Seattle Housing Buzz

HUD awards $300,000 in local housing counseling grants

Ben — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:49:46 +0000

Washington State families facing foreclosure, seeking affordable rental housing, or hoping to buy their first home will have a greater opportunity to find housing, or keep the homes they have, because of $297,235 in housing counseling grants announced on Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Solid Ground of Seattle will receive $49,402, the Spokane Neighborhood Action Program will receive $49,716, the Community Housing Resource Center of Vancouver will receive $32,236, and the Washington State Housing Finance Commission will receive $166,881 to provide counseling to help Washington families “navigate” the homebuying and homeowning processes. Last year HUD awarded $207,366 to housing counseling agencies in Washington.

“Now, more than ever, it is crucial that Americans understand how to manage their money, navigate the homebuying process, and secure their financial future.” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “This critical funding will help counseling organizations continue to assist families in making more informed choices before they buy a home and counsel families facing foreclosure.”

Housing counseling grants will assist families in becoming first-time homeowners and remaining homeowners after their purchase. HUD-approved counseling agencies not only provide homeownership counseling, but also offer financial literacy training to renters and homeless individuals and families.

The funding is part of $60 million in housing counseling grants awarded nationwide.

National and regional agencies distribute much of HUD’s housing counseling grant funding to community-based grassroots organizations that provide advice and guidance to low- and moderate-income families seeking to improve their housing conditions. In addition, these larger organizations help improve the quality of housing counseling services and enhance coordination among other counseling providers.

Counseling agencies will use $8 million to help assist senior citizens seeking reverse mortgages or Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM). These agencies will provide counseling for the rapidly growing number of elderly homeowners who seek to convert equity in their homes into income that can be used to pay for home improvements, medical costs, and other living expenses.

The organizations that provide housing counseling services help people become or remain homeowners or find rental housing, and assist homeless persons in finding the transitional housing they need to move toward a permanent place to live. Grant recipients also help homebuyers and homeowners realistically evaluate their readiness for a home purchase, understand their financing and downpayment options, and navigate what can be an extremely confusing and difficult process.

In addition, grantees help combat predatory lending by helping unwary borrowers review their loan documentation, and avoid unreasonably high interest rates, inflated appraisals, unaffordable repayment terms, and other conditions that can result in a loss of equity, increased debt, default, and even foreclosure. Likewise, foreclosure prevention counseling helps homeowners facing delinquency or default employ strategies, including expense reduction, negotiation with lenders and loan servicers, and loss mitigation, to avoid foreclosure. With foreclosures at critical levels nationwide, these services are more important than ever.

HUD awards annual grants under the housing counseling program through a competitive process. Organizations that apply for grants must be HUD-approved and are subject to biennial performance reviews to maintain their HUD-approved status.

Adapted from a HUD press release.

JLS mobile optimized for iPhone

Ben — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:09:02 +0000

Add John L. Scott Real Estate to the list of real estate companies (Zillow, Coldwell Banker, Trulia) developing applications or enhancing features specifically for Apple’s iPhone.

With its latest mobile release, JLS took heed of iPhone’s popularity. According to Pat Giles, VP of Marketing, “The iPhone represents over 50% of all smart phone web traffic and its growth is outpacing other devices by a significant margin. We felt it was important to tap into the iPhone user and provide a fluid online experience that maximizes the phone’s seemingly limitless capabilities.”

New Features for iPhone on JohnLScott.com:

WebApp: instead of creating an application that must be downloaded and updated, JohnLScott.com automatically detects the iPhone and provides specific enhanced features to those users.
Geo Location*: GPS technology automatically pinpoints your location and then displays real time real estate information as you go. Click one button and see all nearby homes for sale and open houses; you may also locate the nearest John L. Scott office.
Touch Gestures: use your fingers to slide from one photo to the next.
Orientation Change: rotate your iPhone for landscape (wider) view of information and photos.

* Compatible with iPhone OS 3.0 or greater

Other changes to the mobile application, applicable to other smart phones, include:

Larger Photos: Click on the individual thumbnails to reveal larger images that allow you to get a better view of the home.
Orientation Change: For smart phones that support this functionality the screen automatically adjusts itself when the device is rotated.
Property Tracker: Now you can sign into your Property Tracker account, view saved favorites and saved searches, save new favorites, as well as see your Online Agent’s contact information (if applicable).
Agent Search: This search tool allows you to easily look up John L. Scott agent contact information while on the go; one click to call or email.
Additional Search Fields: Square footage and acreage have been added to the existing search fields which include address, radius, price, and numbers of bedrooms/bathrooms.

NAR proposals FHA enhancements

Ben — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:51:18 +0000

Today several members of the industry testified before the Senate Appropriations sub-committee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. Lennox Scott, CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate, testified on behalf on NAR’s proposal for FHA enhancements to streamline the agency and incentives to spur homeownership.

According the Scott, FHA’s volume has increased four-fold since 2007 and now has a 30% market share. To facilitate FHA’s capacity to handle business and provide more loans, NAR has proposed the following improvements to FHA:

Increase funding for staffing and technology enhancements. FHA currently has about 900 on staff. With its substantial growth NAR estimates that FHA is understaff by about 160 positions. FHA’s current systems on average are 18 years old and NAR recommends that FHA upgrades its systems such as replacing the 30-year old legacy-based COBOL mainframe systems with web-based applications.
Monetize the $8,000 first-time homebuyers tax credit to make it available for use at closing through a collateralized loan against the tax credit. This would allow buyers to use the credit towards a down payment. NAR estimates this could incent up to 500,000 first-time home buyers into the market place, particularly when combined with FHA’s low 3.5% down payment requirement.
Make the higher loan limits permanent in order to provide stability in the market. Currently, the temporary loan limit for King, Pierce and Snohomish counties is $567,500.
Ease financing for condominium purchases through reducing the owner occupancy percentage and removing the environmental review requirement. NAR recommends reducing the 51% owner-occupancy ratio for all condo developments, thus allowing more condo buyers access to FHA financing. Additionally, removal of the environmental review will help streamline the approval process. NAR recommends that FHA accept state and local environmental review findings in lieu of a federal review.

Of the four proposed improvements the one that’ll have the most direct impact for consumers is making the $8,000 tax credit available at the time of purchase. Though this would only apply to FHA loans, FHA is becoming one of the most prevalent loan options for first-time homebuyers.

Homeowner relief plan

Ben — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:22:48 +0000

President Obama’s $75 billion Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan is intended help struggling homeowners by providing incentives to lenders, servicers, mortgage holders and borrowers to help modify mortgage loans.

$8,000 tax credit and other housing related stimulus provisions

Ben — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:14:11 +0000

Passed by both houses of Congress and expected to be signed by the president, The $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (aka stimulus bill) has several provisions aimed towards real estate and housing. Here’s a brief overview.

Tax Credit
The bill includes several modifications to the current $7,500 first-time homebuyers credit, which includes:

Increases the credit to $8,000.
Removes the pay back requirement, previously it was a 15 year zero interest loan.
Has a recapture component if the home is resold within three years
Is retroactive to January 1, 2009 and extends through November 30, 2009.

Tax payers who purchase a home this year can apply the credit to their 2008 tax return.

Comparison chart of the existing tax credit and the new $8,000 tax credit.

Higher Loan Limits
Another provision of the bill reinstates the higher loan limits that were available last year for FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. For King, Pierce and Snohomish counties the loan limit is expected to increase to its 2008 level of $567,500.

Neighborhood stabilization
The bill provides for an additional $2 billion for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The funds can be used to purchase, manage, repair and resell foreclosed and abandoned properties. The homes are to be used to assist people earning less than 120% of the area median income.

Energy efficiency credits

Through 2010, homeowners who make energy efficient improvements (purchase of a new furnace, windows and insulation) can claim a 30% tax credit (up from 10%) with a $1,500 cap.
$5 billion weatherization assistance for low-income households.
$2 billion for Section 8 efficiency efforts.

DOR amends taxing short sale debt

Ben — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:33:48 +0000

Thanks to hard work from industry stakeholders, including the Washington REALTORS® organization, the Department of Revenue reversed an earlier decision to apply the state’s real estate excise tax to debt forgiven through short sales. Read the DOR’s statement here (PDF).

If you’ve paid the excise tax on a short sale forgiven debt, you can request a refund from the DOR. DOR Refund form (PDF).

2009 loan limits announced

Ben — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:06:09 +0000

Recently, the 2009 conforming, jumbo conforming and FHA loan limits were announced.

Effective January 1, 2009 (1-Unit properties in King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties):

Conforming loan limit: $417,000, unchanged for the 4th consecutive year
Jumbo conforming loan limit: $506,000, currently $567,500 as part of the economic stimulus package which expires December 31, 2008
FHA loan limit: $506,000, currently $567,500 as part of the economic stimulus package which expires December 31, 2008

The net result is that this will have, essentially, little impact except for buyers within the $506,000 to $567,500 price range. You’ll have till the end of the year to take advantage of the jumbo conforming loan rates and FHA loan programs.

In respects to FHA, effective January 1, 2009, the down payment amount will increase from 3% to 3.5%. So, there is a little incentive to save on upfront cash by buying before December 31st.

The $7,500 first time home buyer credit (aka interest-free loan) is still available through July 1, 2009.

Land Use meetings for two more apartments

Ben — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:00:56 +0000

Avalon Ballard (former Sunset Bowl parcel) - 1400 NW Market St.

A supplemental design review meeting has been scheduled for the Avalon Ballard apartment project. The design proposal workbook with renderings is now available on the Seattle DPD’s website (click here to download).

When: Monday, October 13th
Time: 6:30 PM
Where: Ballard High School Library

3031 Western

A design review board meeting has been scheduled for Martin Selig’s upscale 14-story 75-unit apartment development at 3031 Western. The project is adjacent to the Olympic Sculpture Park and will offer unobstructed, breathtaking views of Elliott Bay.

When: Tuesday, October 28th
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Seattle City Hall, Boards and Commissions Room L280

Image credit: Avalon Bay - Ankrom Moisan; 3031 Western - Ruffcorn Mott Hinthrone Stine

Two large apartments proposed

Ben — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 22:54:10 +0000

815 Pine Street

Security Properties has proposed a 37-story, 310-unit residential tower at the old Pande Cameron site situated between the Paramount Theatre and Tower 801. The design of 815 Pine closely resembles Security Properties’ other nearby tower proposal, Kinects.

A DPD design review, early design guidance meeting has been scheduled for October 14th ~~13th~~ at Seattle City Hall. The meeting time is slated for 5:30 pm ~~7:00 pm~~ in the Boards and Commissions Room L280.

For more info, click here to view the project’s design workbook.

Leilani Square

Up in North Seattle, Mastro Properties is planning an equally large 301-unit apartment development at the site of the former Leilani Lanes bowling alley on Greenwood Avenue.

The proposal is for two 5-story buildings that will include 601 parking stalls, 7,500 square feet of retail space and a 39,000 square foot mini-storage.

A design review board meeting has been scheduled for Monday, September 22nd at Ballard High School. The meeting bulletin provides two time slots, one at 6:30 pm and the other at 8:00 pm, both in the school’s library.

Mastro’s prior new construction development in the area was the Sapphire condominium at North 85th St in Greenwood.

Click here to download the design proposal workbook from the Seattle DPD website.

Mobile browsing review

Ben — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:47:57 +0000

So you’re out about town looking at homes, or not, and you come across a house for sale that strikes your interest. You like to know more about it, like the price and how many bedrooms it has and maybe view a few photos, but darn it, the flyer box is empty and you really don’t want to call the listing agent. If you’re like most, you jot down the address or listing number and wait till you’re home to check out the listing online.

Or, you can pull out your web-enabled mobile phone to view the listing online right there and then.

I looked at websites of technologically forward real estate companies in Seattle to compare the ease of conducting a property search (depth and ease of locating the address and MLS# search options) and the display of the information including viewable sized photos as well as the number of pages and clicks that are needed to view the property information. Here’s my unscientific test results using my Treo 755 w/Palm OS, ranked from worst to best.

6. Redfin

Redfin’s site is not optimized for mobile browsing and viewing the website on my phone shows an awkwardly chopped-up display in order to be viewable in a mobile browser. I made several attempts to search for listings but kept getting an error stating the page was too large to display, then a JavaScript error. Redfin’s site was the only one to return a JavaScript error. If I’m on the road I’m not going to mess with trying to view listing info on Redfin.

After loading the necessary JavaScript, it didn’t help much. The maps didn’t load and I got other errors indicating data could not be displayed. Though, I did come across a comment from one of their program managers on the Redfin forum indicating a mobile version is in the works.

Verdict: Ranks last since I couldn’t successfully conduct a property search on my phone, however results may be different with other mobile operating systems and/or browsers.

5. Re/Max

The Re/Max site had the most limited search features which made it more difficult to narrow down to a specific property, but it did include an MLS# search that was just one click from the home page. An address search option is available but was four convoluted clicks away.

And, like the other company websites, it had a very chopped-up display. However, once you got past all that and viewed the actual listing info, they provided all of the listing details on a single page. This is great since you don’t need to wait for additional pages to resolve. But, I was only able to view one photo; clicking on the next photo button didn’t do anything but reload the page.

Verdict: Probably the best display of listing information, but it requires a convoluted four clicks to access the address search feature and trouble viewing photos.

4. Coldwell Banker Bain

CB Bain does not offer a mobile version, either, and their website is displayed in a chopped-up format. Their pages are large which takes quite a bit of time to fully download, plus I also received a page too large to display error.

The site offered an MLS# search on the home page with the address search feature two clicks away, which is a bit much considering how long it takes for each page to display. The initial listing page provided basic info and required one additional click to get detailed info and viewable sized photos. However, once the pages resolved, it was pretty easy to read and navigate through. The address search was a bit awkward with the city field showing up in between the house number and street fields.

Verdict: It simply took far too long to access and download the listing information.

3. John L. Scott

As with all of the sites above, the John L. Scott website is not mobile optimized, formats the site awkwardly and is slow to resolve. It offers a couple of search options on the home page including an MLS # search, but the address search was two clicks away.

The initial listing page provided basic property information and a single photo. Though, additional information and thumbnails were another click away. Unfortunately, I was not able to view the other images in a decent viewable size.

Verdict: Results were similar to CB Bain (developed by the same tech firm) with the lack of viewing other photos offset by a faster download time.

2. Windermere

Windermere does not offer a mobile optimized website and the site displayed in the choppy format as well.

Fortunately, the Windermere site provides an address and MLS# search option on the home page, which made it very simple and considerably faster to access the listing information. However, detailed info and photos were on multiple pages requiring additional clicks and wait time. The listing page shows one viewable photo with a link to the photo gallery that only display thumbnails.

Verdict: Windermere offers the most accessible search feature for non-mobile site, but viewing listing information necessitated navigating multiple pages and only had thumbnail photos.

1. John L. Scott Mobile

John L. Scott is the only company to offer a mobile optimized website which can be accessed at m.johnlscott.com.

The site is basic, just a home search application that’s stripped of unnecessary options which makes loading and navigation faster and more user friendly. The home page defaults to an MLS# or John L. Scott property code search option with an address search option one click away.

If you have the MLS#, the mobile application displays all of the listing information on a one page with a single photo. Unfortunately, the site does not provide additional photos.

If you enter an address, the application returns all of the listings at that address (e.g. condos) as well as all available properties within a 1-mile radius. This is a great feature when you’re out looking at properties and you want to see what’s available near the one you’re at.

Verdict: The only mobile-optimized site, so by default, ranks first. Though, the experience is diminished by the omission of viewing multiple photos.