SLOPPY SECONDS WRECK HAPPY HOMES

Subprime mortgages are not the only villains in the current 'mortgage mess' and 'housing slide.'

Frequently left out of the media hype are home equity loans. Home equity lines of credit and second mortgages

Key problems:
(1) Homes with equity loans and lines of credit frequently have total liens at 95% - 100% of house value, leaving no wiggle room for stressed and distressed borrowers.

(2) Prime and Alt-A mortgage lenders often do not know about these seconds and equity loans/lines because they are in different departments that often do not communicate. Lenders without subprime loans may simply have shot themselves in the other foot.

(3) According to April 2, 2007 issue of Businessweek, homes with seconds and equity loans/lines are 43% more likely to go into default.

(4) As homeowner's available equity dwindles, it may affect consumer spending and contribute to further economic decline.

Real Estate Stock Watch

This is link to a google spreadsheet I created showing a slice of the real estate segment of stock market.

An attempt to build a snapshot tool to help determine the health and direction of the real estate market. Not quite what I was hoping for. But, if you have a gmail account, you can apparently see the spreadsheet in all it's constant-feed-20minute-delay glory. Eventually, I will have to see how the whole RSS thing works to really get this tool where I want it.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pSAueSM32cXiNAa-bq_y1Og&output=html

Favorite Real Estate Websites

Here is a list of my favorite real estate websites. Maryland oriented sites first

Maryland Real Estate and Favorites
Allen and Allen Home http://www.allenattorney.net/
MD Case Search - Find judgments that attach to property http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us/inquiry/inquiry-index.jsp Baltimore City Property Taxes http://cityservices.baltimorecity.gov/realproperty/default.aspx
MD Dept. of Assessments and Taxation - get ownership / property info http://www.dat.state.md.us/
MD Daily Record - Search public notices http://www.mddailyrecord.com/
Craigslist - find housing and real estate legal services among a lot of other things http://baltimore.craigslist.org/
Free People search http://www.zabasearch.com/

Cornell University Legal Information Institute (LII) LII - Landlord-Tenant Law Overview http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/landlord_tenant.html
LII - Mortgage Law Overview http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/mortgages.html
LII - Real Estate Transactions Overview http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/real_estate.html
LII - Real Property Overview http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/real_property.html
Other Real Estate
LegalWiz.com Real Estate Articles http://www.legalwiz.com/articles.htm
Mortgage Mag http://www.mortgagemag.com/
National Association of Realtors http://nar.realtor.com/
Real Estate Forms http://www.kaktus.com/index.html
Real Estate Glossary http://www.oklawyers.com/bas1001.htm
Real Property Clearinghouse http://policyworks.gov/org/main/mp/library/policydocs/chhome.htm
Realty Times: News & Articles http://www.realtytimes.com/
Yahoo! Real Estate http://list.realestate.yahoo.com/
LLRX.com http://www.llrx.com/
Small Office Home Office Attorney http://soholawoffice.com/

This is what its all about

The purpose of this blog is to track major real estate market movers in different sectors of real estate industry, with a focus on the home state of Maryland.

website: http://www.allenattorney.net/

Occasionally, I intend to offer my opinion on some real estate matters as well. I'm an attorney who loves real estate transactions. Currently studying for the real estate broker's exam.