Take The Equity Money And Run?

Withdrawing all your home equity loan cash is new financial disaster preparedness advice that may not be as radical as it sounds. However, some say it's risky "pretzel logic" business and the fundamentals should still apply when it comes to using what's likely your most valuable asset as an ATM.

Also see: "What To Do If Your HELOC Freezes Over"


by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com


Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime.

Deadline Newsroom - If hard times loom and you have a home equity loan, consider tapping it out now. Withdraw all you think you'll need and squirrel it away -- just in case.

That only sounds like radical mattress-stuffing financial advice.

Homeowners have long had hammered into their heads that home equity is best used for capital improvements -- investments with a high probability of a decent return -- or, perhaps, for emergencies. Otherwise, leave it alone.

But in the new credit-starved economy old axioms don't always hold sway. Not everyone agrees to an equity-grabbing approach, but there is a consensus among financial experts that your lender could grab back your equity loan money if you don't grab it first.

"My understanding is that all banks are moving to de-leverage to reduce the amount of loans outstanding. They are reducing their commitment on home equity loans. If you think you will need it, it's a good time to take advantage of it before it goes away," said Bob Kresak, a certified financial planner and managing partner of the Silicon Valley headquarters of a financial planning and wealth management firm, Founders Financial Network, in Cupertino.

In an economy plagued by failing financial institutions heavily invested in mortgage securities and real estate, with investors fleeing "ultra-safe" money market mutual funds and with the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department asking Congress to pass a $700 billion bailout package for the nation's choked credit market, advice to homeowners to secure their home equity isn't surprising.

More advice to grab equity money and run also comes from the CMPS Institute, an organization created to certify mortgage bankers and brokers who counsel consumers on mortgage and real estate equity management, as well as home loans.

"A lot of lenders in San Jose and the San Francisco area are cutting off or reducing the credit limits on lines of credit so they can limit their exposure to all outstanding lines of credit," says Gibran Nicholas, chairman of the CMPS Institute.

"If you counted on an unused home loan line of credit for liquidity and safety, this is not a smart strategy, if you need it in this environment. Draw it all out now and put it an FDIC-insured account and have access to your money when you need it," he advises.



Nancy Osborne, chief operating officer at the Santa Clara-based online mortgage brokerage Erate.com, isn't so sure an equity money grab is the right thing to do. She says once a homeowner draws on a line of equity, payments begin, with interest.

"Home equity isn't free money after all. The entire concept sounds like pretzel logic. Isn't the fact that our economy has been over-leveraged by debt what got us all in this mess in the first place?" asks Osborne.

Also if you snatch all the equity and max out your home equity line of credit you could lower your credit score if only by a few points. Those few points may not be enough reason not to max out your home equity, if your lender reneges on the credit. If you have a home equity line of credit at, say $50,000 and you've used $20,000 and the lender decides to cut your limit to $2,000, it looks to the credit scoring computer like you've maxed out you home equity anyway.

Proponents insist the advice really isn't a radical shift from the fundamentals. The new advice just allows you to keep your home equity loan in a more liquid state. And from Wall Street giants to Main Street homeowners, today, liquidity is key.

Home equity is the difference between the value of your home and your mortgage balance. When you buy a home with a down payment of, say 20 percent, you have a 20 percent equity stake in your home. For example, if you buy a $500,000 home and manage 20 percent down, your equity stake is $100,000. In the past, such a position would allow you to borrow against that equity and obtain a second mortgage or home equity loan for as much as $100,000 or more.

The "more" was because equity can increase over time, due to mortgage payments that pay down the mortgage balance and appreciation -- the result of positive supply and demand market forces increasing the value of your home.

Unfortunately, depreciation -- negative market forces -- can reduce your equity stake, as is the case for many property owners in today's market.

Today, risk averse lenders are suffering the financial fallout of foreclosures due to over-burdened homeowners -- some of whom already tapped too much equity. Evaporated equity forced lenders put the squeeze on how much you can borrow against your equity. Few lenders are willing to allow more mortgage debt (your first and second mortgages combined) than 80 percent of the value of your home.

"You are going to have a tough time now getting a line of credit. The appraisal has to come in at the right value. You'll have to document your income. It's a much bigger deal to get one today than it was six years ago," said Nicholas.

But even if you can get it, lenders can just as quickly take it away. If you don't use it, as the saying goes, you can lose it.

Otherwise, there are two older schools of thought on home equity use.

The most conservative approach suggests leaving your home equity in place. The idea is to eventually pay off your mortgage and when you are retired and living on a fixed income you'll be home free with no mortgage payment. Along with the fixed income and retirement investments, you'll also have the home's equity to tap should the need arise. All that's fine if you never need your equity until your home is paid off.

A less conservative approach to home equity use surfaced in recent years, due to generally softening economic conditions, before the housing crash. This approach suggested, even if you didn't need to spend the money, it wasn't a bad idea to take out a home equity loan anyway to tap during hard times or emergencies.

The strategy came in handy, especially for those facing pink slips. If you waited until you were unemployed and attempted to get a second mortgage and the lender checked for income, your application likely would have been rejected. However, if you already had a home equity loan you could use it to drive around looking for a new job all while maintaining the household budget.

Likewise, if you are suddenly out of work, using home equity to consolidate other bills -- provided you cut up all the credit cards and actually close the accounts -- can also give you some financial breathing room.

A equity loan bird in the hand (held or tapped) is also frequently advised for emergencies, including unexpected medical care, especially among older homeowners who have few if any other visible means of support.

In any event, that less conservative strategy to get an equity loan in place -- just in case -- has evolved today into an even more disaster-preparedness approach. Don't let your home equity loan or line of credit just sit there. Tap some or all of it and sock it away, safely, so the lender doesn't take it back.

"If you are not disciplined and you go out and blow the money, of course this is not a good idea," said Nicholas.

Quincy A. Virgillio Jr., president elect of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors says while an "equity depletion strategy" can be a way of saving an asset from declining value, it is risky business. He says equity use should come with a return that's greater than the cost of borrowing.

"And that's something that may be hard to achieve given the current yields that are being earned in today's markets. It becomes an issue if the returns are eliminated or diminished, making this a risky proposition," said Virgillio, also broker owner of the Mortgage Network in Campbell.

Generally both conservative and more liberal financial experts alike agree, that if you've got equity to use and don't need to hold onto it as a safety net, the best use is as a prudent capital investment.

That includes home improvements with high cost-vs-value returns, education for the kids, financing a sound new business, and other financial moves that have a good chance of providing an equal or better return on your money than the cost of the loan.

Avoid buying big gas guzzling cars, boats, RVs, vacations, home theaters and other items that don't give you a return on your money.

"That's where a lot of people went wrong in recent years, blowing it on vacations and new boats, products and things that weren't going to give value in the long term," Nicholas said.

Today, if you can afford it, buying another home or real estate investment property, while prices are down and falling, can be a good capital investment use of your equity, but only over the long haul, five, 10 years or more.

You'll have to be sure any rental income will offset all or most of your carrying costs until home appreciation returns, or you'll have to have some other means of carrying the investment risk until it pays off. When that will be is anyone's guess.

"To some extent we would never advise someone to borrow money to invest. The example being that of Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch who were less prudent than most and leveraged themselves 50 times over and when the market went down, it caught them in the squeeze," said Kresak.

"It (a real estate investment) definitely isn't a one-time, short-term profit operation. You'll have to be in it long term. It is a good time to get in the market, but it could still go down further," he added.

Also, don't forget. When it comes to equity loans, even when you do use it, you lose it. A home equity loan, by it's very nature, is an equity-depleting loan.

• From the Deadline Newsroom, read more home equity news that really hits home.
• Also visit DeadlineNews.Com's Home Equity Center.

© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group -- DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop. In both cases, it's news that really hits home!

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Sharing The American Dream

Equity sharing could hit the main stream as an important stepping stone to home ownership if the Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008 creates an equity sharing program to help bail out home owners facing foreclosure.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

Deadline Newsroom - Federal legislative relief for the nation's housing crisis contains a provision that could turn a rarely-used home financing option -- equity sharing -- into a key stepping stone on the path of home ownership.

Along with other provisions, the federal legislation would create a Federal Housing Administration-sponsored equity sharing program to refinance loans at a discount for home owners facing foreclosure. In return, home owners would share future equity gains with the FHA.

"The feds are about to take equity sharing to the next level," says Jeff Langholz, founder and CEO of HomeEquityShare.com, an online network that matches equity sharing partners.

Not only would the government effort save an estimated 400,000 homes from foreclosure, federal backing could raise the profile of the unconventional creative financing tool and push it into the mainstream of housing finance.

"Every transition in life comes with intermediate stages. Before you are married you get engaged, before you get your driver's license you get a learner's permit. Before you get to homeownership what intermediate transition is there?" he asks.

Langholz is banking on the equity sharing provision in the federal relief package. That may be a safe bet.

Both the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 3221 by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-CA) and the U.S. Senate (the unnumbered bill known as the "Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008" by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-CT) this summer passed versions of the same relief package. Both versions contain the equity-sharing provision.

In late July, federal legislators were reconciling differences for final approval, which is expected "certainly before the August break," said Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly.

Equity sharing basics

Equity sharing is a symbiotic relationship -- as well as a legal agreement -- between two or more parties holding title to one home. Two or more parties share title in order to share the risk, thereby reducing the risk for both parties. Inevitably, however, home price appreciation is the bottom line. The property must grow in value over the term of the deal for it to really pay off.

Parties in the mutually beneficial relationship, and their roles are:

• The seller. The seller can use equity sharing as a way to quickly sell in a slow market. The seller can also become the investor and retain a stake in the property.

• The investor. Typically a non-resident owner, the investor provides the initial financial leverage in the form of a down payment or larger stake. He or she can be a family member of the occupying home owner (see below), a trusted friend of the occupying home owner or some private entity, say a professional investor. The investor gets tax deductions for his or her prorated share of the deal. With time, provided equity grows, the investor enjoys a joint venture-like return on the bulk of the investment.

• The occupying home owner. Often savings-poor, but income-rich, one person, with little or no money down, becomes the occupying home owner. He or she pays the mortgage and other costs associated with owning and occupying a home -- including taxes, insurance, maintenance and the like.

The occupying home owner gets to deduct a prorated share of the mortgage interest and property taxes, along with other tax breaks that come with home ownership. With enough equity growth, the occupant can eventually cash out, buy out the investor, keep the home or use the equity gain to buy another.

• Title to the home can be held in a variety of ways -- joint tenancy with right of survivorship, tenancy in common, partnership or as a living trust.

Variations on equity sharing

Like its creative financing cousins -- seller financing and lease options -- equity sharing often makes the news as an alternative financing tool buyers and sellers turn to in tough, cash- or credit-tight markets. That's because equity sharing lessens the upfront costs buyers face in any market. When buyers can buy, sellers can sell.

"In today's market, equity sharing makes sense for buyers because it allows them to buy a home which they couldn't buy on their own. Because the equity sharing an investor contributes to the down payment, the buyer needs to borrow less lowering his or her payment and risk. In exchange, the buyer gives up a portion of any home appreciation. This is a worthwhile bargain for people who would not otherwise be able to afford to buy," says Andy Sirkin, attorney/partner with Sirkin Paul Associates in San Francisco.

However, a tight market isn't mandatory.

• Equity sharing also can be strictly business -- an investment purely for financial gain, provided the investor and buyer are willing to risk they'll realize enough appreciation to make the deal pay off.

• The federal legislation points to equity sharing as a tool to help stave off foreclosure. Even without federal backing, a defaulting homeowner can privately bring in an equity share investor to buy a lump sum stake in the property or subsidize monthly payments over time, that is, pay some or all of the monthly mortgage for some period. Again, for the effort, the investor gets an equity stake.

• Equity sharing can also be used by a financially secure seller who doesn't need to drop his or her home price, but wants to move. With an investor buying an 80 percent stake, the seller could retain 20 percent ownership, and get another home. Then, say five years down the road, the seller and investor sell the home, each taking an appropriate share of the equity. Again, and always, appreciation must be sufficient for the deal to pay off.

• Some local governments offer equity sharing deals. The City of San Jose, for example, offers an equity-sharing, deferred-payment loan program for qualified, first-time, low- and moderate-income households.

The program provides housing from select, targeted properties in new housing developments.

Qualified buyer-occupants pay zero. They live mortgage-payment free. There's no down payment, no monthly payment and no interest payment, until it's time to sell or the loan is due in 45 years.

However, when the home is sold, the sale price goes to the city, which has been picking up the monthly mortgage tab. The city (in exchange for also paying the interest) and occupant share any equity gain on a prorated basis based on the terms of the mortgage (to say more here about those terms gets really involved. I'd have to give examples). If the gain is sufficient, the occupant can use it to buy his or her own home.

The occupant can also stay put for the 45-year term of the mortgage again, cost free. However, the loan is due at the end of the term, and again, any proceeds go to the city. If the occupant remains until the end of the term, the city relinquishes any and all claims on equity gains.

Either during a sale before the end of the term or at the end of the term, the occupant is not obligated to use the equity to buy a new home, but can choose to use that gain as he or she wishes.

In the past several years, San Jose has housed hundreds of families with variations of its equity sharing program.

The devil's in the details

Equity sharing is not a silver bullet.

They are most often short term contracts of five, seven, ten years or so -- to make sure the period of risk exposure is short. At the end of the term, the net proceeds from the sale are split, doled out according to contract.

Because the deal relies upon appreciation within a short term, equity sharing can be a tough sell in a depreciating market. They are perhaps better suited for a bottom market or market already on the rise.

The current market also makes the deals dicey because, as of yet, there's no federal backing.

Equity sharing is also a two-sided coin when it comes to the lender.
Risk averse lenders have put a squeeze on all credit and may not look favorably on all but the most "plain vanilla" mortgages.

On the other hand, if the investors has cash for his, say, 80 percent stake and the buyer-occupant needs a mortgage of only 20 percent of the value of the home, the lender might bite.

"Obviously if you are only going to borrow, say, a 30 percent loan (because the investor antes up 70 percent) and there are two people, you have a better chance. You are always better off if you have another person, but lenders are really spooked," said David Hofmann, a San Jose real estate attorney with Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel, Inc.

"Even people who recently qualified are having a tough time. Lenders don't want to see anyone on any loan with any credit issues. Most lenders faced with a default will just take the property back, " Hofmann added.

Equity sharing also remains obscure because the deals can be complicated.
The deals must be legal and binding contracts designed to provide an equitable means to an end. It must include provisions for any disputes or disagreements that might arise during the term. The contracts typically don't allow extracting any returns until the term is up, unless there's an escape clause. Escape clauses come with provisions that include stiff cash penalties for early outs and other resolutions.

Finally, even if the equity sharing deal is designed to create a home owner, its' underlying investment approach triggers a different set of underwriting and tax rules, compared to a conventional home buy.

Buyers will almost always need an equity sharing-experienced team -- real estate agent, attorney and tax professional -- to set up the transaction's contract.

"These deals can give some new lenders heartburn, but there is surprising interest from senior lenders who were around when shared appreciation mortgages (SAMs) were around in the 1980s," said Langholz.

Here's a list of equity sharing resources

• The HomeEquityShare.com network for home equity match ups between sellers, buyers and investors, based in Monterey, CA.

• Larkspur, CA-based Marilyn D. Sullivan's "The New Home Buying Strategy," (Venture 2000, $25.95)
equity-sharing manual.

• San Francisco, CA-based Andy Sirkin, Sirkin Paul Associates and "Basic Equity Sharing Structure" manual.

• In San Jose, CA, real estate attorney David Hofmann with the Real Estate Group at Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel, Inc.

• The Don Reedy, Peter Haglund, Howard Schwartz and Richard Borkowski BuyHalfAHouse.com team.

Also see: "Facilitating Shared Appreciation Mortgages to Prevent Housing Crashes and Affordability Crises"


© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group -- DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

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Use Home Equity Protection

Safe home equity use can stimulate your financial outlook. Excessive spending against the unencumbered value of your home could leave you in, well, financially transmitted distress.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

Deadline Newsroom - You don't have to abstain from spending against the unencumbered value of your home, but you do have to guard against home equity excess.

Home equity is the difference between your mortgage balance and the value of your home.

When you buy a home with a down payment of, say 20 percent, you have a 20 percent equity stake in your home. Over time, mortgage payments and appreciation can give you a larger equity stake. Likewise, depreciation can reduce your stake.

Lenders allow you to borrow money against some, but not always all of your home equity, provided you qualify with good credit and adequate income.

Home equity can be an emergency fund, investment pot, nest egg for retirement or a way to get out of more expensive debt.

Just keep in mind, when you use it, you lose it.

A home equity loan, by it's very nature, is an equity-depleting loan. You don't have an unlimited amount of equity to bank on.

The most conservative financial planners advise not fooling around with your home's equity. Eventually pay off your mortgage so that when you retire on a fixed income you'll be home free with no mortgage payment.

However, emergencies do arise and it's nice to know you've got something to fall back on, other than credit cards. That's particularly true as you age and your health wanes and during hard economic times that threaten your employment.

Again, the conservative advice suggests, instead of using your equity, even during an emergency, you should have socked away an emergency savings fund of from three to six months worth of your income as part of a sound financial plan.

However, even if you don't use your equity, it's not a bad idea to take out a home equity loan as a financial backup while you are fully employed. Once you are already unemployed or fully aware you will be laid off, it's probably too late.

If employment and income are necessary to qualify for the loan and you lie about your employment status, you are omitting a material fact and defrauding a lender. Lying on an loan application is a federal offense.

The best back up home equity loan is a home equity line of credit (HELOC). Like a credit card, if you don't use it, there are no payments, but it's there if you need it. HELOC's are almost always cheaper than a credit card, but it is a form of revolving credit, often with an adjustable interest rate.

A home equity loan for a fixed amount with a slightly higher fixed rate may be a good deal for set costs, financial endeavors, investments and the like. Because it is an installment loan with fixed payments, however, the loan forces you to begin making payments right away, even if you don't use the money right away.

Either loan could be a good choice for bill consolidation, but only if you have the will power to pay off bills and other credit that comes with higher interest rates and not use them again. The rates are lower than average credit card and retail store card rates.

Conservative and more liberal financial experts alike, say if you must use your home equity, the best use is to reinvest it.

The best investments include certain home improvements, education for the kids, new business finances, a second home and other financial moves that provide an equal or better return on your money than the cost of the loan.

Avoid buying big gas guzzling cars, boats, RVs, vacations, home theaters and other items that don't give you a return on your money.

Finally, don't overlook how economic conditions of the day can affect your home equity. This is especially noteworthy if you combine an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) first with an adjustable rate home equity loan in a so-called "piggy-back" deal to finance most or all of the cost of a home.

With two mortgages, should interest rates rise and push up both monthly payments, you could quickly reach an affordability point of no return.

For example, in a soft housing market, with flat and falling home prices, there will be little if any home equity growth to bail you out, say with a refinance because your home could be worth less than the mortgages you seek to refinance.

Related news from DeadlineNews.Com
• Equity-Saving Home Improvements
• Home Equity Meltdown
• DeadllineNews.Com's Home Equity Section

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© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service, and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's new backshop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

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Home Equity Stakes Stumped

Americans' home equity stake, a victim of over-use, low and no-down payment financing and declining home prices, is at the lowest level since World War II.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com



Deadline Newsroom - The equity stake in Americans' most important asset has dropped to its lowest level since the end of the second World War.

Home owners' home equity slipped to 46.2 percent in the first quarter this year, the fifth consecutive quarter the rate was below the 50 percent market, according to the Federal Reserve's first quarter Flow of Funds report.

Home equity is the market value of a property, minus the mortgage debt. For example, if a property is worth $300,000 and the mortgage debt is $150,000, the equity stake is $150,000 or 50 percent.

Home equity levels declined steadily even during the housing boom when consumers cashed in on cash-out refinancing, home equity borrowing and 100 percent financing.

Now, home values are falling, taking a bigger slice out of the home equity pie.

The decline in values has left many home owners with negative equity or what's called an "upside down" mortgage where the mortgage is larger than the home's value.

At the end of March, some 8.5 million home owners, 16 percent of those with a mortgage, had negative or no equity in their homes, according to Moody's Economy.com.

In some hard hit areas like California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada, more than half the home owners who purchased homes in 2006 live with upside down mortgages, according to Zillow.com.

Other than quickly paying down the mortgage or otherwise shelling out cash for equity-saving home improvements, there's little many home owners can do to hold onto or increase their equity.

Experts expect equity nationwide to decline further as falling home prices erode home prices, plunging more home owners into upside down mortgages.

Economy.com is forecasting home prices to decline by as much as 24 percent from the peak of the market. By June 2009 Economy.com estimates the number of home owners with zero or negative equity will increase to 12.2 million, or about 25 percent of all home owners with a mortgage.

Home owners with zero or negative equity are those most likely to default on mortgage payments and walk away from their mortgages. The trend will exacerbate the housing down turn by leaving the market with more foreclosures.

The good news is that one out of every three home owners have no mortgage at all and own their home free and clear with a 100 percent equity stake.

© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service, and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's new backshop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

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Home Equity Loan Meltdown

Toss home equity loans into the mortgage meltdown vat. Homeowners who squandered home equity or used it to buy homes they couldn't otherwise afford are the latest mortgage market victims.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

Deadline Newsroom - A growing number of homeowners who used their homes like ATMs are beginning to suffer withdrawal symptoms.

They can't afford to pay their home equity loans.

The same interest rate resets that have ripped through the subprime market are also becoming a pain in pockets of homeowners with home equity loans.

Three of the nation's largest banks -- Citigroup, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase -- all reported reduced fourth quarter earnings tied to trouble in the 850 billion dollar home equity market.

In the third quarter of 2007, the 15 billion dollars in delinquent home equity loans was the highest level in a decade, according to Moody's U.S. Home Equity Index.

For too many homeowners home equity use has gotten out of hand.

Home equity is the difference between your mortgage balance and the value of your home. Lenders allow you to borrow money against some of that equity.

During the housing boom, home values skyrocketed, creating a sudden "wealth effect" and homeowners cashed in their home equity bonus.

Some of them went too far.

Smart homeowners used home equity money to fund what financial experts consider safe bets -- business start-ups, home improvements and college education.

Other homeowners splurged on vacations, big cars and home theaters -- items that don't give you a return on your money.

Homeowners having the toughest time are those who combined an adjustable rate first mortgage with an adjustable rate home equity loan in a so-called "piggy-back" mortgage deal. Piggy-back mortgages are used to finance the full value of a home.

Piggyback mortgage homeowners now have two mortgages, interest rates have risen on both loans and monthly mortgage payments have become unaffordable.

In today's soft housing market, with flat and falling home prices, there's little if any home equity growth to bail them out.

Also see DeadlineNews.Com's Home Equity Guide

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© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service, and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's new backshop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

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Home equity smarts

Get the full story here!

Just keep in mind, when you use it, you lose it. A home equity loan, by it's very nature, is an equity-depleting loan. You don't have an unlimited amount of equity to bank on.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com



Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - Safe home equity use can stimulate your financial outlook.

However, excessive spending against the unencumbered value of your home could leave you in, well, financially transmitted distress.

Home equity is the difference between your mortgage balance and the value of your home. When you buy a home with a down payment of, say 20 percent, you have a 20 percent equity stake in your home. Over time, mortgage payments and appreciation can give you a larger equity stake. Likewise, depreciation can reduce your stake.

Lenders allow you to borrow money against some -- but rarely all of your home equity these days -- provided you qualify with good credit and adequate income.

Just keep in mind, when you use it, you lose it. A home equity loan, by it's very nature, is an equity-depleting loan. You don't have an unlimited amount of equity to bank on.

Get the full story here: Home equity protection on



• Click on the keywords below for more stories on this subject.

© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com

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Get "News that really hits home!" for your Web site or blog from the DeadlineNewsGroup.Com.

You are reading a sample of "News that really hits home!", now available from several beats and published in a growing number of locations.

Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist, parlayed 30 years of old-school journalism into a digital real estate news service, the San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group, including DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site, and the Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop.

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How to thaw your frozen HELOC

Save the planet. Shower pee!

The Federal Reserve offers the latest come-to-your-rescue tips for dealing with a home equity line of credit that's been hammered. Links in the story lead you to still more.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime

Deadline Newsroom - Lenders are freezing, slashing, and cutting off home equity lines of credit, but there's a growing manual of strategies you can use to avoid or mitigate what could be financially debilitating.

Maybe it's better to take the equity money and run before lenders make a move.

Lenders are only covering their assets when they reduce your home equity line of credit (HELOC), much as they are doing with credit card holders, who can also use strategies to get that credit back.

When your lender issued you the credit card-like line of credit backed by your home, chances are, your home value was much higher.

Now with shrinking values, lenders want to shake you down to reduce the chance they won't get paid should you default on your home -- which now may be worth less than the total of your outstanding mortgages.

Consider it a home equity loan meltdown as home equity stakes have been stumped.

Maybe you didn't use proper home equity protection practices.

In any event, the Federal Reserve offers the latest come-to-your-rescue tips for dealing with home equity that's been hammered.

Links throughout this story all also offer additional tips about protecting what you've got and restoring what you lost in the way of home equity credit.

• Read the notice your lender sends you. Your HELOC lender must provide you a written notice if they have frozen or reduced your HELOC. Your lender must send the notice to you no later than three business days after the freeze or reduction. The notice also must include information about any other changes to your HELOC.

• Call your lender. Even if you have a good payment record, if your home's value has fallen, your lender may freeze or reduce your HELOC. Contact your lender if you have questions or concerns about a freeze or reduction.

• Learn why your lender froze or reduced your HELOC. A freeze or reduction notice should include specific reasons for the action. The most common reasons for a HELOC freeze or reduction are, again, a decline in the value of your home, or a change in your financial circumstances.

Understanding your lender's reasoning may help if you want to take steps to have your credit line reinstated to its original amount. For example, a lender may not be aware that you made significant equity saving home improvements to help shore up the value of your home and its equity.

Or, if your financial circumstances changed for the worse and that change resulted in a lower credit score, investigate ways to rebuild your credit.

• Ask your lender how to have your HELOC reinstated. Your lender must reinstate your credit privileges when the conditions permitting the freeze or reduction no longer exist. You may need to put in writing your request to have your line of credit reinstated. Once your lender receives your written request, they must promptly investigate and determine whether your HELOC can be reinstated.

• Remember that your lender can impose fees for reinstating your HELOC. Fees include costs for an appraisal or credit report. Your lender cannot, however, charge you a fee to reinstate your credit line once the condition that caused them to freeze or reduce your HELOC no longer exists.

For more information:

• More home equity news that really hits home is available from the Deadline Newsroom.

• From DeadlineNews.Com's archival vault, still more home equity news that really hits home.

New federal consumer protections for HELOCs in the pipeline.

• Click on the keywords below for more stories on this subject.

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Deadline Newsroom FAQ 81808

When you have questions needing answers that really hit home, contact the Deadline Newsroom. This installment: home equity use; home improvement cost-vs-value; mortgage insurance tax deduction.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime

Deadline Newsroom - Q: My home equity has grown substantially in the past decade. Now home prices are falling. So is my equity. Should I use it before it evaporates?

A: Financial experts are divided on how you should or shouldn't use your home equity -- the difference between your mortgage balance and the value of your home. But dwindling equity alone isn't a sound reason to tap the till. For one thing, your equity is likely to rise from the ashes. Since the Great Depression, home value declines have never been as great as the home value appreciation that immediately preceded the declines.

Conservative financial planners say never, ever use your home's equity. They say pay off your mortgage so you can retire on a fixed income without a mortgage payment.

If you must use it, the experts agree, use it as a sound reinvestment -- home improvements, college education, business start-ups, a second home and other financial moves that provide an equal or better return on your money than the cost of the loan. Avoid cars, vacations, techno gizmos and other stuff that doesn't give you a return on your money. Emergencies are another consideration and home equity is a better alternative than plastic. Again, the financial conservatives would prefer that you to sock away an emergency savings fund as part of a sound financial plan to protects your home equity.

However, even if you avoid equity use, taking out a home equity line of credit (HELOC) as an emergency backup, could make sense -- at least until you've got that emergency savings pot. HELOCs, like credit cards, come with a revolving line of credit, but nothing is due if you don't use it. Using home equity to consolidate higher interest rate plastic from banks and retailers also can be a good use of your home equity, with a caveat. You must pay off the debt, close the credit card accounts and not backslide.

Q: I understand certain home improvements can help me shore up, even increase the value of my home. How is that possible in a market with falling prices?

A: Homeowners who perform improvements that bring their home up to par with other homes in the neighborhood -- or make them slightly above par -- can protect home value even in a down market because the right improvements increase your home's value. How much the improvement affects home value depends upon a host of factors -- the condition of the rest of the house, the value and condition of nearby similar homes, the local economy's impact on property values, and more.

Hanley Wood's annual Cost Vs. Value report generally says jobs that generate the most value are kitchen and bath remodels, however, the long-time report has yet to include improvements like solar panel arrays which can ultimately pay for themselves, with or without a cost-vs-value return. However, give they pay for themselves, the value derived from the work is invaluable. A home with a solar panel array, compared to an identical home, sans the array, will likely bring in a higher cost.

Q: I'm told I can continue to deduct my mortgage insurance from my income for tax purposes.

A: You can if you qualify. Effective January 1, 2008, the "Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007," act extended federal tax relief for homeowners who pay mortgage insurance, from one year, 2007, to four years, until 2010. The extension allows eligible home owners a tax deduction (which reduces your taxable income) on the cost of their government or private mortgage insurance premiums paid in any year from 2007 to 2010. Qualified borrowers are families with an adjusted gross income of $100,000 or less. Families with incomes up to $109,000 are eligible for a partial deduction. See your tax professional for more details.

Got questions? Send them to news@deadlinenews.com. We'll do our best to get you the most relevant answer.
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

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Home equity till empty for many homeowners

Read: Coupons in vogue

Gone is the practice of using home equity like an ATM. Lost home values and job uncertainty is forcing homeowners to lower their mortgage bill and leave in place what little home equity they have left.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com



Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - Lost home values and job uncertainty is forcing homeowners to lower their mortgage bill and leave in place what little home equity they have left.

In the fourth quarter 2009, the share of "cash-out" refinancing dropped to the lowest level since Freddie Mac started tracking the statistic -- 27 percent.

Likewise the number of borrowers who refinanced their mortgage to lower their principal balance -- on a "cash-in" basis -- also hit a record 33 percent.

That's in stark contrast to the heyday of skyrocketing home equity levels during 2006 and 2007 when as many as 88 percent of homeowners refinancing took cash out and as few as 4 percent refinanced on a cash-in basis to lower their principal or payment.

Since then, home values have crashed by as much as 50 percent or more in some areas and many of those cash-out homeowners are living with upside down mortgages -- loans larger than their home is worth.

In the fourth quarter of 2009, the median appreciation of refinanced property was a negative two percent.

Other homeowners are among the millions suffering foreclosure, short sales or other types of financially transmitted distress.

Freddie Mac says the cash-in share of refinancings is the highest it's been since 1985. The cash-out share is the lowest it's been since 2003 when the record was 33 percent.

"One half of borrowers who refinanced their conventional loan during the (fourth) quarter (2009) lowered their annual mortgage interest rate by at least 0.9 percentage points below the old rate. In aggregate, the lower interest rate translates into about $2 billion in payment savings for these homeowners over the first 12 months of the new loan. For families that paid down their mortgage balances when they refinanced, the monthly payment savings are even greater," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.

A 1 percentage point reduction in a mortgage rate would mean a savings of about $300 a month on a $500,000 mortgage initially financed at 6 percent.

"This transformation from a cash-out refi market to a cash-in refi market is consistent with other data we've seen on households reducing their overall debt burdens, particularly revolving credit like credit cards. From September of 2008 to November of 2009, consumers cut $100 billion dollars in revolving debt from their obligations, according to the Federal Reserve Board," Nothaft said.

Financial experts have always advised tapping home equity through a refinance or home equity loan, is by it's very nature, an equity-depleting loan. Use it and lose it.

The best home equity use is to reinvest it.

The best investments include certain home improvements, education for the kids, new business finances, a second home and other financial moves that provide an equal or better return on your money than the cost of the loan.

"Home equity use has been the equivalent of home equity abuse over the past several decades," says Nancy Osborne, chief operating officer of Erate.com, a Santa Clara, CA-based financial information publisher and interest rate tracker.

• Click on the keywords below for more stories on this subject.

© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com

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Ins, Outs Of Equity Sharing

The symbiotic relationship spawned by equity sharing requires a nurturing housing market and a well-orchestrated contract if it is to evolve into an American Dream.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

Deadline Newsroom - Consider equity sharing a symbiotic relationship -- as well as a legal agreement -- between two or more people holding title to one home.

Las Vegas-based Creative Real Estate Online publisher, J. P. Vaughan, also a trial lawyer and real estate investor says, properly designed, the creative financing strategy can be a triple-win proposition.

An equity sharing deal is typically struck help sell a home, often in a tough market, but a tough market isn't a prerequisite. It also helps enable a home purchase when it might not otherwise be possible. And it is used to provide an investment with a financial return.

• Typically savings-poor, but income-rich, one person becomes the occupying homeowner with no or little money down.

• A second participant, the investor, provides the initial leverage usually in the form of a down payment stake. With time, he or she can enjoy a joint venture-like return on his or her money.

• The seller, in a slow market, can choose to become the investor or otherwise use the creative financing strategy to quickly seal a deal.

Deals vary, but in its simplest form, an equity sharing agreement works something like this:

• The buyer-occupant generally lives in the residence, pays the mortgage and other costs associated with owning and operating a home -- including taxes, insurance, maintenance and the like. He or she gets to deduct a portion of the mortgage interest, property taxes and others.

• The non-resident, often an investor, perhaps a family member, trusted friend or professional investor, provides all or part of the down payment, and in return gets tax deductions for her or his share of the mortgage interest and property taxes.

• Title to the home can be held in a variety of ways -- joint tenancy with right of survivorship, tenancy in common, partnership or as a living trust.

Equity sharing deals should be legal and binding contracts designed to provide an equitable means to an end. It should also include provisions for any disputes or disagreements that might arise during its term.

Contracts generally indicate that the parties cannot extract any returns until the deal is over. Escape clauses can come with stipulations providing for cash penalties for early outs or other resolutions.

At the end of some specified period, five, seven, ten years or so, the net proceeds from the sale are split between the buyer and investor, again, based on contractual provisions.

Generally and theoretically, through appreciation, an equity deal is set so that the occupant eventually earns a share sufficient to allow him or her to buy a home without help and to give the supporting investor a shot at a profit. Other resolutions can be contracted.

The creative financing tool isn't perfect for every market. While tight money markets can make equity sharing a viable financial avenue to homeownership, a market with flat or reverse home prices requires a deftly drawn contract with a term long enough to allow the deal to gel.

As is the case with any major financial transaction, assistance from a professional experienced in equity sharing agreements is paramount. In addition to the transactional contractual considerations, tax implications abound.

Entering an equity sharing deal with a verbal agreement and or non-binding contract is like searching for fools gold without a pickax.

Referrals from trusted resources -- real estate agents, tax professionals, accountants, other finance experts, and the like, are good resources to tap. Most professionals have a network of peers involved in various aspects of real estate.

The Internet's vast reach can also help make it easy to find qualified help. Keep in mind, the Internet is no better than the Yellow Pages if you don't thoroughly check out professionals' credentials, experience and track record for success.

A few resources include:

• Marilyn D. Sullivan's Home Equity Share network.
• J. P. Vaughan's Creative Real Estate Online.
• The Don Reedy, Peter Haglund, Howard Schwartz and Richard Borkowski BuyHalfAHouse.com team.
• The DirtLawyer.com team at Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel, Inc.
• Andy Sirkin's Sirkin Paul Associates.

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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service, and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's new backshop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

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$700 Billion Bailout Overshadows $300 Billion 'Hope'

The new "Hope For Homeowners" program precludes struggling home owners from waiting for results from the massive $700 billion economic bailout plan which may never be as useful.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com


Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime.

Deadline Newsroom - Struggling homeowners needn't wait for the vague home owner assistance provisions in the recently signed $700 billion economic bailout package ("Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008," H.R. 1424), if they want relief from mortgage woes.

The smaller $300 billion "Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008" (H.R. 3221) already contains key provisions offering aid for troubled home loan holders in today's turbulent real estate market.

Signed into law in July, the recovery act is the same legislation that, among other provisions, created the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). That agency recently took control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Mortgage news that really hits home!

The recovery act also created the "Hope For Homeowners" (Division A, Title IV, Section 1402 and Section 1403) program. Effective Oct. 1, 2008, Section 1402 allows troubled mortgage holders to avoid foreclosure by refinancing into smaller, more affordable, Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed mortgages, provided they give Uncle Sam a piece of the equity-growth action and provided the lender voluntarily agrees to the deal.

Section 1403 was effective when the law was signed. It encourages mortgage servicers to modify loans for certain home owners to help them avoid foreclosure.

"I think the modification portion is more important than the FHA deal because the FHA deal is a voluntary program and no one is forcing them to do it. Lenders are not going to write down the balance to 90 percent of the current value," as is required for Section 1402 action, said Gibran Nicholas, chairman of the CMPS Institute, a private organization created to certify mortgage bankers and brokers who counsel consumers on mortgage and real estate equity management, as well as home loans.

Others say the refinancing provision is a better deal because it could generate more mortgage market interest in equity-sharing, a long maligned and often misunderstood, but potentially useful, creative financing technique.

Less hope in $700 billion bailout

It's not yet clear how the more expensive $700 billion stabilization act will help home owners.

Originally rejected by the U.S. House of Representatives, the legislation was modified and passed by the Senate as well as the House in a matter of days in late September and early October 2008. President Bush signed the package on Oct. 3, 2008.

For home owners, the plan calls for federal agencies (including the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. -- FDIC -- and the FHFA) holding mortgages and mortgage securities to identify loans that can be modified and proceed to modifying them. The provision is unclear about how that task will be accomplished.

"The $700 billion bailout does have (home owner relief) provisions but it's a little unclear how it will work out," says Nicholas.

The newer economic stabilization act also has provisions that would allow the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to use loan guarantees and credit enhancements to help home owners avoid foreclosures. It also calls for shoring up the Hope for Homeowners (also known as the "H4H") program, but in both cases, again, the mechanics and timing are not clear.

Voluntary provisions for hope

H4H is already up and running. It may take some time for lenders to gear up for the new FHA loans, but the provision's mechanics are clear and in place.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs' "Hope For Homeowners" fact sheets spell out the details.

• The refinanced, 30-year, fixed rated FHA mortgages in the H4H program are for home owner-occupants (with no additional ownership interest in another home, say, a second home) having difficulty making their payments.

• Banks are not mandated to write the loans, but can volunteer to write down an existing mortgage to 90 percent of the new appraised value of the home. Any holders of existing mortgage liens must waive all prepayment penalties and late payment fees and release the liens. The existing first mortgage holder has to accept the Hope for Homeowners loan as full settlement of all outstanding indebtedness.

• The existing mortgage must have been originated on or before January 1, 2008, and the owner must have made at least six payments.

• As of March 2008, the home owner's total monthly mortgage payments due must be more than 31 percent of the household's gross monthly income.

• The loan amount on the new H4H mortgage cannot exceed $550,440. The amount can include a financed 3 percent "Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium" and other loan costs. The home owner must also pay a 1.5 percent annual mortgage insurance premium.

• The home owner cannot take out a second mortgage for the first five years of the new loan, except under certain emergency conditions.

• The borrower must agree to share with the FHA, both the equity created at the beginning of the new mortgage and any future appreciation in the value of the home. If the home is sold or refinanced, the homeowner will share the equity with FHA on a sliding scale ranging from a 100 percent FHA share after the first year to a minimum of 50 percent after five years. The FHA will share a portion of equity earnings, when available, with past lien holders until any available appreciation is exhausted. Any left over appreciation goes to the FHA.

Equity sharing for the masses

Some experts say the FHA equity sharing deal is one of the best mortgage ideas to come out of Washington, D.C. since the Great Depression.

In the private lending world, equity sharing is a symbiotic relationship -- as well as a legal agreement -- between two or more parties holding title to one home. Two or more parties share title in order to share the risk, thereby reducing the risk for both parties. Inevitably, however, home price appreciation is the bottom line. The property must grow in value over the term of the deal for it to really pay off and the esoteric nature of the deals in the already confusing world of home financing has kept the creative financing strategy out of the limelight.

Jeff Langholz, founder and CEO of HomeEquityShare.com, an online network that matches equity sharing partners, says the federal move could change that by raising the profile of equity sharing and give it a boost in a private market that could use a little creative financing these days.

"Every transition in life comes with intermediate stages. Before you are married you get engaged, before you get your driver's license you get a learner's permit. Before you get to home ownership what intermediate transition is there?" he asks.
"The feds are about to take equity sharing to the next level," says Langholz.

Nicholas isn't so sure.

He says not only does the home owner have to convince the first mortgage holder to go for the deal, the second mortgage holder, if there is one, also has to give up any claims, in exchange for hope that there will be an equity pay off later. In a credit market as frozen as the Siberian tundra, risk adverse lenders more often just move onto foreclosure to get their cash back, according to a host of post-mortgage meltdown studies.

Nicholas says a second "Hope" provision for suffering home owners, Section 1403, is a better deal.

"It kind of got lost in all the confusion of the last several months. Many people are not aware this option exists, we are so focused on the ($700 billion) bailout," he said.

A better hope?

Under Section 1403, mortgage servicers are encouraged to modify loans for home owners and help them avoid foreclosure as long as three requirements are met:

1. A default on the mortgage either has already happened or is "reasonably
foreseeable."

2. The home owner is living in the property as his or her primary residence.

3. The lender is likely to recover more through the loan modification or workout than by forcing the home owner into foreclosure.

However, it's up to the home owner to prove, in writing, his or her case to the lender and that could take some negotiating, even legal wrangling.

"It may be advisable to consult with an attorney -- especially if you qualify
for a loan modification under the law and your lender still refuses to work
with you," Nicholas said.

To help home owners make their case, Nicholas offers a sample letter containing more assistance, and tips to help home owners negotiate a loan modification.

The advice?

• Deal directly with a representative of the lender's "loss mitigation" or workout department, not a broker, loan originator or other mortgage staffer.

• Write a hardship letter demonstrating job loss, serious medical
condition, balloon payment coming due, adjustable rate reset or some other
financial calamity that will make it impossible for you to continue making
your mortgage payments as scheduled. By law, you must be in imminent danger of
default in order for lenders to be compelled by law to help you.

• Send the lender your financial statements, employment records, tax
returns and bank statements demonstrating how you would be able to afford
the modified loan terms under your present financial circumstances.

• Send the lender a current appraisal of your home or some documentation on
recent comparable sales in your neighborhood demonstrating the current value
of your home.

"The key is to demonstrate how the lender is likely to recover less money through foreclosure than they would by working with you in your proposed loan modification plan," Nicholas said.

For related assistance
• "Foreclosure Prevention Efforts Grow"

There's more on this subject
• "$700 Billion Bailout Busted, Wall Street Plunges"
• "Feds Foreclose On Fannie, Freddie"

© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group -- DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop. In both cases, it's news that really hits home!

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Don't 'eat your house' unless it's gingerbread

Holiday News That Really Hits Home: Home improvements, education for the kids and new business financing are relatively better uses of equity and much better gifts than buying under-the-tree presents, holiday parties and unplanned winter wonderland vacations.

See DeadlineNews.Com's "listings."

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com


Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime.

Deadline Newsroom - Unless it's gingerbread, don't "eat your house" this holiday shopping season.

Taking bites out of your home equity to pay for presents could lead to financial indigestion.


Home equity is the difference between your mortgage balance and the value of your home, not collateral for frivolous expenditures.

Any loan tied to your home's equity is, by nature, an equity-depleting loan. The best use of equity money, the experts say, is for capital improvements and investments that provide an equal or better return on your money than the cost of the loan.

Home improvements, education for the kids and new business financing are relatively better uses of equity and much better gifts, than buying under-the-tree presents, holiday parties and unplanned winter wonderland vacations.

Debt consolidation and emergency nest eggs can be other wise uses, provided those uses don't become habitual.

Saving for the holidays and the season beyond is always a much better financial approach.

Creating a holiday budget plan with a holiday savings-spending account is crucial, not only for the season of joy, but also throughout the year.


• List your monthly living costs, including essentials like house or rent payments, food, clothing, health care costs, transportation to work and utilities. Tally these necessary living expenditures help estimate how much discretionary spending -- if any -- you actually have.

• Prioritize. Shelter -- rented or owned -- is your primary and foremost cost. If extra debt burdens your ability to pay the rent, your mortgage or other necessities, accept that you can't afford the extra burden.

• If you have the discretionary cash, create a gift list that cuts back on gifts for "social" friends and acquaintances. Give a card or be creative and give home made individualized gifts.

• In the spirit of the holidays make donations to housing operations for the needy in honor of your family or friends instead of individual gifts.

It's the thought that counts. Especially the thought of hanging onto your home.

When it comes to home equity, don't leave your home without it by using your home to foot your gift-giving bills.

Like this story? See: Gifts that really hit home
Home safe home for the holidays
Eat, drink, be wary at holiday house parties

© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist, parlayed 30 years of old-school journalism into a digital real estate news service, the San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group -- DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site and the Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop. Perkins is also a National Real Estate Examiner. All the news that really hits home from three locations -- that's location, location, location!

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