Raleigh-Durham Real Estate Blog

1. Raleigh-Durham Market update

2. Federal Shortsale Guidelines Released

Raleigh-Durham Market Update

For those of you who like to stay on top of real estate trends in our region, below are links to last months market activity reports, as reported from data in the local MLS.

Entire Triangle, Durham County, Wake County, Orange County

Federal Short Sale Guidlines Released

Short sale procedures have been standardized in an attempt to streamline these often difficult transactions.  Short sale procedures for loan servicers are now standardized in guidelines that were released earlier this week under the federal government's Making Home Affordable loan modification initiative for troubled home owners.  The guidelines create a path for a short-sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure for eligible borrowers for whom loan modification isn't a viable option. The guidelines provide:

--$1,500 in federal funds to help borrowers relocate,
--$1,000 to help servicers offset their processing costs
and up to $1,000 to investors to secure release of subordinate liens.
--For each $3 an investor pays to secure the release of a lien, the investor receives $1 in assistance. The guidelines prohibit a reduction in agreed-upon commissions (if they're not more than 6 percent) and take effect April 5, 2010, but can be implemented by servicers at any time.

Full guidelines can be found here.

Happy Investing!