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HR3221 Omnibus Housing Bill

Created by:

renee sommer

Date: August 1, 2008, Number of Replies: 2

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RT has been extremely quite regarding the new housing bill. Don't we all have comments or don't we know enough about it yet?

Did NAR support this bill? Yes NAR supported this bill and if you watch the real news you can figure out why.

Recently PBS did a blurb on foreclosure, apparently Fairfax, VA which has the highest percapita income in the entire US had 200 foreclosures filed in 2007, this year so far they have filed 7000, (okay I may have a # or two mixed up but you get the idea).

Who lives in Fairfax VA? All the Washington insiders who cheerfully signed HR3221. How many of them are going to qualify for a "write down" on their loans, what do you bet they are the ones who benefit the most, selling their home to a friend or relative collecting the $7500 free money and selling at a loss means no repayment on FHA. Why do you think there are some many twists and turns in the big rescue, they had to make sure everybody in the DC circle, friends, family, contributors, qualified, oh, and maybe a few voters.

As to NAR supporting the bill? Who do you think the NAR Washington lobbyist go to lunch with?

Broker in Illinois

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Win Singleton Licensed Real Estate Broker, Falls Church, VA

Date: August 1, 2008

Renee,

You certainly got me laughing over here when you wrote -

"Who lives in Fairfax VA? All the Washington insiders who cheerfully signed HR3221. How many of them are going to qualify for a "write down" on their loans, what do you bet they are the ones who benefit the most, selling their home to a friend or relative collecting the $7500 free money and selling at a loss means no repayment on FHA. Why do you think there are some many twists and turns in the big rescue, they had to make sure everybody in the DC circle, friends, family, contributors, qualified, oh, and maybe a few voters."

Just so that you know, Fairfax County is the largest county in Virginia - covering over 399 square miles. 1,041,200 people live in Fairfax County's 248,858 owner occupied homes or condos, according to the 2005 Census. (The Greater Washington DC area now has over 5.2 million residents.) So even if there were 7,000 foreclosures in Fairfax County so far this year, that would be less than 3% of homeowners. I seriously doubt that all 1 million+ Fairfax County residents would qualify as Washington "insiders". Every Congressman and Senator (there are 535 of them) would have to know 1,946 Fairfax residents each. Ha!

Regards,

Win

**********************
Win Singleton, CRB, e-PRO
Associate Broker
Northern Virginia Real Estate, Inc.
1018 Shipman Lane, Suite 200
McLean, VA 22101
(703) 536-7631
wins@winsingleton.com
Licensed in Virginia
**********************

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Karl Von loewe Licensed Real Estate Agent, Hillsborough, NJ

Date: August 3, 2008

The whole discussion on the Housing Bill has been quite interesting. Like most bills passed by the Congress and signed by the President, it represents a lot of compromises. However, several aspects of the bill were essential to turning around the mythical "national real estate market." FHA Reform, GSE (Fannie and Freddie) Reform and the Homebuyer Tax Credit were essential legislative talking points for NAR this year. Did other programs perhaps suffer? You bet they did. However, imagine if you will, that the 400,000 additional short sales that could be rescued with this bill come onto the market across the country - especially when fewer than 5,000,000 properties will change hands this year. We can seek to penalize the speculators and un-qualified homebuyers of the past several years, but why? Tell me how that would have improved the real estate market, except as an expression of "tough love" (or no love at all).

If you think this bill has hurt Realtors, homeowners, home sellers and home buyers, imagine what might have happened had this bill not been passed, and don't underestimate the psychological impact of the housing bill. If nothing else, the passage of this bill brought more hope to those who might have had none until now - homeowners struggling with their mortgage payments, buyers who have sat on the sidelines for two years, waiting for something - anything - to happen. Those who fault NAR for not getting everything are wrong-headed, as are those who swear never to invest another dime in RPAC. BANG! Make certain you don't shoot yourself in the other foot. Do you have any other organization that can better represent your interests?

The market changed for the better on July 25, when the U.S. Senate passed the bill. Clearly, more change is necessary, so don't get too caught up in saying how bad the bill is. Realtors need to be continually active in the political process in order to constantly improve the real estate market. But, if your attitude is that NAR sold us down the river, either you should become more familiar with NAR's positions, or you need to seek other affiliation and/or another career.

Karl von Loewe, e-PRO
Prudential NJ Properties, Hillsborough NJ
http://KarlvonLoewe.com
Mailto:e-PRO@KarlvonLoewe.com
Blogging at: www.KarlKnowsTheMarket.com
Opinions different from mine are important, even though they are always wrong.

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