Poll: Should Oregon lawmakers give MERS foreclosures a do-over?

Written by Robert White on May 29, 2011 – 8:56 am

More than 575 of you have voted in our weekend poll about whether the Oregon Legislature should retroactively relieve lenders of state law requiring mortgage documents be properly recorded before foreclosing on a home. Judges in Oregon have blocked non-judicial foreclosures involving the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS, because of improper recordings.
There’s still time to weigh in before Tuesday’s 1 p.m. hearing when the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to take up the amendment to Senate Bill 519 again. Co-chairmen Jeff Barker, D-Aloha, and Wayne Krieger, R-Gold Beach, oversee the committee.
Listen to Thursday’s testimony on the amendment at the committee’s webpage. Cli Full Article…


Tags: Oregon, Oregon Lawmakers
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How Is The Luxury Homes Market In Metro Phoenix, AZ

Written by Jessica Clark on May 29, 2011 – 2:22 am

For the sake of narrowing this overview, the luxury homes market in Phoenix is one defined as single family homes over $500,000.

Several things have have happened in Greater Phoenix with high end properties. Sales are up, inventory is down and prices seem to be stabilizing, especially on the lower end of the luxury market between $500,000-$700,000 and the numbers weaken as the price moves up.

luxury_market_stats_480

Inventory is seemingly down significantly from May 2010 to May 2011, but there is another reason besides demand catching up with supply.

That reason is a shift in the price segment of a large chunk of that inventory.

Full Article…


Tags: Homes Market, Luxury Homes, Luxury Homes Market, Phoenix
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How To Evaluate An Offer To Buy Your Home

Written by Robert White on May 23, 2011 – 6:13 pm

Okay, you’ve received an offer to buy your home (don’t forget to read the Do’s and Don’ts When You Receive An Offer). Maybe the offer to purchase is exactly what you hoped for, maybe it isn’t. Either way, when you receive an offer to buy your home, it’s time to calm down and evaluate it. Though it IS highly important, there is more to consider when you receive an offer than just price and there are more ways to respond to ANY offer to buy your home than just a simple yes or no.

If you thought buying a home was a complicated process, get ready. Selling you

Full Article…


Tags: Home
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Defend your consumer protections, vote on loan safeguards & keep that Form 5498

Written by Robert White on May 21, 2011 – 11:43 am

It’s about as hard to tie together this column’s offerings as it is to recommend LinkedIn stock.

Best I can say is that it’s about consumer protection. Protecting you from predatory lending and troubled brokers. Protecting the protector from detractors. Protecting IRA holders from double taxation.

Hope you’ll accept my invitation to connect.

Vote on new mortgage disclosures

The still germinating federal Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, under attack from the banking industry and Republican lawmakers, managed last week to propose two new mortgage disclosure forms designed to better inform and protect consumers. Full Article…


Tags: Consumer, Consumer Protections
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Software Giant SAP Is Spending Money to Make Money

Written by Jessica Clark on May 20, 2011 – 10:15 pm

SAP (SAP) recently announced its first quarter 2011 earnings results, in which it showed a healthy revenue growth of 26% compared to the same quarter last year. However, operating profits increased by only 7%, meaning that SAP’s operating margins declined to 19.7% from 22.2% during the same period.

We believe the dip in margins could be temporary, as SAP’s core business remains robust.

Full Article…


Tags: Sap, Sap Spending
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