The video is my appearance on Channel 12 News story on September 24, 2009 about the infamous “Buy and Bail.” Surpisingly enough, they cut the most important pieces of what I said. . . .Or, not surprisingly.

What they didn’t show of our 45 minutes of talking were these controversial and critical points:

The “Buy and Bail” is not the problem; it’s a symptom of the problem. A problem that occurred years ago when the market was at its height when the legislators, realtors, lenders and builders didn’t act ethically in their own rights; A negative equity problem that is currently not being addressed by our government.

They’re focused on the monthly payment issue when it’s much more widespread than that. The tiny percentage of people who actually qualify for a loan modification, don’t make up the masses. The primary problem is being overlooked: Negative Equity. This problem is going to perpetuate and ail the housing market for years to come.

Why are people bailing?
3-5 years ago, builders sold new homes to investors while having buyers sign off on documents promising they weren’t an investor. Some of these communities ended up having 50% or more investor population. What does that mean? They did zero upgrades, never lived in the home, and didn’t landscape the back and/or front yard. That sure doesn’t help the value of a property, especially when the investors were the first phase of bailing on properties because they couldn’t find renters and couldn’t afford to keep them.

3-5 years ago, what were the lending guidelines? Face it, there were none. If you could sign your name, you got a loan.

The current system has a gaping hole in it. The government is handing out money right and left to the crooks in corporate America, the unfortunate population that has become victim to the economy, and to the people who over-bought on homes and abused their credit.

But, WAIT! What about the huge percentage of the population that did all the right things? The people who are making good incomes, have high credit scores, saved and put 20% or more cash down on a home, got into a conventional mortgage, spent wisely and did not abuse their credit cards and rack up debt throughout the years, and yet are down hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity? I’ll tell you what. They’re left holding the bill for all the neighbors who have abandoned their homes for whatever reason, and the new people who are buying the same house for hundreds of thousands of dollars under what these people paid. They’re the people being scoffed at and called unethical.

This population of homeowners who put tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands cash down and in upgrades has been accused of being immoral for walking away as if they’re not losing anything. When you look at the history of the housing market over decades, you see that the value increases that we saw a few years ago will never happen again in our lifetime. That’s right, NEVER again will we see a home increase 100% or more in one year. With that factoid in mind, then how will these homeowners recoup $300,000 or more in equity? They won’t. Therefore, it can be a good financial decision to cut your losses short and start over. Are they supposed to feel good that they’re paying on jumbo mortgages when all of their neighbors are paying teensy weensy mortgages for the same house? Just because they can pay, doesn’t mean they should have to.

Everyday, I hear things like, “We didn’t plan on spending this much for a home. The lender told us we could” …… “I knew we couldn’t spend this much, but they gave us the loan!”………. “We had no idea how we would make these payments, we just thought we’d figure it out as we go”……… “I have $20,000 in credit card debt and am leasing a brand new BMW. I can’t afford this house payment!” Many of these people were given a free ride and walked away and looked upon as someone with financial “hardship”. Hey, I have all the sympathy in the world for the people who had true financial devastation hit from something bad like losing a job or divorce, but not because they were spend thrifts.

You know as well as I do that there are masses of people who created their own financial hardship, and they’re being rewarded for it. How is that right?

I’ve said it for the past 2 years and I’ll say it again. The people who are 200% or more down in equity and purchased their homes with good credit, money down and have not abused credit cards NEED a SOLUTION or the Buy and Bail will continue because it just plain makes good financial sense. Do the math. “You’ll ruin your credit” they all cry out. What did good credit get them? A swift kick in the a–.

Why don’t they come up with a solution modeled after the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 – which was extended to 2012 for a reason! If you bought a primary residence between 2003-2007, you put cash down, you can show income, you have good credit and you’re more than 40% down in equity from the mortgaged amount —- you qualify for a principle reduction of xyz…. Now that makes more sense then letting all these properties foreclose, doesn’t it? Reward the people that DID THE RIGHT THINGS.

** You should always consult your realtor, CPA and a real estate attorney to decide what options you have to make a financial decision about your property. There are tax ramifications to consider. This is in no way intended to give advice or suggest people should walk away from their homes and mortgages. If you make a decision, whatever it is, you’re the one responsible. Don’t try to blame me and this article!

The House and Senate just passed the 300 Billion Dollar Assistance Bill that will help current homeowners facing foreclosure if they meet certain criteria. Did this Assistance bill come in to little to late? What about Victims of foreclosure already that would have been able to meet the criteria but lost their homes already? Who is to take responsibility for this Foreclosure Mess?

They’re rewarding bad decisions and punishing the people who did NOT contribute to the demise of the real estate market by taking away the Down Payment Assistance programs. And, who’s going to pay for it? WE ARE -the TAX PAYERS! So, not only am I making my mortgage payment on a house I overpaid for and I’m losing the value of my property, but now I have to pay to bail out my neighbor? At the risk of sounding like Denise Richard’s potty mouth, ARE YOU %@!*%$@! KIDDING ME???!!!

So, you’re saying that this is the American Dream? Julie Smith bought a house at $600,000 and is making her payments on time every month and can afford her home because she put 20% cash down. Julie’s next door neighbor squeaked into their home with no money down and now they can’t afford their monthly payments…along with 3 other neighbors. So, the four neighbors get bailed out and the values of the homes in the neighborhood have gone down. Meanwhile, the one homeowner who got into her home legitimately (Ms Smith) is still making payments on a $480,000 loan when her neighbors who live in the same floorplan are making payments on a $250,000 or so loan ?

What happened to the principle we’re taught to raise our children with: Reward good behavior, don’t bribe the kid with candy for not repeating bad behavior? Isn’t that what we’re doing? There are consequences for our actions. If certain people are given a “get out of jail free” card, then ALL of us who purchased a home in 2005 should get that same card.

What they should be doing is keeping the DPA programs. They’re punishing the WRONG people! The ones who are keeping our economy going are now being swiped of the opportunity if they don’t have $10,000, $20,000 or more sitting in a bank account.

The question SHOULD be: Why are they taking away a program that allows people who are well qualified with lengthy job history, good credit scores, and good income-to-debt ratios but don’t have a huge chunk of cash sitting in their bank- from buying the surplus of homes that are sitting on the market for sale? There is a big market of first time home buyers, people who are recovering from life changes such as divorce, and multi-cultural US citizens who are buying the inventory. A large percentage of this group does not have enough cash to cover the entire down payment and closing costs.

The question SHOULD be: Why weren’t the appropriate lending guidelines in place to qualify these buyers who are defaulting? If these guidelines are now in place, then why not let the people who do qualify get down payment assistance from the seller who is willing and able to offer it?

We should be focused on that point, not bailing out the people who caused this mess. I was raised with the principle that there are consequences for our actions, whether good or bad.

Instead, go to GetDownPayment.com and click TAKE ACTION NOW to submit a plea to your congressperson to keep the DPA and the American Dream alive.

Otherwise, who will buy the homes on the market? Investors and people with $20,000 sitting in a bank account? If you’re a seller, that certainly LIMITS your buyer pool! Not to mention…the investor will severely low ball the offer price as much as $100,000 below asking price (after all, that’s what makes it an INVESTMENT, right?!).

If you’re thinking of buying real estate, you better start saving…for the next 2-5 yrs or so! And, then, you’ll most likely have missed the BEST buying opportunity in real estate in YOUR lifetime.

They’re adding to the decline of the economy and real estate market by PROHIBITING buyers who are ready, willing and able to purchase a home from doing so if they don’t have $10,000-30,000 or more sitting in a bank account.

I, personally, am helping several buyers who are well-qualified to get into a home, using this program because they simply don’t have the cash sitting in a bank account for the full down payment. Don’t get me wrong -it takes a huge amount of effort on my part to find the right home that will appraise at the purchase price and has a seller willing to contribute up to 6% (or more) of the sales price to the buyer’s down payment and closing costs, BUT I’m doing it and it’s selling homes. I’m willing to earn my paycheck ….and see the happiness of someone who’s getting the keys to their very first home…and it’s not at an inflated purchase price!

”…I’m just saying…”
Kelli Grant, Residential Realtor TRYING to help dreams come true

The response you posted regarding “Will the 300 Billion Dollar Assistance Bill Passed by the House and the Senate Help the Current Real Estate Market?” was very insightful.- Alexander Bermudez, www.Classic-Apartments.com

Recently, realtors and industry experts gathered to showcase neighborhoods in central and east Phoenix. It appears that home buying and selling is strong in specific neighborhoods, such as the area between 35th and 40th streets, from Oak St. to McDowell. Homes have consistently been selling for about 97 percent of value.

With gas prices soaring to an all-time high, people are focused on living closer to work.

The foreclosure and mortgage crisis dominate the news. Andrew Waite, author of ‘Where to live in Phoenix’, confirms that 94.6 percent of all mortgages are current. And, with certain neighborhoods still doing well, it’s really not accurate to blanket the entire valley with the same negative stats.

Phoenix, the ‘Valley of the Sun’, has always been very neighborhood-centric. The recent housing market highlights how individual communities within one city have their own lifestyle and characteristics.

In the last Neighborhood Advisory Council meeting in Sonoran Foothills, the Community Manager pointed out how we can be proactive in taking control of our neighborhood. Developers and home builders market new communities using enormous marketing budgets. Once the community is turned over to the homeowners, we can still make an impact.

I guarantee each neighborhood has several resident realtors and mortgage brokers. I, for one, am looking forward to marketing my neighborhood as an attractive place to live with all of our surrounding beauty and amenities! I don’t think it’ll happen right away due to simple geography, but as more businesses are built nearby –the better it will get.

For accurate neighborhood housing stats, contact your neighborhood Realtor, Kelli Grant.

It’s not about real estate, but Money Matters in this tough economy! Have you heard of the Pre-Ignition Catalytic Converter claiming, “The PICC, Pre-Ignition Catalytic Converter is a breakthrough new technology that could get your car up to five times the gas mileage!”

I had a family member contact me about this and was thrilled that they had found something they thought would be the golden ticket to saving fuel costs . . .and the environment. Several phone calls were put out to mechanics about installing this “revolutionary” technology that was sure to be the next big thing, and since it wasn’t well-known yet - they were excited to be getting it at a fair price before supply and demand went through the roof and the cost tripled.

BUYER BEWARE!! I immediately opened my trusty source for everything you want to know and more, the Internet. I Googled the term PICC fuel and found all of the following information that supports this is a TOTAL SCAM. What’s most scary is that there are ads in reputable magazines such as Popular Science, so why would someone question its validity? It sounds good!

I share this with you because it enrages me as much as any real estate or lending scam would. Taking advantage of people who are completely frustrated and vulnerable in such uncertain times is UNacceptable. So, please click the links and forward to any friend or family member who may contact you with this golden key to the future either because they are passionate about saving the environment or simply cutting their fuel costs in half. And, if all these links still don’t convince you (you’re dillusional), remember that by installing this, you would void all manufacturer’s warranties on your vehicle.

If it’s too good to be true, it probably is! The links below are just a few of the sites that I found with facts, news stories and bulletins about the creator of PICC, Dennis Lee, this so-called technology and other scams he’s created.

http://www.funwithbutter.com/search/label/Automobile

http://www.electricitybook.com/dennis-lee-scam/

http://www.phact.org/e/z/dennisLeeonstealsanddeals.WMV

http://www.phact.org/e/dennis.html

http://www.nmsr.org/denislee.htm

http://www.rv.net/FORUM/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/21034695.cfm

Could you treat your family member like this??

As more and more home foreclosures hit the market, the biggest and most unknown losers are family pets who are being deserted by their owners.

Animal welfare experts say that the United States slumping housing market has led to an increase in the number of abandoned animals. For some of these homeowners, feeding their pets is just not affordable anymore. Many homeowners are having to move in with relatives or find rentals where pets are not allowed.

Pets are being dumped all over the country. Dogs are being found in farms and domestic cats are showing up in feral wild colonies. Even worse, some pets are being left behind in their foreclosed homes without any food and water.

Many foreclosure homes and go weeks without having a showing. An animal left behind does not stand a chance. It can take weeks for an animal to starve to death. Desperate scratch and bite marks are usually found on doors, windows and baseboards.

Recently, the animal rescue group, Paw Placement, was part of a a huge rescue mission to save abandoned cats that were left behind by their previous owners in a demolished apartment building. Many of these cats were starving and sick due to neglect.

Although some pet owners may think they are doing their pets a favor by not taking them to a shelter or the local pound, they are mistaken. Pets get dependent on their owners for food and their well being. They are domestic animals that are not equipped to survive on their own. They have no chance of survival by being abandoned and their fate is ultimately a painful and suffering death.

Homeowners facing foreclosures should be encouraged to bring their pets to the local humane society or Animal Care and Control facility. In these facilities, their pet at least has a good opportunity of being adopted. Although not every pet will find a home and may be euthanized, they still have a chance. As Stephanie Shain from the humane society put it, " They’ll be fed, have water and/or have a humane euthanization, as opposed to spending the last days of their lives eating carpet or wallboard."

*** Pet abandonment and pet dumping are illegal in most of the United States. In Arizona, this is a class 6 felony.

November 20, 2007
By Bernice Ross
Inman News

I am sick and tired of the negative media constantly ranting about how horrible everything is in our business. It’s time for our industry to fight back against these psychic vampires who seek to suck every bit of hope and optimism out of us just to build their circulation.

Newspaper headlines and buzzwords abound, such as: “Two million people will lose their homes in foreclosure in the next two years!” “Subprime Fiasco!” and “Mortgage Meltdown.”

These are the headlines we hear every day, yet where is the positive news about the real estate market? The answer is, buried in statistics on page 15 of section 3 of your newspaper, provided you can find them at all.

Here’s a typical example from USA Today, Oct. 26, 2007, page 1B:

New Home Sales Unexpectedly Rise

New homes sales posted an unexpected increase in September. But analysts were highly skeptical given the credit crunch and predicted further sales declines. The Commerce Department said sales of new homes rose 4.8 percent last month…”

By the way, here’s what they didn’t report. Sales in the West were up 36.6 percent. The media totally discounted these statistics. What about a different headline: “Great News! Real Estate Sales Surge Despite Biggest Credit Crunch in Decades”?

Here’s another example. In Sept. 6, 2007, article entitled, “New Mortgage Foreclosures Set Record,” Martin Crutsinger provided the following summary of a speech given by Doug Duncan, the chief economist for the National Mortgage Bankers Association. Here’s how it was reported:

“The number of homeowners receiving foreclosure notices hit a record high in the spring, driven up by problems with subprime mortgages. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported Thursday that mortgage-holders starting the foreclosure process in the April-June quarter reached 0.65 percent, marking the third consecutive quarter that this figure has set an all-time high.

“The delinquency rate has risen to 5.12 percent … The worsening performance was driven by two factors — heavy losses in the Midwest states of Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, and the collapse of previously booming housing markets in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona … Analysts said the problems in the formerly red-hot housing markets of California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona reflected in part speculators walking away from mortgages they can no longer afford.”

This article ends with the negative media’s favorite theme for scaring their readers and/or listeners: “Two million people will face foreclosure in the next two years.”

Here are the numbers that the negative media did NOT report from Duncan’s speech:

1. Thirty-five percent of the homes in the U.S. do NOT have a mortgage.

2. Some 94.88 percent of the loans ARE performing.

3. The foreclosure problem in this country is really a story about seven states.

4. The biggest foreclosure problems are in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. These are manufacturing states that had horrible job losses. Since 2001, Michigan has lost 300,000 jobs. These states would probably have had problems no matter what the market was doing.

5. The other four states — California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona — experienced significant overbuilding. Twenty-five percent of the foreclosures in these states are on properties that are held by investors who were speculating.

6. Only 25 percent of all mortgages are subprime, and of these, 75 percent are performing.

7. In the other 43 states, foreclosures have fallen in 2007 from 2006 (data from Michael Clawson, vice president, Central Texas Mortgage).

Furthermore, buyers who are waiting to purchase when the so-called bubble pops in California’s major metropolitan areas are going to be sitting on the sidelines, according to the latest data from a state Realtor group.

According to Leslie Appleton Young, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors, the areas being hardest hit in California are the outlying areas where there has been overbuilding. The resale market in California’s major markets continues to be strong. In fact, the closer you are to a metropolitan area, the better the sales are. In the million-dollar-plus price range, there has been essentially no change from 2006 to 2007.

There’s no question about the fact that there is bad news in some markets. What irks me is that there is also a lot of good news that is either being buried or is not being reported at all.

To get a PDF copy of The Forecast, Email Me. To get a report of sales activity and comparisons in a specific neighborhood, contact me and I’ll prepare one for you.

For more details and stats on other zip codes, click HERE

According to CNNMoney.com, Scottsdale ranks 7th in the Top 100 Best Places To Live in 2006. So, what criteria did they base this on? The categories listed are:

• Financial
• Housing
• Education
• Leisure and culture
• Quality of Life
• Weather
• Health
• Meet the Neighbors

So, when you look at the financial category, the Median family income per year is $84, 747, where we actually rank 8th. Out of the top 10 cities, Scottsdale had the highest home price gain from 2004-2005 at 25.40%. Columbia/Ellicott City, MD was the only other city that exceeded 14.80%, coming in at 21%.

In regards to education, we were the highest above our state average for test scores in reading and math. However, that poses the next question: How does our state rank?

Ironically, when you look at quality of life, we had the highest incidents of personal/property crime. It must be because we have more property that can be stolen, right? Leisure and culture is where we really shine. Proudly, we have more restaurants and bars (within 15 miles) than the other nine cities. (3822 restaurants and 241 bars!) AND, we rank third for number of libraries (within 15 miles), at 45. So, does that mean the parents can drop the kids off to get educated on their reading and math while they have a cocktail?? You’ll be happy to know that we rank equally with the other cities under health for body mass index, who all have scores of 26 except for Fort Collins, CO and Sugar Land, TX with BMI scores of 25. Whew!

Now, let’s meet our neighbors. Scottsdale, AZ ranks second in the “divorced” category only exceeded by Boise, ID. Is it because we have too many bars and not enough museums?

You can also check out best places to live for various categories, such as “Hottest”. Arizona has 15 out of 25 cities in this category!! Calm yourself. They’re not referring to the people, but to the temperature. Darn. We didn’t even make the skinniest list of top 25. This surprises me a little when I look around at the gym.

All in all, we can see why people come here in droves. It’s a really “hot” place to live and I’d say we’re pretty well-rounded, comparably.

Women Helping Women!

Denise Bentley is in one of my networking groups and is a beautiful person with a beautiful story about her premature twins. She needs some help reaching out to local businesses for silent auction items for a fundraiser coming up for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Please read her story below. Her email is dbentley@sbconsultants.biz

Donations are ranging from $100 in value on up, so get creative and donate something for the auction and/or spread the word to your friends and colleagues.

Blessings,
Kelli Grant
———————————————————————————

Dear Friend,

In December 2004, after many years of trying and losing the battle to get pregnant, after numerous miscarriages and many tears, my husband Rob and I were delighted to discover we were successfully pregnant with twin daughters.

It was a rough pregnancy that included 6 weeks hospital bed rest for me. I never left the hospital until the girls were born and, most difficult of all, I left the hospital without my new precious baby girls.

Ashton Reese and Sydney Monet entered the world June 30, 2005, a full 10 weeks before they were due to have been born. They came into the world weighing less than 3 pounds each and were so fragile that I was not even able to hold them or look at them until after they had been rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to save their tiny, underdeveloped lungs.

Over the next two months, the girls battled blood transfusions, brain bleeds, treatments for pneumonia and other respiratory complications. They had other complications such as trouble maintaining their body temperatures as well as difficulty sucking, breathing, and swallowing. The girls had to learn how to breathe while eating; eat enough to gain a healthy weight and many other obstacles. Over time, the girls slowly grew and gained strength. After a 2 and half month stay in the NICU, the girls finally came home at just 6 pounds each.

The doctors, nurses and support staff at Scottsdale Shea NICU were our biggest cheering squad and still check in on our progress from time to time.

Ashton and Sydney had a tough start in life, but thanks to the NICU, most of that is now forgotten.

Many other preemie babies have a similar, if not more challenging beginning. Some preemies make it and, unfortunately, some are now angels hoping for a second chance for their parents.

Seconds count in responding to a premature baby in distress and the Scottsdale Shea NICU was created with a uniquely built design that unfortunately requires the staff to leave the bedside of an infant if they need to race for help.

We, the parents of the NICU, are helping the unit to raise $50,000 for a new emergency response unit similar to what your local firefighters and police use today to respond in an emergency.

We, Ashton, Sydney as well as their mom and dad, are hoping you can offer any assistance to help us with our NICU fundraiser event being held March 17, 2007 at the DC Ranch Country Club.

We are looking for auction items that can be donated to the event to help raise money and/or sponsorships to help meet our goal.

Please see the attached donation request letter, if you choose to donate, feel free to call me and I will pick up any donated items.

Thank you for your generosity and the chance for other preemies to come home and smile for their parents too.

With love and tiny hugs,

The Bentley family

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A fundraising dinner will be held on March 17, 2007. The dinner will be held at Country Club at DC Ranch. You can help by donating a prize for the silent auction that will be held that evening!

The Bowe Special Care Nursery is a designated Level 2 Enhanced Qualifications neonatal intensive care unit. Located within the Family Birthing Center at Scottsdale Healthcare Shea, the nursery cares for infants and families who require services that are more advanced.

Scottsdale Healthcare is a non-profit comminity hospital system. If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact Denise at dbentley@sbconsultants.biz, or call Joanne Gain, Vice-President, Annual & Major Gifts at 480-882-4541