Help for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

November 20, 2008

Everyone seems to agree that flooding the market with empty, foreclosed homes does not help neighborhoods maintain stability – either as a way of living, or regarding the value of homes. Empty homes do nothing for a neighborhood.

Recently some organizations are taking tentative steps to allow homeowners who are defaulting on their mortgage to remain in their homes –at least for the time being.

Fannie and Freddie Mac have announced that they are freezing foreclosure sales until after the new year while they review strategies and the future of their organizations. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. recently announced foreclosure-prevention programs that aim to reduce interest rates, extend repayment schedules and, in the case of Citigroup, reduce loan amounts, to help borrowers keep their homes. But the programs have focused primarily on loans wholly owned by those companies because they feel they have more authority to rework those mortgages.

HSBC is also making more options available to more people. For example, it is contacting customers before their adjustable-rate loans reset to higher rates and freezing the current rate or allowing the borrower to pay a rate below what the new rate would be. The bank also is lowering fixed rates for selected borrowers. All this in an effort to stave of foreclosures.

One way of stabilizing markets where supply exceeds demand is to regulate supply. That way the people who can buy homes can buy from sellers who can’t afford to stay in their current home. But, amazingly enough, new home construction is still going on – even in saturated markets. Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg suggests, only half-jokingly, that the Treasury should impose a moratorium on home building. "It sounds like lunacy, but we have to destroy the housing capital stock to help put a floor under the market," he said.

As of 12/03/09 the Bill Walker RePage is ranked at 2,619 with 75 points.
The monthly top RePage owner will receive a cash prize. Help this agent by bookmarking this site and posting it to blogs and other Web pages and encourage others to visit.

Local Information for Bozeman, MT

Latitude: 45.67789 -- Longitude: -111.047274

Enter our Photo Sweepstakes and Win $200 for your Bozeman photos!

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

Submit your photos of Bozeman and become eligible to win $200. Click Here for details.

William Clark visited the area in July 1806 as he traveled east from Three Forks along the Gallatin River. The journal entries from Clark's party briefly describes the future city's location in a place the local natives called the "Valley of the Flowers" [2]. In 1863, John Bozeman, along with a partner named John Jacobs, opened the Bozeman Trail, an offshoot from the Oregon Trail leading to the mining town of Virginia City through the Gallatin Valley and the future location of the city of Bozeman. John Bozeman, with Daniel Rouse and William Bealle platted the town in 1864 stating "standing right in the gate of the mountains ready to swallow up all tenderfeet that would reach the territory from the east, with their golden fleeces to be taken care of...". The Indian Wars closed the Bozeman Trail in 1868, but the town's fertile land attracted permanent settlers. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Montana 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Bozeman	Montana	United States
Population	27,509	902,195	281,421,906
Median age	25.4	37.5	35.3
Median age for Male	24.9	36.6	34
Median age for Female	26.2	38.5	36.5
Households	10,877	358,667	105,480,101
Household population	24,608	877,433	273,643,273
Average household size	2.26	2.45	2.59
Families	5,019	237,407	71,787,347
Average family size	2.85	2.99	3.14
Housing units	11,577	412,633	115,904,641
Occupied units	10,877	358,667	105,480,101
Vacant units	700	53,966	10,424,540

Visit US Census