prior on-the-job experience.

The report was funded, in part, with Employer Workforce Training Funds administered by the Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development.

Taking Advantage of the Desperate - Foreclosure Prevention Scams

Kenneth R. Harney of LA Times discusses foreclosure prevention scams and what companies are doing to get money from desperate families threatened with the nightmare of losing their homes. In his blog post below, he discusses the types of letters these companies send people, the exact language and offers that appear in these letters, and how they seem to have found loopholes in the system in order to operate under the radar.

How's this for a business plan? A company buys or rents lists of recent default filings from across the country -- thousands of people who have been notified by lenders that if they don't get their mortgage payments back on track, the next step will be foreclosure.

Then they send each homeowner on the list a personalized letter with an urgent message: "We know you're having a tough time right now, but we can save your home! It's not too late! We know how to get through to your lender and work things out to save your house. Call this toll-free number immediately!"

The letters go to rich people, poor people, owners of big and small houses, and they generate hundreds of callbacks.

But in most cases, the panicked homeowners who agreed to pay a fee of $1,200 to $1,300 for the foreclosure prevention services in advance receive little or nothing in the way of help.

The homeowners lose their houses to foreclosure, and the rescue company keeps sending out letters and pocketing fees.

Late last month, the Federal Trade Commission settled with a Florida company -- United Home Savers -- that allegedly operated like this and victimized more than 3,100 homeowners nationwide. The company and its officers denied any legal wrongdoing as part of the settlement but have shut down the firm and agreed to a $4.1-million judgment and close monitoring by federal officials of their future business activities. However, most of the judgment was suspended because United Home Savers and its principals had only about $22,000 in their bank accounts when the FTC froze their assets under court order. United could not be reached for comment.

The 3,100 victims, in other words, probably won't see a dime in restitution.

"What really hurts," said Harold Kirtz, the FTC lawyer who led the government's case against United Home Savers, " is that a lot of these people not only lost money upfront, but they also fell further behind on their mortgages" during the weeks and months while they waited for United's staff counselors to work things out with their lenders.


United is just one of hundreds of alleged foreclosure rescue operations that have prospered in the mortgage market bust. Reilly Dolan is familiar with many of them. He is the FTC's assistant director for financial practices and the coordinator of Operation Loan Lies, a federal-state effort that has targeted 189 companies allegedly running mortgage modification or foreclosure prevention scams. The FTC alone has brought or settled 19 cases against firms of this type in the last 12 months, Dolan said. "And more are coming."

"This is now one of the top priorities" at the FTC, Dolan said, because the sheer breadth of mortgage foreclosure problems "has caused a lot of scams to come out of the woodwork."

Kirtz, who is based at the FTC's Atlanta office, said even well-educated, financially knowledgeable consumers can fall prey to loan modification and foreclosure prevention rip-offs because "they are in a very vulnerable state," threatened with the loss of the roof over their head. As a result, they don't ask the questions they should, and they don't look for the clear warning indicators of potential fraud. What telltale signs should tip off financially distressed homeowners?

* No. 1: If the company claims to be able to guarantee success in preventing foreclosure, no matter what your financial situation or mortgage details, don't listen further to the pitch. Nobody can guarantee you'll get a loan modification, and nobody can guarantee that your lender won't pull the plug and foreclose.

* No. 2: Although there is no federal law against collection of upfront fees for loan modification assistance -- unlike so-called credit repair operations, through which fees are prohibited until services are completed -- any company asking for $1,000 to $4,000 in advance should be checked out thoroughly by the homeowner before any payment.

"We can't say all advance fees are illegal," Kirtz said. But when the fees are for things like processing and administration costs, he said, "in most cases they're probably bogus."

* No. 3: Mortgage modification companies that claim to have special inside connections allowing them to make your payments directly to your lender -- provided you send your monthly checks to the modification company, not to your regular servicer -- are almost certainly intent on one thing: cashing as many of your checks as possible, pocketing the money and leaving you unprotected and heading for foreclosure.

Twitter for Real Estate

Real estate agents and many others in the industry are scanning for clients on these and other popular online social networking sites. Is this a good way to sell a home or are agents' sales pitches getting lost in the post?

Agents who use the social media to market themselves and their homes say they hope to generate referrals — the equivalent to a phone call to a friend about a new for-sale sign on a lawn two or three years ago.


When you finally break down like everyone else and sign up for Facebook or Twitter, you expect to get a stream of random messages from the people that make up your virtual social network — but wait- pitches, pictures and updates on homes for sale? That's different.

Real Estate writer Alex Veiga goes on to discuss what realtors are doing, their strategies and why it might not be a bad way to business these days in her blog below.

"Tweeting is the same way," says Duane Hopper, an owner and broker at Century 21 Real Estate Center in Seattle, referring to the term for posting messages on the micro-blogging Web site Twitter.com.

"There is a multiplier effect that can take place, particularly on very hot information," adds Hopper, who posts information about homes he's trying to sell and promotes himself on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and ActiveRain.

Twitter lets users create profiles where they can post messages of up to 140 characters that can be viewed by anyone with Internet access on a PC or mobile phone.

Hopper started using the site last fall. Since then, he's racked up more than 600 people who have elected to "follow" his tweets. (By comparison, celebrities such as Britney Spears have hundreds of thousands of dedicated tweet recipients.)

A recent look at Hopper's Twitter page revealed more than 20 tweets, although not all the posts were real estate-related.

Hopper liberally mixes tweets about the Mariners baseball team — "Getting excited for Home Opening Day for the 5-2 Mariners" — with posts on his daily real estate rounds: "On my way to paint For Sale Post at our hot new Kirkland listing. Can't anyone get the color right?"

But often, Hopper's tweets are listings of homes for sale that read like word-stingy newspaper classified ads: "At Juanita Multi-level photo shoot," started a recent post. "Listing coming. Hurry if you have buyers. Under $500K, 2,190 feet. 3Bed 2.5Bth."

Hopper also sometimes includes Web links to a virtual tour of the home.

Jo-Ann Cervin, a buyer's agent with ZipRealty in Las Vegas, began using the site just last week under the handle "LV_Cheap_Houses," but she's wasted little time posting a barrage of bulletins urging readers to buy now.

So far, she's got 44 users subscribing to her tweets, which mostly consist of homes for sale or calls to action like this one: "Las Vegas bank owned properties are seeing multiple offers! The great deals are going QUICK!"

Cervin isn't worried that the barrage of home listings via tweets will scare off those who subscribe to her missives.

"They're choosing to connect with me," Cervin says. "I'm not spamming."

On Facebook, which boasts more than 200 million active users, many real estate firms have profile pages that sometimes feature home listings and discussions about real estate. Some agents set up commercial Facebook pages, which are open to all users.

Many agents use one of several Facebook applications designed to highlight home listings on their profile page, such as eListIt's My Listings widget. Others let users pipe in video tours.

John Ammirati, an associate broker with Century 21 Prevete in Long Insland, N.Y., created a Facebook page for his company so his agents log in and post listings and information about open houses.

"We're just starting to get into video," he says.

Hopper takes a more subtle approach on Facebook, however.

He tries to keep it personal, posting photos of a recent vacation, for example, while only sprinkling in real estate listings and links to virtual home tours.

"I don't want to overwhelm people," Hopper says. "It's like getting unsolicited advertising if you overdo it."

Cervin also only recently began playing up her real estate business on Facebook. She hopes her friends will refer her to would-be homebuyers. She's also on ActiveRain, where she blogs about real estate and, ultimately, hopes to nab some client referrals from other agents on the site.

Still, Cervin says she hasn't received any business directly from her social networking activities — yet. "At this point it's free advertising," she says. Hopper concedes he also has yet to find a buyer directly through social networking. But he's confident it is helping, even if only to broaden the chance that another real estate agent in his network will see his home sale tweets and recommend a listing to a client. "I'm getting good activity on my properties," Hopper says. "I feel that some of it is coming from that."

For anyone considering selling their home on their own, the sites may help get the word out. The trick is getting connected to as many real estate professionals as possible.

A search for the term "real estate" in Twitter turns up hundreds of people or businesses tweeting on the subject. So one way is to sign up to receive real estate agents' tweets and then engage them with details of your home.

(Full disclosure: the Associated Press sends news headlines on Twitter, and searches tweets for breaking news and photos.)

Ammirati, who began using Twitter in December and now fires off tweets six days a week to nearly 600 people on the site, suggests finding real estate-oriented groups with more than 100 tweet trackers and join the pack.

Another option is to use applications like twitpick, which allows users to share photos through Twitter.

Ammirati, who also uses Facebook, ActiveRain and LinkedIn, now takes photos of homes being listed for sale with his firm and posts them on Twitter via twitpick.

Social network has begun to pay off for Ammirati.

Since he and his agents began using Facebook and other sites about a year ago, the efforts have brought in at least four clients.

"Part of it is the agents themselves reconnecting with some people in the past," Ammirati says. "Sometimes it's hard to quantify how this networking leads exactly to (new clients)."

California, Nevada and Arizona are finally turning the Corner

Continuing on from last week's real estate updates by region, today's post breaks down why people are jumping into the market in places that haven't been open to first time home-buyers for decades.

While I never recommend you try to time the housing market, if you’re in the market for a new home, it helps to pay attention to its cyclical nature. In tough times like these, prices drop and the market becomes more attractive. The more people that get in, the higher prices rise. While there are still deals out there, this map shows that some of the regions that were hit the hardest by the housing crisis in 2007 and 2008 have begun to bounce back in early 2009 with increased sales numbers. Luckily for me one of those regions is California!

In some regions, sale prices of homes have plummeted as much as 50%, so more people have been jumping into the market with their fingers crossed, especially with 30 year fixed rates falling below 5% for the first time in recent memory. The metropolitan areas that are highlighted are those with the highest percentage of change in median sales prices. The highest percentage of increases in home sales are in areas where prices have dropped the most over the past year. For bargain hunters, this is an encouraging sign to see new opportunities. Furthermore, the combination of decreased prices and attractive housing credits have finally made it possible for many first-time home-buyers to afford a home in the previously financially outrageous areas like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Orange County.

While there are only six states that have experienced increases in sales volume in the past 12 months, most of those positive changes have been very drastic. Arizona has seen a 50% jump, California over 80% and Nevada an impressive 117% increase from 2008. It is typical for many other states to follow real estate market suit within 6 months to a year after California makes a change, for better or for worse. So, depending on where you live, the housing market may be in either a boom or bust cycle- if it's the later, start counting down.

Good news for the San Diego Housing market

According to economist, things are getting better in the near future for the housing market in San Diego!

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said "the local market is buoyed by a tight housing inventory and enticing federal tax incentives."

Yun was speaking at a lunch event hosted by the San Diego Association of Realtors on Tuesday. Some 700 people attended the event held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Mission Valley. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, as well as representatives of various politicians in town, also attended the event. Helen Kaiao Chang of SDNN goes on to discuss rising San Diego sales, the federal tax incentive, decline in inventory and more in her blog below.

“The worst in housing is probably already past in the San Diego market,” said Yun. “Home values have fallen so much that many of the potential buyers who have been sidelined are understanding this is a great opportunity.”

Erik Weichelt, president of the San Diego Association of Realtors, who opened the event, agreed. “There’s a lot of homes to be sold, but quite frankly, there’s a lot more buyers,” he said.

Yun and other speakers also pointed out challenges the industry faces and the actions members of the National Association of Realtors is taking to overcome these obstacles. “Realtor” is a trademarked term used by members of the group.

Rising San Diego sales

During his presentation, Yun gave a far-ranging analysis of the market, from national to local statistics. His powerpoint slides painted a picture of rising sales in San Diego in the last year.

The number of San Diego home sales were up 11 percent in June this year, over June last year. At the same time, prices were down 13 percent in the same period, reaching a median price of $362,000 in June.

Federal tax incentive

One key reason for the sales demand is the federal tax incentive for first-time home buyers. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 offers an $8,000 tax rebate to first-time home buyers, many of whom have been waiting for prices to come down to affordable levels.

Many of these first-time buyers could not afford housing prices during the boom years. But with lower prices and tax incentives, they are now biting, Yun said. The pent-up demand is now soaking up inventory.

“The stimulus program is working,” said Yun.

Decline in inventory

Another reason for the boost is a decline in housing inventory, said Yun. With lower prices, many low-end properties are now receiving multiple bids.

But part of the reason is that lenders such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are holding back inventory, so as to not flood the market, said Yun. This “shadow inventory” could soften the market, but is not showing up on current data. In San Diego, demand still is currently outstripping supply, he said.

Yun noted that foreclosures would continue to rise nationally, as the “toxic combination” of job losses and underwater homeowners continued to grow. But the government’s program of foreclosure moratoriums - forcing lenders to hold off on foreclosure action against homeowners who have missed payments — has stymied the flood.

This has contributed to a shortage of houses on the market, particularly in San Diego, where demand is still high.

“Last year, foreclosures lingered on the market,” he said. “Now, foreclosed properties… have ready buyers.”

Tipping point

Consumers may also be reaching a “tipping point” for purchase, said Yun.

Many potential home buyers have been afraid to enter the market, wondering when prices would hit bottom. They have also been affected by negative media reports, showing widespread foreclosures.

But after four years of price declines since market highs of 2005, housing prices are now much more affordable. In some places in California, prices are down 20 percent to 40 percent from the previous year.

This has made prices much more affordable for home buyers who stood on the sidelines during the boom years.

“We are back to justifiable levels,” Yun said.

As more people enter the market, others start to follow. Some California cities are now seeing 50 percent to 100 percent rebounds, he said. This is creating a “tipping point” for more consumers to buy, he said.

Lobbying Washington

Despite this rosy outlook, the real estate industry is pushing aggressively for more. Goals include an extension of the home buyers’ tax credit program, as well as a change in bank appraisal requirements.

At the event, a lobbyist for NAR encouraged agents to make their voices heard in Washington.

Carol Horn and Ed Lawler, directors of the NAR Broker Involvement Program whose jobs entail lobbying Congress people and Senators, encouraged agents to log on to the NAR Web site to send automated email messages.

San Diego statistics

These messages support proposals that benefit the real estate industry. For one, the group is pushing for the first-time home buyers’ tax incentive program to be extended beyond the November 30 expiration date. For another, NAR wants to expand the program to cover all home buyers.

This year so far, about 6.5 percent of its members have par ticipated in this “Call to Action” program. The group hopes to expand this number to 15 percent. “We’re going to have to have strong involvement” to make things happen, said Horn.

Appraisal obstacles

The NAR is also pushing to clear obstacles in the appraisal process.

In an effort to cut down on the practice of appraisers rubber-stamping artificially high prices during the boom years, the federal law now requires banks to use approved appraisers. These supposedly more objective appraisers typically come from outside the area.

This has resulted in longer closing times, higher appraisal costs for would-be home buyers, and sometimes inaccurate results, due to the appraisers’ lack of knowledge of local markets.

“It was a good-intentioned policy with unintended consequences,” said Yun. “Buyers are coming back, but a hurdle is placed.”

The NAR is also lobbying for changes to these rules.

Market stabilizing

Despite these obstacles, Yun noted that the signs of recovery are strong. With the current uptick, San Diego’s real estate market may be leading a national recovery.

As inventory continues to decline, the real estate market should start to see a more stable, 5 percent annual growth, he said.

Building a fence in 4 Easy Steps

Building a fence is just one of the many home improvement projects covered under the FHA 203k home loan program. It varies of course depending on what kind of a fence you desire, but for most fences you can roll your sleeves up and install it on your own. These instructions are assuming you already have the wood posts and you are building in your backyard. Get out there and accomplish these home improvements while we still have some summer left!

1. Set the posts. Lay out the site, dig holes, and set posts, starting with the end posts. (For basic information on installing posts, see our Home Improvement Encyclopedia.) Check each post for plumb by holding a level to two adjacent faces; nail braces to hold posts upright. Check, too, that posts are aligned by tying string from end post to end post.



2. Add concrete. As you shovel concrete into the holes, have a helper tamp the concrete to remove bubbles. Round off the concrete so water will drain away from the posts. After the concrete cures, cut posts to a uniform height, if necessary. Shape tops of posts so they'll shed water.


3. Add rails. Attach the rails to the posts. We used galvanized rail clips. A line level and combination square assure that each rail is level and square with the posts.

4. Measure. Measure carefully and use a square to mark locations on the rails for each fencing board. Wood scraps squeezed between boards maintain uniform spacing. Have a helper align boards while you nail them to the rails.

FHA program gaining popularity in 2009

According to Jon Prior, of housingwire.com a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program for purchase loans on foreclosures or other properties in need of rehabilitation gained in popularity in 2009. What's interesting is that the volume of 203(k) loans parallels the growth and fall of the market. While home prices sky rocketed in 2005 and 2006, the demand for the program fizzled. After the bubble burst and foreclosure inventories stacked up, the 203(k) loan again began to attract borrowers. Jon goes on to talk about the new loans in 2009 and what has been leading up to this spike of activity in recent years.

As of June 2009, the volume of new loans covered by the FHA 203(k) Home Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program nearly doubled the amount from all of last year, according to a report Thursday from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Congress established the 203(k) loan program in 1978 to help borrowers gain and rehabilitate single-family properties. It allows FHA-insured financing for structures with up to four dwelling units in need of repair, but the owner must occupy the subject property or it can be owned by eligible nonprofits or government agencies.

Usually, borrowers looking to rehabilitate properties must obtain a short-term financing loan to purchase the home, another short-term loan to cover rehabilitation costs and third permanent financing to pay off the first two. The 203(k) loan condenses the rehabilitation financing process by allowing a borrower to take out one loan to cover costs rather than the three separate loans.

“The 203(k) Program is an important tool that can help mitigate a lender’s risk, while at the same time restore some of the nation’s foreclosed properties and help stabilize neighborhoods,” said Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan in a release.

As of June 2009, real estate data provider Realty Trac saw 2m foreclosure houses on the market, according to the OCC’s report. And, with many of these foreclosures in need of repair, the report indicates significant room for use of the 203(k) program.

From 1999 to 2005, the amount of 203(k) loans declined, but the volume started to climb in 2006 when approximately 3,000 loans joined the program. In the fiscal year of 2008, the program insured 6,749 loans, doubling from 2007, but the program topped 11,000 as of June 30, 2009.

The volume of 203(k) loans mirrors the growth and fall of the housing bubble. While prices soared in 2005 and 2006, the demand for the program dwindled. After the bubble burst and foreclosure inventories stacked up, the 203(k) once more attracted borrowers. The volume of loans originated under the program is back up to a level unseen since 1999.

“In fiscal years 2008 and 2009, demand for 203(k) loans increased because of limited availability of home equity lines of credit to make property repairs,” the report reads.

In total, the program insures approximately $2.7bn in outstanding loans.

Installing a Window 101 - For the Handy Folks

Scott Gibson, from This OLD House Magazine discusses a step-by-step instructional blog on how to install your own windows from the ground up. Installing new windows is one of the many qualifying repairs under the FHA 203k loan and FHA 203k Streamline home-loan programs. FHA remodel financing covers a long list of repairs that give homeowners a chance to roll-up their sleeves and get to work. Gibson's blog on how to install windows is one of the many do-it-yourself type of blogs that I will discuss in upcoming weeks. So to get started, check out Gibson's window advice below:




Check the rough opening

Measure the width of the rough opening at the top, middle, and bottom and the height at both sides and in the middle.

If the difference between the three width measurements or the three height measurements of the rough opening is more than 1 inch, cut tapered filler strips from stud stock and nail them to the sides of the opening that are out of level or out of plumb.

Make sure the outside dimensions of the window are at least ¾-inch narrower and ½-inch shorter than the smallest width and height measurements, respectively. If they're not, you'll have to either reframe the opening or order a new window.



Protect against water infiltration

Cut a 6-inch-wide strip of self-adhering waterproof membrane (or a 9- to 12-inch-wide strip of 15-pound builder's felt) 18 to 24 inches longer than the window's width. Center the membrane under the rough opening and adhere it to the existing builder's felt or house wrap. Make sure its top edge doesn't extend above the edge of the opening.

Cut two more strips of membrane (or felt) 1 foot longer than the height of the opening. Center and attach them along each side of the opening, overlapping the strip under the window.

Cut another strip of membrane (or felt) 1 foot longer than the window is wide; center and attach it across the top of the rough opening so that it overlaps the two side strips.



Install the window

Fold out the window unit's nailing fins so they are perpendicular to the sides of the window frame. Then set the window's sill into the bottom of the rough opening, and tip the frame into the opening until all the nailing fins are tight against the wall.

Have an assistant stand inside and tell you when the gaps between the sides of the window and the jack studs are equal on both sides. Tack the nailing fin to the sheathing at one upper corner with a 1 ½-inch roofing nail, but do not drive it all the way in.



Level the window

Place a 2-foot level on the windowsill, and note its high side. Then hold a 4-foot level against the window jamb on that side, and shift the sill left or right until the level shows the jamb is plumb. Tack a nail into the fin at the lower corner on the same side as the first nail.

Next, lay a 2-foot level on the sill, and adjust the free bottom corner up until the sill is leve. Tack the fin in this lower corner to the wall.



Check the window for square

Double-check that the window is square by measuring the frame diagonally from corner to corner. Measurements should be within 1/16 inch. If not, recheck the frame's side for plumb and the sill for level. You may have to pull out the last two temporary nails and adjust the frame.

When the sill is level and the frame square, drive home the nails at each corner. If the windowsill is level and corner-to-corner diagonal measurements are identical, the sides of the window are plumb.

Holding a tape measure horizontally, measure the width of the window at several places to make sure the side jambs aren't bowed. If they are, push the frame in or out at the center of the bow and nail the fin at that point. Then nail the sides, top, and bottom of the nailing fin or casing, driving one nail through every other pre-punched hole.



Seal the perimeter

Cut a strip of 6-inch-wide waterproof membrane 1 foot longer than the window is wide. Center it under the window and adhere it to the wall so it covers the bottom nailing fin.

Cut two more strips of membrane 1 foot longer than the height of the window and repeat the above process on both sides of the window. Make sure each strip's lower end overlaps the strip under the unit.



Flash the top

If the manufacturer has supplied snap-in metal flashing to cover the top of the window frame, apply a bead of caulk to the top edge of the window casing, then press the flashing in place.

If no flashing has been supplied, cut and bend a piece of metal flashing so it overhangs the front and sides of the casing by 1/4 inch and extends 3 inches up the wall. Fasten the top edge of the flashing to the wall with 1 ½-inch roofing nails and cover it with a strip of waterproof membrane long enough to cover the top ends of the two side strips.



Insulate against drafts

Fit the sash into the window frame.

Inside the house, apply a single thin bead of minimally expanding polyurethane foam to the gap between the window and the framing. Allow the bead to expand and cure for one hour before adding more. Repeat until the cavity is completely filled.

When using fiberglass insulation, cut unfaced batting a little larger than the space between the window and the framing, and push the batting in with a putty knife. To prevent air leaks, cover the gap with aluminum tape.

If the gap is too narrow for either foam or fiberglass insulation, seal it with a bead of caulk.

TIP: Do not fill the gap between jamb and framing with too much foam too quickly. Otherwise, the jamb could bow and thereby bind the sash.

First things First

Today's entry serves as a foundation, and it will include a brief description of the FHA 203(k) and FHA 203(k) Streamline home-loan programs and what they provide.

First of all, the application process, terms and interest-rates are all like a traditional loan. The FHA 203(k) and FHA 203(k) Streamline home-loan programs offer single-close loans that allow borrowers to purchase or refinance a home in need of repairs or upgrades. You can even start from nothing and build from the ground up. Both programs are based on the future value of your home. So if you can't afford to pay for your home repair or repairs, this program allows you to finance almost the entire cost of the project.


FHA 203k financing includes every repair from new flooring, windows and roof, to electrical, landscaping and fences. There is so much you can do with these programs, and this blog will cover every aspect and minor detail of the entire process. Stay tuned.

blog launch

the 203k loan is a constrcution loan from FHA that allows high ltv financing for your project. possibilities are limitless and financing is easy!