Exciting news from Washington D.C.

Exciting news from Washington D.C.
The U.S. Treasury department announced it will soon issue details on its short sales and deeds-in-lieu program.
Click the following link to find out more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEVcO7_kbko

Virginia Beach Ranks Among America's Ten Best Places to Grow Up

Virginia Beach Ranks Among America’s Ten Best Places to Grow Up
Posted: 01 Sep 2009 08:57 AM PDT

Here’s the write-up from US News and World report:
If you could create the ideal community to raise a child in, what ingredients would you include? First off, you’d probably want a low crime rate.
A strong school system would also be key. From there, you’d need lots of other children, expansive green spaces to play in, and plenty of nearby family events. Toss in an abundance of artistic and recreational activities, and all of a sudden you’ve got one heck of a place to grow up. At U.S. News, we wanted to find out if any communities like that already existed—and if so, where they were located. So we dug into our database of 2,000 different places all across the country and pinpointed the locales that met these criteria. We then examined these communities more closely to determine which places offered the best combination of safe neighborhoods, fun activities, and top-notch educators. Our selections appear below, in our list of America’s 10 Best Places to Grow Up:
Virginia Beach, Va.
Junior adventurers will love Virginia Beach, Va. This community of 434,000 residents in the southeastern part of the state has a low crime rate, a solid school system, and 35 miles of majestic beaches on the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay. “It’s kind of neat to be able to come home from work, make a call to my wife or son, grab a bucket of chicken or some sandwiches, and then go out on the bay and have dinner,” says Greg Ward, who works for a marketing firm that represents the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Children can explore an impressive ecosystem of threatened and endangered species—including bald eagles and loggerhead sea turtles—in the 9,000-acre Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The warm summers and mild winters provide plenty of opportunities to hike, bike, and picnic your way through the 19 miles of scenic trails over at First Landing State Park. And after checking out the sand tiger sharks and the cow-nose rays at the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, children can catch an educational picture in its 3-D IMAX theater.
And in early September, the community is launching an online resource—VBparents.com—designed to keep parents plugged in to local health and school news, while ensuring that they are up-to-date on all of the community activities available to their kids. “There are lots of great parenting resources out there. This one is going to be specific to raising your child and your family within the city of Virginia Beach,” says Jenefer Snyder, city of Virginia Beach GrowSmart coordinator. “We are constantly going to be connecting it back to community services, activities, events, programs, and classes.”

REMAX Allegiance to Participate in Extreme Home Makeover

RE/MAX Allegiance to Participate in ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition
Posted: 25 Aug 2009 08:26 AM PDT

RE/MAX Allegiance has been selected to participate in ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition this week. The show is in town doing a makeover of a local residence and a local community center.
“We’re thrilled to be selected as the only real estate company to participate in the show,” says Charlie Bengel, Jr. (CRB, CRS, ABR, ABRM, e-PRO), Chief Executive Officer of RE/MAX Allegiance. “This opportunity lends itself perfectly to one of our core values of giving back to the community.”
RE/MAX Allegiance had over 150 members volunteer to participate in the makeover and will have volunteers on site from 3am Thursday to 3pm Friday with the reveal coming up on Saturday.

Changing Home Prices in the Top 100 Metros

Changing Home Prices in the Top 100 Metros
Posted: 31 Jul 2009 09:08 AM PDT

The following is a handy chart to show, perhaps, to prospective buyers who believe that purchasing a home is not a great long term investment. Even after the worst housing market ever, check out the gains over five or ten years.
The report is available in pdf here: Top 100 Housing Markets Changes.

source: Washington Business Journal

Housing Prices Rise in May

Housing Prices Rise in May
Posted: 27 Jul 2009 09:30 AM PDT

Another reason for your buyers to get off the fence:
Average U.S. home prices have started to rise, according to a monthly report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
FHFA says U.S. home prices rose 0.9 percent from April to May. The biggest gains were in the battered Pacific region, where average prices were up 2.7 percent from the previous month.Federal“Revisions and volatility of the monthly index make it hard to draw any conclusions, but the seasonally-adjusted Home Price Index for the first five months of this year is up 0.3 percent or 0.7 percent on an annualized basis,” FHFA Director James Lockhart said in a statement.
FHFA’s monthly and quarterly Home Price Index is based on conforming mortgages that are purchased or backed by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
from The Washington Business Journal

Freddie Mac Allows Refinancing of 125% of Home Value

Freddie Mac Allows Refinancing of 125% of Home Value
Posted: 01 Jul 2009 01:48 PM PDT

Freddie Mac announced Wednesday that it would offer loan-to-value ratios on home mortgage refinancings of up to 125 percent for qualified borrowers.
The announcement comes as the Obama administration raised the maximum allowable loan-to-value (LTV) ratio from 105 percent.
As a result of this change, qualified borrowers will be able to obtain McLean-based Freddie Mac’s (NYSE:FRE) Relief Refinance Mortgages with loan amounts up to 125 percent of the current value of their property. The higher LTV ratio is expected to give homeowners – especially those in markets that have experienced sharp declines in home values — more options to refinance into mortgages with terms that better position them for long-term homeownership, the company said.
“This is a change that will put affordable refinancing opportunities within reach of performing borrowers who have suffered the effects of local home price erosion,” said Don Bisenius, executive vice president in a statement. “Today’s announcement also underscores Freddie Mac’s commitment to make the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable program a gateway to successful long-term homeownership for as many borrowers as possible.”
To encourage borrowers with 30-year fixed rate mortgages to consider a shorter 25-year term, Freddie Mac is providing a special price incentive to lenders. The incentive only applies to Relief Refinance Mortgages with LTV ratios between 105 percent and 125 percent. The 25-year term will result in borrowers paying less interest over the life of their loan and over time improving their overall equity position.
Freddie Mac’s Relief Refinance Mortgage is available to borrowers who are current on mortgages that are owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac.
Freddie Mac’s Relief Refinance Mortgage allows borrowers to finance closing costs, financing costs and escrows up to $5,000 or 4 percent of the current unpaid principal balance of the mortgage being refinanced, whichever is less. Mortgage insurance is not required if the existing mortgage does not require it. Otherwise, mortgage insurance coverage on the new loan must be the same as on the original mortgage.
Borrowers who apply for Relief Refinance Mortgages through their current servicer will not need to be re-underwritten in most cases. When borrowers apply for Relief Refinance Mortgages through lenders other than their current servicer, the lender must re-underwrite the borrower through Loan Prospector, Freddie Mac’s automated underwriting service, the company said.
The expanded LTV ratios are available now when borrowers apply for Relief Refinance Mortgages through their current servicer and will become available Oct. 1 when borrowers apply through any lender affiliated with Freddie Mac.
Freddie Mac also said the resulting impact on prepayments for certain Freddie Mac mortgage participation certificates, may vary, depending on borrower response and other factors.
source: Washington Business Journal

New Company Website URL

New Company Website URL
Posted: 24 Jun 2009 06:08 PM PDT

We’ve introuduced a new URL for the company website, www.MyAllegianceHome.com. While the older URLs (sell4.com, YourHomesSolutionsCompany.com, TheLocalGiant.com) will continue to point to the site, you’re encouraged to use the new URL.