Atlanta Region’s Home Prices Decline

Foreclosures and short sales push values down to a 14-year low.

By Misty Williams mwilliams@ajc.com  
Metro Atlanta home prices continued to lose ground in December, hitting a 14-year low as the languishing U.S. housing market ended 2011 on a sour note, new data shows.
Home prices fell for the fifth month in a row, slipping 1.8 percent in December, with thousands of foreclosures and short sales pummeling the local market. The decline followed a 2.5 percent drop in November and 5 percent decrease in October, according to the latest Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released Tuesday.

FHA Increases MIP (Mort. Ins. Premium) Again

FHA Increases MIP April 1st!
If you’re considering purchasing a home using an FHA loan, you’d better act quickly to avoid higher fees. FHA case numbers assigned on or after April 1st, 2012 will see two MIP increases.

Buyers/Sellers Must Sign “Approval” on Referrals

To: All PalmerHouse:

License Law Amended on Referral Notifications….
The 2011 Georgia General Assembly passed legislation to amend Georgia’s Real Estate License Law regarding the disclosure of referrals and other fees. The law was amended to remove the requirement that an estimate of the referral fee had to be given. This change was made in consideration of the difficulty of making an accurate estimate before a transaction has been completed.

Five Tax Deductions Agents Often Forget

Commonly Missed Tax Deductions for Real Estate Agents

Now is the time of year when we all want to find ways to keep as much money in our pockets as possible come April 15th. For Real Estate Agents, tax time comes with many of opportunities to save, but only if you know which deductions to take. With that in mind, here are some commonly missed tax deductions every agent should look for when they file this year:

City of Atlanta – Down Payment Assistance Program for Employees

Dear Potential Homebuyer:

The City of Atlanta has a special Down Payment Assistance (DPA) Program for City of Atlanta and Fulton County municipal and public school employees. This special funding will permanently end on April 15, 2012. It gives special down payment assistance of up to 30% ($30,000) of the sales price of any home in the City of Atlanta. Although we will have other DPA programs after April 15th, the amount will drop down between $10,000 and $20,000.

Banks Pay Homeowners to Short Sell

Banks Pay Homeowners to Avoid Foreclosures
By Prashant Gopal – Feb 7, 2012
Banks, accelerating efforts to move troubled mortgages off their books, are offering as much as $35,000 or more in cash to delinquent homeowners to sell their properties for less than they owe.

New RE Forms, Issues and Updates

To: All PalmerHouse Agents and Realtors®

As expected, some brokers and agents in the marketplace are resisting the new RE forms. That’s not a surprise. No one likes change. That said, the new RE forms, while they have some glitches (and they will be improved very soon) are perfectly fine forms. Moreover, they CAN NOT BE LEGALLY REFUSED. Some of our agents have been falsely told that Fannie Mae, HUD, and some Banks/REO Sellers will not accept the forms. That is not true. These agents and brokers are breaking GREC Rules, License Law and BRRETA by not presenting all offers at once.