I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you our exciting news! It is with great pleasure that I announce Integrity Title’s partnership with the Knoxville Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. Throughout the months of March and April, Integrity Title, Inc. has committed to donate ½ of our closing fee in your honor to this very special organization. In this day and age, nearly every one of us has been touched by the devastating affects of breast cancer. Yourself, a loved one, or a friend… we’ve all been affected. The organization is a nationally known non-profit supporting breast cancer research and promotion of early detection, prevention, and treatment. For more information about this great organization, please visit their website at www.komen.org.

 To participate and partner with us, all you need to do is simply order your client’s closing through our title office within the months of March or April and mention your interest in the donation program. It does not matter if the transaction is not consummated within that time period. We will then donate ½ of your client’s closing fee of $95.00 ($75.00 for a cash transaction) to Komen’s Knoxville Affiliate at closing. It’s as simple as that. Let us take care of your closing needs and those of your clients while supporting a good cause.

 We will be more than happy to provide you with an estimate of our fees.  The most important closing we have is yours and we aim to prove that to you!

According to a recently published report by RealtyTrac, bank-owned (REO) properties accounted for more than 25% of all residential home sales during the 3rd Quarter of 2010! Our business has seen a substantial increase over the last six months in the purchase and sale of REO properties, and as such, we’ve experienced a high volume of “split-closings.” So what exactly IS a split closing you ask?

A “split-closing” is what we in the title business call a closing in which the seller and the buyer are each represented by an independent closing agent/title company who then work together to coordinate the closing documentation, transfer of funds, and the necessary ground-work. The very nature of a closing agent/title company is to be a “neutral third party,” but often-times, with a foreclosure property, you see a title company who is closely linked, if not owned, by the attorney who handled the original foreclosure itself. This is fairly common and is typically a very good thing to have someone involved who is familiar with, and closely linked, to the selling bank/investor. It can, however, lead many buyers feeling under-represented in the process. A split closing helps alleviate that fear and frustration by allowing the buyer to have their own closing agent looking out for their needs and interests. Although they can sometimes appear to be a hassle on the front-end, there are many benefits to requesting a split-closing, and you have that right. Ask your realtor about your rights as a buyer before signing the contract—communicate your concerns and you will be taken care of!

Now I’m not saying that the implementation by the government of the first-time homebuyer tax credit was a bad thing… in fact, it has been a blessing to many. I’ve personally witnessed the joy of numerous individuals, young and old, who have walked away from the closing table beaming with pride after purchasing their first home. In fact, one 53-year old client literally danced a jig, filled the room with her singing, and wept for joy as she signed her closing documents, having finally realized her life-long dream of becoming a “homeowner.”  That, to me, makes it worth while.

However, here we are three months later, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is reporting that the housing market remains stagnant and that home sales have hit a new record low during the month of July. Unfortunately, until buyer confidence rises, housing prices will remain deflated, and the market will continue to flounder… the home-buyer credit was a nice draw, but apparently, it wasn’t enough to make much of an impact.

A report published Monday by the Federal Reserve System suggests that lending policies and practices in the U.S. are, as a whole, tending to ease up for the first time since 2006. According to a cross-sectional opinion poll of Senior Loan Officers employed by both domestic banks and U.S. branches of foreign based banks, the relaxing of mortgage loan qualification standards comes partly from the average consumer applying and obtaining alternate sources of financing (i.e. credit unions and other non-bank lenders) and the competition that has created. It is important to note, however, that the ease in lending standards has been concentrated mostly in the larger banking institutions. Perhaps this will trickle down to our local hometown banks in the near future. Wouldn’t that be wonderful news for the Sevier County Real Estate market?

Although we in the title business see our work as slow but steady, the pains of the real estate market are being felt heavily by the small town builder. In a report released today by the National Association of Home Builders, builders concede that the burgeoning market of foreclosed homes and properties has negatively impacted their business. It’s important to note that our “steady” stream of business is compensated for our lack of new construction home sales by the upturn in foreclosed property sales and “short-sale” transactions. The decline in builder confidence comes as a shocker to the every day “Joe” who typically assumes that low mortgage rates and a slight upturn in the U.S. economy would provide more favorable projections for the second half of 2010. Will lower interest rates be enough to bring the builder back to the closing table or will the proliferation of foreclosed homes on the market continue to hamper new construction in our area? It will be interesting to observe in the coming months…