Out of work and losing his home, Norfolk man nears 65 with unease

Phoenix Ackiss sat precariously on an upright suitcase in the clutter of belongings in his living room, striving for balance amid the disorder of his life.

For more than a year, he’d been out of work, his three degrees and experience in fields from mental health to shipyard work spurned by employers.

Ackiss knew he’d have to vacate his compact home in Bayview. He’d stopped making mortgage payments last June. He just wasn’t sure when he had to get out.

via Out of work and losing his home, Norfolk man nears 65 with unease.

More people are buying their homes with cash

The Vasquezs are not unique; cash buys are becoming common. The number of homes bought with cash jumped to 32% in January compared to 26% a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors.

In Southern California, about 30% of the sales in January were cash, according to DataQuick Information Systems. Same thing in Denver. In Phoenix and Las Vegas, cash sales topped 50% of all deals.

"I’m personally closing about 30 deals a month and at least 30% of them are all cash," said Ruth Pugh, a San Diego-area agent.

via More people are buying their homes with cash .

3 Ways Your Home Can Fund Retirement

My plan for retirement is to spend our entire nest egg over the next several decades and then die promptly at 100. Well, almost the entire nest egg. We’ll still have our house.

It’s recently occurred to me that we won’t actually need our house anymore when we’re dead. Many people are fine with this approach because they would like to leave something to their kids when they are gone. Chances are though, by the time you die, your kids won’t really be kids anymore. They will probably have their own homes and children and retirement funds. In fact, they will probably be making plans to leave their kids something when they die. So kids or no kids, why die with all that equity tied up in a house?

via 3 Ways Your Home Can Fund Retirement.

Florida legislature to consider new real estate laws

The many woes of Florida’s housing market are well-known: hundreds of thousands of foreclosures, millions of underwater mortgages and a four-year trail of depreciating property values.

Florida lawmakers, handicapped by a $3.6 billion budget shortfall, will take their best shot at solving some of the most pressing housing problems during this year’s legislative session, which kicks off on Tuesday in Tallahassee.

In a session likely to be dominated by budget battles, public employee pensions and education reform, housing legislation isn’t at the top of most lawmakers’ minds, said Arden Shank, president of Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida.

via Florida legislature to consider new real estate laws.

Apartment Investors in U.S. Not Scared by Vinyl Siding in Search for Yield

Orchard Pointe, a 17-year-old, vinyl-sided apartment complex in Vancouver, Washington, wouldn’t have drawn a second look from Invesco Real Estate in early 2010, when most multifamily-property investors wanted newer, trophy buildings in coastal markets such as New York and San Francisco.

“We wouldn’t have even considered it,” Greg Kraus, head of acquisitions at the Dallas-based real estate arm of asset manager Invesco Ltd. (IVZ), said in an interview.

By December, the firm had purchased the 388-unit Orchard Pointe, located about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from downtown Portland, Oregon, on behalf of a client for more than $31 million. It plans to raise rents after spending about $4 million to renovate the garden apartments, including removing the vinyl siding, Kraus said.

via Apartment Investors in U.S. Not Scared by Vinyl Siding in Search for Yield – Bloomberg.

Hardest Hit Fund Help Homeowners’ Mortgage Payment

Residents in Clark County who are facing foreclosures can now sigh in relief as help from the federal government is on its way for their mortgage payment. Nevada was chosen to be one of the recipients Hardest Hit Fund established President Obama. The state one of the numerous states in the United States who has the highest foreclosure rates, as homeowners can’t afford their mortgage payment.

The state of Florida is also a beneficiary of the Hardest Hit Fund, which was granted about $1 billion available for homeowners in the state that are facing foreclosures, but the fund is delayed until the last week of March 2011.

Nevada is one of the beneficiaries of the United States Treasury’s program — “Hardest Hit Fund”, and has been awarded $150 million worth of funds, which can be availed by qualified homeowners to help them with their mortgage payment.

via Hardest Hit Fund Help Homeowners’ Mortgage Payment.