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Ilyce Glink's Blog

Welcome to Ilyce Glink's blog! Here you'll find Ilyce's latest insights on personal finance advice, real estate advice and consumer issues. Come back often for timely and interesting posts on a wide variety of topics.

 

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Do You Know What a Short Sale Is?

Watch this video:




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posted by Melanie G. Rogers at 4:19 PM 0 comments

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Mortgage Fraud Reports Increase

The number of cases of mortgage fraud reported to a mortgage fraud tracking database increased by 42 percent during the first quarter of 2008 from the same time last year, according to MARI, the Mortgage Asset Research Institute, an industry research company.

The most common type of mortgage fraud cited was "General Application Misrepresentation," followed by "Income" and "Employment" misrepresentations. Basically this means that people are putting inaccurate information on mortgage applications. One of the keys to fighting mortgage fraud is figuring out who provided the false data - it's not always the home buyer - in some cases it's the real estate agent or mortgage broker.

MARI defines general application misrepresentation as including (but not limited to) incorrect name(s) used; occupancy, income, employment, debt and asset misrepresentation; different signatures for the same name; invalid Social Security number(s); incorrect address(es); and incorrect transaction type.

The top 5 states for mortgage fraud in the first quarter of 2008 were:

1. Florida
2. California
3. (three way tie) Illinois, Maryland and Michigan

The report concludes that mortgage fraud will continue to increase, due in part to the current poor housing market.

The report did not specify how many incidents were reported or tracked to determine the 42 percent.

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posted by Melanie G. Rogers at 1:15 PM 0 comments

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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

California Unemployment Reaches Nearly 7 Percent


Unemployment in California reached 6.8 percent in May the state announced recently. That's up from 6.2 percent in April and 5.3 percent in May 2007.
Contrast that with 5.5 percent for May 2008 for the United States as a whole. And 5.0 percent for the U.S. in April.
Industries which added jobs included natural resources and mining, information, educational and health services and other services.
Fields that lost jobs included construction; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; financial activities; professional and business services and leisure and hospitality.
California often leads the country in determining what's cool. We'll see if it leads in predicting unemployment increases. But remember, the U.S. unemployment number often hovers around 5 percent so we've still got a ways to go before getting worried.

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posted by Melanie G. Rogers at 3:56 PM 1 comments

1 Comments:

I keep seeing unemployment stats go up but I see so many high paying jobs on employment sites I dont get the stats I keep reading:

http://www.realmatch.com
http://www.craigslist.com
http://www.simplyhired.com

It seems like demand for talent is still strong.

posted by Blogger Richard Jennings | June 24, 2008 10:08 PM   | more stuff

 

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Thursday, April 24, 2008

California Tops List for Fewer Auto Insurance Rate Increases


Aside from the great weather in southern California, residents are sitting pretty because they probably get a good deal on car insurance.
The Consumer Federation of America today released the results of an auto insurance study that found states with more regulation of the industry save consumers money.
Fifteen states require auto insurers to submit rate increases to them for approval before putting them in effect.
Among those, California did the best job of saving drivers money. From 1989 to 2005 rates increased only 12.9 percent, which beats the next lowest, New Jersey by almost 8 percent.
States whose rates were the highest included Hawaii, DC, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont.
The study attributes the cost savings to state regulation and says that states where regulation is lacking, where consumers rely on a more free market system, they pay more.
To see the full study go here:

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posted by Melanie G. Rogers at 2:47 PM 0 comments

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Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Budget Extra If You Own a Car in These 5 States


Edmunds.com, an auto Web site where you can figure out how much your car's worth, just announced which states cost owners the most and least to own a car.
The company tracked costs including depreciation, financing, taxes, insurance, fuel and maintenance, then added them all up.
Hawaii ranks as the most expensive U.S. state for car ownership. After all's said and done, the true cost to own a car is $59, 457 over five years. California came in second because it costs $59,347 there. Alaska, Nevada and West Virginia rounded out the top five.
New Hampshire wins for being the cheapest state in the Union to own a car. After five years, those in the Live Free or Die state will have spent $47,499. That's on top of no state sales tax or state income tax. Maybe the tradeoff is the weather?
South Dakota, South Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin were the other four cheapest places to own a car.
Note the survey assumed that car owners financed their new cars for five years. It also assumed 15,000 miles per year and does not include leases.
So next time you're out car shopping, don't forget to add in all the extra costs beyond the sticker price. They can really add up.
Melanie G. Rogers
ThinkGlink.com

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posted by Ilyce Glink at 4:38 PM 0 comments

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Monday, May 21, 2007

You Can't Go Home Again

Sixteen months ago, I spent some time in Southern California for business. I stayed with my friend Wendy, television producer extraordinare (check out the videos on BeJane.com), who lives in Sherman Oaks. We walked all over Sherman Oaks, and she showed me how teardowns were selling in a moment. She was considering selling her house, which she thought had more than doubled in value in less than 2 years, and buying another fixer-upper. Ultimately, she decided to take a wait and see approach.

I'm back in Los Angeles and spent part of last weekend with Wendy and her family. Looking back, she says that my visit 16 months ago was the peak of the market in that area. She estimates that her property has fallen 10 to 15 percent in value since that time, and that houses in the area are taking much longer to sell. She pointed out all of the 4,000 square foot houses that have been built on 6,000 foot lots purchased 16 to 24 months ago in the area, marveling that the same developer has been buying and building (and not all are selling).

Meanwhile, her sentiments are echoed by my cousin who lives in Agoura Hills. Sixteen months ago, 4,000 square foot homes were hard to find for less than $2 million in his neighborhood. Now, properties are priced around $1.8 million, a 10 to 15 percent reduction similar to the one in Wendy's neighborhood. Meanwhile, properties are sitting on the market for 200 to 300+ days. Sellers aren't budging as much on price as they should.

What's happening in Los Angeles is being replicated in nearly every other market in the U.S., except for Silicon Valley and New York City. Tonight, at the banquet for the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW), I'm hosting a panel of experts who are going to try to gauge just how long the current market conditions will last. My guests will be Emile Haddad, chief investment officer for Lennar Corp; Amy Crews Cutts, deputy chief economist, Freddie Mac; and, Mark Kiesel, executive vice president PIMCO funds.

I'll report back with their comments tomorrow.

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posted by Ilyce Glink at 5:18 PM 2 comments

2 Comments:

I really know that these market conditions on temporary and it can be extremely stressful trying to correctly adjust your house pricing, when you can wait for the "Golden Buyer" that may never come. Yet many people in the L.A. area seem especially concerned with waiting for their preffered price instead of looking where the market is eventually headed DOWN!!! This scenario really reminds me of a situation that has been coming up from time to time on bought and sold, a new series on HGTV that I work with. If you guys wanna check it out it comes on Wednesday nights at 10/9c. Or you can just check out the website at www.hgtv.com. Either way this can show some of the beginners out there what to look for when pricing a house effectively.

posted by Anonymous Anonymous | May 24, 2007 11:37 AM   | more stuff

 

I really know that these market conditions on temporary and it can be extremely stressful trying to correctly adjust your house pricing, when you can wait for the "Golden Buyer" that may never come. Yet many people in the L.A. area seem especially concerned with waiting for their preffered price instead of looking where the market is eventually headed DOWN!!! This scenario really reminds me of a situation that has been coming up from time to time on bought and sold, a new series on HGTV that I work with. If you guys wanna check it out it comes on Wednesday nights at 10/9c. Or you can just check out the website at www.hgtv.com. Either way this can show some of the beginners out there what to look for when pricing a house effectively.

posted by Anonymous Anonymous | May 24, 2007 11:38 AM   | more stuff

 

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