Greg's video posted on TrueGotham.com can be seen HERE.

Selling a high end home ANYWHERE is very tough with jumbo loan rates hovering in the mid 7's or above. Few buyers are willing to make the leap from a 5.0% +- conventional mortgage to a 7.5% or higher jumbo mortgage (those above $417,000). There is a way to get to the closing table for you sellers....if you're willing:




Meanwhile here's a sad sad story about one such high end homeowner who's even got famed housing economist Robert Shiller talking smack about his property. How they got Shiller to do this I'll never know. It's a great bit of fun poked at our Treasury Secretary.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Home Crisis Investigation
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Joke of the Day

Cap and Trade

Roughly half the personal wealth in this country lies in the equity in our homes. Cap and Trade will significantly affect that. It's not that we shouldn't be more Eco friendly, we should. It's not about the what...it's about the how.....and here's why:



This housing portion of Cap and Trade was added at 2:42 am the morning that the legislation was passed in the house of Representatives. So much for transparency. So much for doing things differently. When you plug in 300 pages of radical legislation in the middle of the night, you know it's bound to be something we shouldn't trust. AGAIN I EMPHASIZE....I AM TOTALLY FOR A MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY APPROACH IN THE HOUSING MARKET. I am NOT for destroying the ability of millions of people to EVER sell their homes.

Here's the language that DID pass the U.S. House:

H.R. 2454 Page 350 – Line 13 – The Administrator shall develop and implement standards for a national energy and environmental building retrofit policy for single-family and multifamily residences …. to facilitate the retrofitting of existing buildings across the United States to achieve maximum cost-effective energy efficiency, improvements and significant improvements in water use and other environmental attributes ….

ADDITIONAL NOTE: I am well aware that NAR worked to get the original energy audit language changed. I absolutely believe that based on the original intent of the Cap and Trade legislation and the language that did pass the U.S. House, EVERY effort will be made by the Federal government to impose the energy audit provision of selling homes if Cap and Trade passes. Based on the language above and the fact that a U.S. Senator's office has told me there are already attempts being made to add the audit provision back in as an amendment to other bills should Cap and Trade pass, there's no doubt to me what is being planned for Today's New World of Real Estate....and it's not good.


CALL YOUR SENATOR TODAY OR WE WILL ESSENTIALLY BE PUTTING A SHOVEL TO WHAT'S LEFT OF TODAY'S NEW WORLD OF REAL ESTATE.

With the 2ND half just underway here are some key points to watch for in the coming months in Today's New World Of Real Estate.



INTEREST RATES are holding fairly steady with conventional rates hovering in the mid 5's and jumbo loans in the 7.5-8.0% range.

APPRAISALS are still a nightmare with the new regs that have kicked in as of May 1. The Federal Government in yet another attempt to 'fix' what's wrong with the housing market now requires stiffer rules on appraisers and how, where, what, etc. they do their jobs. As per most Fed dabbling, the problems are worse than ever.

CAP AND TRADE which is one of the most idiotic proposals EVER relative to the housing market has passed (I SAID PASSED) the U.S. House and will now move on to the Senate. If it passes there and is signed into law it will single handedly destroy half or MORE of the equity that American homeowners have. In fact, I'll have a new VIDEO BLOG coming this week about just that subject.

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? DONATIONS?
317-848-GREG (4734) or Greg@GregCooper.com.