‘It Was Not Easy Leaving Haiti’: Good Neighbor Pat Moore Returns

Pat Moore, a Michigan REALTOR® and 2007 Good Neighbor Award winner, recently returned from Haiti after spending a few weeks providing disaster relief in and around Port-au-Prince. He will be returning in about six weeks. Here’s a follow up to his recent reports from Haiti, as well as some pictures of his experiences in helping victims of the earthquakes that struck the country: Read more

FHA Remains the Mortgage Lifeline

By Robert Freedman, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

Stevens doesn’t talk about concerns among lawmakers and in the media about whether FHA is getting over-extended or whether the safety measures the agency rolled out about a month and a half ago are working. These include requiring borrowers with a credit score of 580 or less to put up a minimum 10 percent down (it remains 3.5 percent down for those with higher credit scores) and upping the mortgage insurance premium. No doubt it’s too soon to tell what impact those changes are having.

But he does reiterate what has always made FHA a remarkably stable agency over its seven decades, and that’s its focus on owner-occupant borrowers and its requirement that applications be fully documented. As he tells Gil Gross, the show’s host, “We don’t do investment properties. We only do 30-year, fully amortizing, fixed-rate mortgages, and every loan is fully documented, so when we approve a borrower . . . we know their ability to repay that loan has been verified.”

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‘An Honor to Serve’: Good Neighbor Pat Moore Reports From Haiti

Pat Moore, a Michigan real estate professional and recipient of REALTOR® Magazine’s Good Neighbor Award in 2007, was in Haiti for two weeks providing assistance following the devastating earthquakes that recently struck the country. He left Haiti on Friday, Feb. 12, and expects to return sometime in the spring to continue relief efforts. Here are the final reports from his trip:

Bon Repos, Haiti – Feb. 10, 2010

Today we had the second meeting of NGOs with the 82nd Airborne. Since I am leaving on Friday, all contact information was turned over to Barbara Walker, Director of Reach Out to Haiti, who runs Ruuska Village orphanage. Also Pastor Capre’s name and address were added to the list for food and other supplies. We made some great contacts at these two meetings. This will give long-term help to those we serve. I will say it again, the 82nd has been a Godsend. If they say they will be there with aid, they come on time and loaded. They made a lot of dreams come true. Read more

What a Bizarre Week in Real Estate News!

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine

A few stories that appeared in REALTOR® Magazine’s Daily News struck me as unusual this week. I’m curious to hear your thoughts!

Buyer Sues Agent Over Secondhand Smoke

A buyer is suing her real estate agent, claiming the agent never told her that secondhand smoke was seeping into her $405,000 condo from the unit next door. The buyer claims her broker assured her when she smelled smoke during their initial visit that it was because the owner smoked, and that the smell would be gone by the time she moved in.

However, once she moved in, the buyer — who has asthma — discovered the smoke was actually coming from her next-door neighbor. In court filings, the real estate agent says the buyer never questioned him about the smoke.

Depending on how it plays out, the case could pave the way for whether disclosing smoke smells to prospective buyers will be required of real estate professionals. So you might want to start giving your listings an extra whiff.

Paying Home Owners to Pay Their Mortgage

Loan Value Group LLC wants to stop borrowers from defaulting on their mortgage so they came up with an idea: Let’s pay the home owners to pay their mortgage. Read more

‘Time to Get to Work’: Good Neighbor Pat Moore Reports From Haiti

Here are the latest updates from 2007 Good Neighbor Award winner Pat Moore, who has been in Haiti for about two weeks now assisting disaster relief efforts:

Bon Repos, Haiti – Feb. 4, 2010 (Sent on Feb. 5)

We had another very productive day. Much-needed food we acquired from Samaritan’s Purse was delivered to two locations. The first was the orphanage two lots away from where we are staying. Cornmeal, rice, beans, and high-energy biscuits were a welcome sight to the 20 children and four adults. The next stop was Pastor Capre’s home, where we found another 50 to 60 people had taken shelter there. Their needs are growing faster than we can deliver, but we will make it work.

Pastor Jean Robert Martin will be down on Saturday to get the food money to feed our orphanage in Anse Rouge until July. By the grace of God this region was spared. The one big problem we continue to see is the after-care of the wounded. Infections are the order of the day. Our medicine is holding out and the 82nd Airborne is going to deliver a large supply of medicine on Saturday. It is an honor to be working with them side by side, these guys really care, and after coming from war most of them say they have never seen anything like this. Read more

‘More Patients Than We Could Keep Track of’: Good Neighbor Pat Moore Reports From Haiti

Below are more updates from 2007 Good Neighbor Award winner Pat Moore, who is aiding earthquake survivors in and around Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Bon Repos, Haiti – 9:45 p.m., Feb. 2, 2010

Today may have been the most productive day thus far on this trip. We packed our medical bag with all of the essentials and set out on foot with a couple of EMTs from Minnesota to help those who were ill or injured in and around Bon Repos. Almost as soon as we left we started seeing people in need. The need ranged from simple scrapes and bruises in need of cleaning and bandaging, to missing fingers and gashes that were severely infected that required much more serious attention. Read more

‘Today Was a Great Day’: Good Neighbor Pat Moore Reports From Haiti

Here’s the latest update from 2007 Good Neighbor Award winner Pat Moore, who is currently assisting relief efforts in Haiti following the earthquakes that struck the country. (To see the previous updates, go here.)

Ruuska Village Orphanage, Bon Repos, Haiti – 9:30 p.m., Feb. 1, 2010

Today was a great day. We were able to feed 20 orphans and their caretakers for about another two months. Their building, which we will post a picture of, was taken down by the earthquake. Rebuilding of the orphanage here has started—the NW front wall is almost done. Again, thank you to all who donated to make this possible. Read more

‘No Aid, No Military, No Nothing’: Good Neighbor Pat Moore Reports From Haiti

Pat Moore, who was honored with a Good Neighbor Award in 2007 for his extensive charity work in Haiti, arrived in that country on Friday, Jan. 29, to assist with relief efforts. During his time there, he’ll be sending regular updates that will be posting here on Speaking of Real Estate.

This is Moore’s 64th trip to Haiti since 2001. Each time he goes, he brings food, installs water filtration systems, and provides medical care using his training as a firefighter. In Port-au-Prince, he supports an orphanage/foreign adoption agency and a shelter for men and women run by a local priest. He also makes regular trips to provide aid to three remote mountain villages.

On this trip, he brought a dozen tents, high-protein foods such as tuna and peanut butter, and hundreds of doses of antibiotics. He is focusing on helping to rebuild the damaged orphanage and providing food, clean water, and medical care wherever he can. He plans to stay for about two weeks and then return in March.

NAR and Good Neighbor Award Sponsor Lowe’s donated $50,000 to his non-profit, The Harvest of Haiti. The REALTORS® Relief Foundation has donated another $500,000 to relief efforts in Haiti and is continuing to raise funds at http://www.realtor.org/about_nar/haiti_relief.

Updates from Pat:

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For Home Sales, It’s About Jobs, Not Fed MBS Purchases

By Robert Freedman, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

Watch our videos for economic research updates further down the post.

In the midst of the mortgage meltdown it was hard to keep track of everything the federal government was doing to keep the credit freeze from sinking the economy. There was the massive bank rescue, with the idea that an equity infusion from taxpayers would shore up banks so they could start financing mortgages again; there was the temporary increase in loan limits in high-cost areas for loans backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA; and there was the first-time home buyer tax credit, now expanded to include move-up buyers.

But one federal effort that never received quite the same attention as the others, probably because it doesn’t lend itself to a term that rolls off the tongue like “tax credit” or “bank bailout,” is the Federal Reserve’s massive intervention in the mortgage-backed securities market. Read more

The Most Interesting Thing About the iPad…

By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

…is not the product itself. At least that’s my first impression. As many who are smarter and more techno-centric than I am have noted, it seems very much like an oversized iPod Touch. And in this day and age, would you want the most noteworthy thing about your product to be that you’ve taken existing technology and made it less portable?

But make no mistake, this is a triumph for Apple. Read more

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