NOAA site on Lake Union on the market

By Eric Pryne

Seattle Times business reporter

The owner of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Operations Center on Lake Union has put the soon-to-be-vacated property up for sale, marketing it as "a great future development opportunity."
NOAA's lease expires in June, and the federal agency is moving its research fleet to Newport, Ore., after nearly 50 years at the Lake Union site.
Biotech and office buildings are among the development possibilities, said Jason Rosauer of GVA Kidder Mathews, one of the brokers marketing the property. "A Carillon Point or an Elliott Bay Marina would be an option," he added, referring to waterfront developments in Kirkland and Seattle, respectively.
Or the site, with 915 feet of waterfront and three piers, could provide moorage and other services for fishing vessels or luxury yachts, Rosauer added: "We want to let the market decide its best use."
The market also will decide what it's worth, he said: There's no published asking price.
The 8-acre property, at 1801 Fairview Ave. E., has been owned since the 1920s by a corporation controlled by several families. The corporation's manager could not be reached for comment Monday.
NOAA has leased the site since 1963. The agency moored four oceangoing research ships there until fire damaged the piers in 2006. The facility also has serviced six NOAA ships based in Alaska, California and Hawaii.
The property includes a two-story office/lab building and a 12,000-square-foot warehouse.
NOAA decided last year to move its research fleet to Oregon, in part because governments there offered generous subsidies. Seattle-area political leaders tried to get the decision reversed, but Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who oversees NOAA, said in August that it was too late.

Tiny house movement thrives amid real estate bust

By TERENCE CHEA

Associated Press

As Americans downsize in the aftermath of a colossal real estate bust, at least one tiny corner of the housing market appears to be thriving. To save money or simplify their lives, a small but growing number of Americans are buying or building homes that could fit inside many people's living rooms, according to entrepreneurs in the small house industry.
Some put these wheeled homes in their backyards to use as offices, studios or extra bedrooms. Others use them as mobile vacation homes they can park in the woods. But the most intrepid of the tiny house owners live in them full-time, paring down their possessions and often living off the grid.
"It's very un-American in the sense that living small means consuming less," said Jay Shafer, 46, co-founder of the Small House Society, sitting on the porch of his wooden cabin in California wine country. "Living in a small house like this really entails knowing what you need to be happy and getting rid of everything else."
Shafer, author of "The Small House Book," built the 89-square-foot house himself a decade ago and lived in it full-time until his son was born last year. Inside a space the size of an ice cream truck, he has a kitchen with gas stove and sink, bathroom with shower, two-seater porch, bedroom loft and a "great room" where he can work and entertain - as long as he doesn't invite more than a couple guests.
He and his family now live in relatively sprawling 500-square foot home next to the tiny one.
Shafer, co-owner of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, designs and builds miniature homes with a minimalist style that prizes quality over quantity and makes sure no cubic inch goes to waste. Most can be hooked up to public utilities. The houses, which pack a range of amenities in spaces smaller than some people's closets, are sold for $40,000 to $50,000 ready-made, but cost half as much if you build it yourself.

Mortgage Modifications Co's are put under the Microscope

The promoters have names that resemble federal foreclosure-intervention programs such as Making Home Affordable or Home Affordable manipulation. Some even flash pics of President Obama or the great seal of the United States.

You've probably seen the pitches on TV & radio and the net or found them stuffed in your mail: official-looking communications complete with logos & letterheads that look vaguely like those used by the Treasury, IRS & other federal agencies.

Bogus firms always insist on getting your funds upfront with often thousands of dollars; then do little or nothing. But now the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cutting off the main fuel supply for mortgage-modification scammers: Under new rules outlined Nov. 19, the agency designs to ban virtually all upfront payments, institute mandatory disclosure rules; clamp down with new federal restrictions on lawyers who participate in mortgage-modification schemes.

They are in lieu criminal enterprises posing as do-gooders who promise to get you out of the mortgage jam you're in, whether you're severely delinquent or deeply underwater. they claim they can persuade your lender to cut your every month payments, forgive all penalties, slash your rate of interest & even get your loan balance reduced. If your lender won't cooperate, they say they'll perform "forensic audits" on your mortgage; persuade a court to cancel your whole loan transaction because of technical mistakes in the paperwork.

Happy Thanksgiving

Mom on a Mission

More snow expected to fall this evening

Lauren Barkley, 8, left, and her brother, Richard, 6, play in the snow at Downtown Park after an early release from Sacred Heart School in Bellevue on Monday.
Chad Coleman/Bellevue Reporter
By NAT LEVY
UPDATE, 4:32 p.m.The Bellevue School District announced that all schools will begin two hours late Tuesday, as a result of weather conditions. Release times will follow the standard schedule. Bus trips to the south end of Bellevue will be on limited schedule, according to BSD's website.
More than an inch of snow has already dropped on Bellevue, and the rest of the Seattle metro area, and it won't stop anytime soon.
The Monday evening commute is expected to be impacted by another snow system that has settled over the area and could drop several more inches of snow on the ground by the end of the day.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the Puget Sound Region early Monday, predicting anywhere between two and six inches of snow this evening.
NWS Meteorologist Dennis D'Amico said Monday afternoon that the snow will continue to fall through the night with drier conditions Tuesday. Wind will be a factor, with the potential for gusts as high as 40 miles per hour.
But when the snow fades, the issue of it freezing and turning into sheets of ice comes into play.
"Ice will be a problem if roadways are not treated well," D'Amico said. "Our highs tomorrow will not go above freezing."
To this point, treatment of the roadways has prevented accidents. There have actually been fewer incidents Monday in Bellevue than a normal day, in which more cars might be on the road, said Sheryl Mullen, spokeswoman for the North East King County Regional Public Safety Communication Agency (NORCOM), which operates dispatch centers for Bellevue and other nearby cities.
Mullen applauded road crew work for keeping snow and ice off main arterials and preventing the kinds of accidents that can lock up an entire city, or even the whole Eastside.
"Either people are doing better in the snow than we think," Mullen said, "or the road crews are keeping the roads really clean. We're waiting for things to pick up but they just haven't."
Plows from state and local municipalities have been at it all day, working on highways and city streets.
Plows from the Washington State Department of Transportation have been out all day clearing highways as snow falls on and off.
In Bellevue, the city's 14 plows have been extremely active. Mike Jackman, assistant director of utilities for Bellevue, said all major arterials and neighborhood roads have been cleared.
The vulnerable roads are the small residential streets and those at higher elevations south of I-90. Jackman said utilities crews will continue to work on the main streets, but he hopes to get into most of the neighborhoods overnight so ice doesn't become a problem.
"Our biggest concern is as the temperature begins to drop, there could be some real icing conditions developing overnight," he said. "We'll be all out and trying to de-ice all night long ahead of the morning commute."
But the snow is continuing to impact travel. Roads are beginning to stack up as travel times soar above their average times, according to WSDOT travel times.
For those seeking protection from the weather, Bellevue's severe weather shelter at the Crossroads Community Center will be open beginning at 8:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The shelter, located at 16000 NE 10th St., accommodates 50 individuals and is run by the Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns Council. For more information, the council can be reached at 425-614-8544.

It's Still Coming Down

Seattle, Jane Calbreath Dec. 2010

As the day went on in Seattle and Eastside Neighborhoods, the snow continued to fall.  Drivers and People on foot were slipping on icy roadways and sidewalks.  As I look out the window in Bellevue at 9:23pm I can see the snow isn't seeming to let up.  If you are out in the weather, please bundle up and stay warm, remember that as the wind blows it causes the temperature to drop even more against your exposed skin.

Bellevue severe weather shelter open tonight

Nov 20 2010, 7:01 PM · UPDATED

The Bellevue Severe Weather Shelter will be active tonight, Sunday and Monday as cold, winter weather is expected in the area.
The overnight shelter can accommodate up to 50 people and will be operated by Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns Council. Information about the shelter is available by calling the Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns Council at 425-614-8544.
The shelter is located at Crossroads Community Center, 8:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.,
16000 NE 10th St.
Doors for the shelter will open at 8:30 p.m. Clients must register at the door. As with all shelters, rules for the health and safety of all clients and staff and the broader community will apply. By 7:30 a.m. all clients must vacate the shelter.

Foreclosure class actions pile up against banks

By CURT ANDERSON and MICHELLE CONLIN

AP Business Writers

Foreclosure-fraud class action lawsuits are starting to pile up against major banks across the U.S., threatening a besieged industry with billions more in potential losses.
Bank executives are swarming Capitol Hill this week to defend themselves against multiple foreclosure-related investigations, including one by all 50 state attorneys general. Talks are under way in that probe in hopes of reaching a settlement, but that wouldn't extinguish the mounting threat of an avalanche of class actions.
A congressional watchdog said in a report issued Tuesday that the foreclosure document debacle could threaten major banks with billions of dollars in losses, further prolong the housing depression and damage the government's effort to keep people in their homes.
The class actions, which could be expanded nationally, seek damages for homeowners whose properties were illegally foreclosed upon by banks using fraudulent documents. Suits have been filed in Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts that target Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., HSBC PLC and JPMorgan Chase & Co. In Florida and Maine, Ally Financial, formerly known as GMAC Mortgage, is also being targeted.

Mortgage rates jump to 4.39 pct. as Treasurys rise

By JANNA HERRON

AP Real Estate Writer

Rates on fixed mortgages jumped from their lowest levels in decades this week.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate for 30-year fixed loans rose to 4.39 percent from 4.17 percent, the lowest level on records dating back to 1971. The 15-year loan also climbed to 3.76 percent from 3.57 percent, the lowest since that survey began in 1991.
Rates rose because Treasury yields climbed to their highest level since July. Mortgage rates tend to track those yields.
The yields rose mostly because traders dumped Treasurys they bought up before the Federal Reserve announced its $600 billion bond-buying program to spur the economy. Republican economists and lawmakers have criticized the Fed program, saying it could lead to runaway inflation. Those fears have led investors to sell their bonds.
Before last week, mortgage rates had been at or near historic lows since April as investors, worried about the economy, shifted money into the safety of U.S. Treasurys. Mortgage rates fell to their lowest point as traders snatched up Treasurys ahead of the central bank's announcement.
The recent jump in rates rippled through the mortgage market. The number of people filling out mortgage applications slumped last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. Purchase applications dropped by 5 percent from the previous week, while refinance applications tumbled 16.5 percent.
While refinancing activity got a boost, low rates did little to buoy the struggling housing market. Potential buyers are worried about their jobs or unable to qualify for a loan because of tighter credit standards. Others can't sell their own homes before buying another.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac collects rates from lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a single day.

Downtown buildings' owner misses loan's $154M balloon payment

By Eric Pryne

Seattle Times business reporter

The owner of two prominent Denny Triangle office towers, Metropolitan Park East and Metropolitan Park West, has missed the deadline to pay back big loans it took out five years ago to buy the buildings, according to reports this week from the loans' servicers.
Walton Street Capital of Chicago was supposed to pay back all the principal a total of $154 million  when the two interest-only loans matured Nov. 6.
It hasn't, according to servicers ING Clarion and LNR Partners.
ING said Walton Street has defaulted on the Metropolitan Park East loan. LNR didn't use that word, but did label the Metropolitan Park West loan "non-performing."
LNR and ING are "special servicers" who deal with troubled debt. Oversight of the Metropolitan Park loans was transferred to them months ago because of concern Walton Street wouldn't be able to refinance when the loans matured.

A Walton Street principal did not return a call or email.  Twenty-story Metropolitan Park East and 18-story Metropolitan Park West, nicknamed the "Twin Toasters," were built in the 1980s just off Interstate 5 by longtime Seattle developer Martin Selig.
Walton Street, a private-equity investment firm, bought them in 2005 from Seattle's Benaroya Company for a total of $183 million, according to county records.
For financing, Walton Street borrowed about 80 percent of that sum from Greenwich Capital of Connecticut, which then packaged the debt with other real-estate loans and sold them to investors as commercial mortgage-backed securities.
King County now values the two buildings for tax purposes at about $135 million less than Walton owes on them.
LNR's notes on the Metropolitan Park West loan say a modification is under discussion. ING's notes on the Metropolitan Park East loan indicate the servicer and borrower are talking, and a new appraisal is in the works.
Walton Street is far from the only Seattle office landlord to encounter financial trouble in this difficult market.
Vacancies have climbed. Rents have dropped. Many owners are struggling with maturing debt. At least one building has gone back to the bank, and foreclosure looms for several others.
About 38 percent of Metropolitan Park West's 336,000 square feet and about 20 percent of Metropolitan Park East's 364,000 square feet is listed as available on commercial real-estate database Officespace.com.

Report: Foreclosure mess could threaten banks

By MARCY GORDON

AP Business Writer

The disarray stemming from flawed foreclosure documents could threaten major banks with billions of dollars in losses, deepen the disruption in the housing market and hurt the government's effort to keep people in their homes, according to a new report from a congressional watchdog.
Revelations that several big mortgage issuers sped through thousands of home foreclosures without properly checking paperwork already has raised alarm in Washington. If the irregularities are widespread, the consequences could be severe, the Congressional Oversight Panel said in a report issued Tuesday. The full impact is still is unclear, the report cautions.
Employees or contractors of several major banks have testified in court cases that they signed, and in some cases backdated, thousands of certifying documents for home seizures. Financial firms that service a total $6.4 trillion in mortgages are involved, according to the new report. Big banks including Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage have suspended foreclosures at some point because of flawed documents.
Federal and state regulators, including the Federal Reserve and attorneys general in all 50 states, are investigating whether mortgage companies cut corners on their own procedures when they moved to foreclose on people's homes.

Trustee's pursuit of Mastro assets has cost $3.6M so far

By Eric Pryne

Seattle Times business reporter

The team of lawyers, accountants and other professionals battling bankrupt Seattle real-estate magnate Michael R. Mastro in court has run up unpaid bills totaling more than $3.6 million so far, recently filed documents show.
That money will come out of Mastro's estate before his numerous unsecured creditors are reimbursed. But the team's leader, court-appointed trustee James Rigby, said Monday those creditors stand a better chance of recovering something eventually because of the team's efforts.
"There was zero money in the pot when this [bankruptcy case] got filed," he said.
James Frush, one of Mastro's lawyers, said the documents underscore an argument he's been making for months — that Rigby and his lawyers are pursuing a "scorched-earth" campaign against Mastro only to enrich themselves.
"Never has so much been spent to obtain so little," Frush said.
Rigby's job is to find Mastro's assets, liquidate them and distribute the proceeds to creditors. Under bankruptcy law, the trustee collects a percentage of whatever he recovers, and his legal and other administrative expenses are paid off the top.
Rigby's team, which includes lawyers from four Seattle firms, has not been paid anything yet, more than a year after most started working on the complex case.
They moved to rectify that last week, submitting their bills through Oct. 31 and asking U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marc Barreca to compensate them in part by awarding them prorated shares of $930,000 Rigby has recovered so far.
A hearing on those requests is Dec. 10.
Mastro, a prolific real-estate developer and lender for 40 years, was pushed into what probably is Washington's largest bankruptcy in July 2009.
He has listed debts totaling more than $570 million, and Frush has said there's no money left to reimburse creditors whose debts weren't secured by real estate or other collateral.
But Rigby contends Mastro, anticipating bankruptcy, schemed to hide some assets and put others out of most creditors' reach. The trustee has filed several suits to undo those deals.
One lawsuit, to determine who's entitled to proceeds from the pending sale of Mastro's Medina mansion and sale of another house in Clyde Hill, is scheduled for trial in March.
Rigby said Monday his bills wouldn't be so high if Mastro hadn't fought him at every turn. Legal wrangling over the Medina house alone has cost more than $1 million, he said.
Rigby said he understands Mastro's creditors, including about 200 individual "Friends & Family" investors, might be upset if his team gets some money soon while they get nothing. But "if the creditors got paid first, no professionals would take on work like this," he said.
And if their lawsuits against Mastro fail, he added, he and the lawyers and accountants will get little or nothing for their work.
But Frush said Rigby should have worked with Mastro instead of taking such an adversarial stance from the start.
"It's a real tragedy for the unsecured creditors. If this had been handled right, there might have been something left for them."

Lake Hills Neighborhood

The Lake Hills community prides itself in preserving the agricultural heritage of Bellevue, which is very unique for a neighborhood so close to Downtown. Mid-June through September, in a petite, red barn, the Cha-family-operated, Lake Hills Produce Stand offers farm-fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers for Eastside residents to enjoy. Located on the east side of 148th is the Larsen Lake Blueberry Farm. Operating under the same summer schedule as the produce stand, this farm sells delicious blueberries grown on acres of Greenbelt land near Larson Lake. Families can also come on sunny weekends to hand-pick choice berries from the rows of bushes that line the property, and enjoy special U-pick prices. As well as growing and selling local produce, the King County Master Gardeners offer year-round home-gardening workshops on Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Urban Demonstration Garden in Lake Hills, which includes ornamental theme beds and vegetable gardens. The Greenbelt Ranger Station is also a vital community commons area. There is a Living Green Series hosted twice a month here by the Parks & Community Department. These presentations feature a guest speaker covering environmental information on gardening, wildlife preservation, and “green” transportation. The Ranger Station is also the place for residents to go for free permits to take out non-motorized boats and paddle-boats beyond the Lilli-pads of Phantom Lake. There is also a public park on the lake, with miles of connecting Greenbelt trails, as well as more historical sites. Back when Native Americans were roaming the land, there were trails that connected Lake Washington, Phantom Lake and Lake Sammamish, which were used for carrying canoes to other Salmon-rich waters.

Lender seizes desperate borrowers' homes

By Christine Willmsen

Seattle Times staff reporter

Emiel Kandi forever changed the lives of a pregnant hairdresser, a jobless mechanic and a single mom when he loaned them money.
These unsophisticated, desperate borrowers thought a short-term loan from the well-dressed professional could save them from financial collapse or foreclosure. But the very asset they were trying to hold on to  their home as what Kandi was determined to take.
Kandi is the lender of last resort for some people who've been turned down by banks because of poor credit or limited income. He says his requirement for a borrower is merely "a pulse and a legal ability to sign."
He admits he charges borrowers as much as he can get away with 45 percent interest in one case — and makes it clear to them that if they fail to comply with the loan agreements, he will take their property.
"I am a wolf," he explained.
A Seattle Times examination of numerous Kandi loan deals shows that they are set up so he can quickly take borrowers' homes and in some cases flip them for a profit. And he gets away with it.
"He's in the business of taking people's property," said Martin Burns, a lawyer who sued Kandi on behalf of the mechanic. "He finds vulnerable people and exploits them."
Kandi, 34, of University Place, Pierce County, is part of the hard-money lending industry. It provides short-term commercial loans to people with businesses or real-estate investments who can't get conventional bank loans or have poor credit. Lenders charge high interest rates, typically 10 to 14 percent, and require real estate as collateral.
Hard-money lending has quietly served knowledgeable commercial borrowers for centuries, providing quick capital or solving cash-flow problems.

Price points: What your Money will uy in The Seattle area

By Lisa Pemberton Butler

Special to The Seattle Times

Related

Lull? Slump? Grinding halt?
No matter how real-estate watchers define the regional housing market, buyers are still being wooed with record-low mortgage interest rates, deep price discounts and a vast selection of single-family houses and condominiums in the Seattle area.
Here's a peek at properties in various price ranges and locations sold between July 1 and Oct. 31.

$250,000-300,000
Housed in the century-old Queen Anne High School, this top-floor condo is a bit of Seattle history with hardwood floors, large windows and sweeping views of the city. The kitchen boasts stainless-steel appliances, an island and slab-granite countertops. There's also a shared rooftop deck for entertaining.
Living area: 683 square feet
Bedroom/bathrooms: 1 bedroom, 1 bath
Year built: 1908
Sold for: $257,500 on July 22
 Near Bothell, this two-story home in Wandering Glen Estates features new kitchen countertops, tile back splash and stainless-steel appliances. Other updates include new laminate flooring and carpet throughout the home. The 7,840-square-foot lot is fenced and backs a protected area.
Living area: 1,500 square feet
Bedroom/bathrooms: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths

Year built: 1985
Sold for: $267,500 on Sept. 27

Bair Says Regulators Need More Data to Break Foreclosure Logjam

By Meera Louis and Phil Mattingly

Bloomberg News

Related

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Chairwoman Sheila Bair said regulators will need to gather more information on mortgage documents to relieve a foreclosure bottleneck that threatens to derail the U.S. economic recovery.
"There is still more important information to be gathered," Bair said at a recent Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conference in New York. "I do have a concern that the problems will slow down even further the foreclosure process."
JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage unit are among loan servicers that temporarily halted home seizures to review paperwork after court documents showed employees may have submitted affidavits in foreclosure cases without confirming their accuracy.
"This is a serious problem," Bair said. "I see some serious issues with documentation."
The Dodd-Frank financial regulation law gave the FDIC new authority to create a mechanism for unwinding failed firms whose collapse might undermine the economy. President Obama, who signed the measure in July, proposed the rules overhaul after the 2008 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings sparked a credit crisis that led to a U.S. bailout for banks.
The financial system is "so much better off" since the enactment of Dodd-Frank, Bair said at the conference. The FDIC is one of several regulators responsible for implementation of the law over the next few years.
Bair, whose five-year term as FDIC head expires next year, said she doesn't want to extend her stay.
"I do not want to be reappointed," she said. "New blood and fresh thinking is always important for regulators."

Sustainability means not having to worry about affording The mortgage or The taxes.

Seattle Times

Sustainable homeownership, rather than just owning a home, is the new American dream.
Sustainable not in the sense of building houses with "green" materials, but in the sense of buying a house and keeping it for the long haul.
I found the phrase at the end of an interesting paper on "The Long-Term Value of Home Ownership in the U.S." by National Association of Realtors spokesman Walter Molony.
Sustainability means not having to worry about affording the mortgage or the taxes, or watching the mail every day for the court notice giving you 30 days to answer a lender's suit to foreclose on your house.
It also means that when you get into trouble, a government promise of help isn't the empty one it has turned out to be for hundreds of thousands of homeowners looking to modify their loans, who instead have been left hanging out to dry by their lenders.
Housing is, first and foremost, shelter and, second, an investment. That is something too many of us have forgotten for too long.

Mortgage rates fall to fresh lows this week

By JANNA HERRON

AP Real Estate Writer

Related

NEW YORK — The mortgage rate bar is even lower, but few homebuyers are making the jump.
Rates on fixed mortgages again fell to their lowest levels in decades this week, Freddie Mac said Thursday, after the Federal Reserve unveiled a massive bond-buying program to help spur economic growth.
That marked more than a half-year of record lows. But housing activity has still faltered.
"I have zero purchase deals," said Wisconsin mortgage broker John Stearns. "That's how it's been for months."
Stiff headwinds - unemployment, foreclosures and tight credit - are undermining attractive rates and forcing buyers to the sidelines.
Home sales logged their worst summer in decades, with third-quarter sales falling by 21 percent from a year ago, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. Median home prices fell in half of U.S. cities in the July-to-September period, up from a third in the previous quarter.And banks are on pace to take back more than 1 million homes this year, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday. Recent investigations into faulty paperwork have postponed some foreclosure sales, resulting in a 9-percent drop in home repossessions in October from the previous month.

Walkaways rattle credit scoring

By Kenneth R. Harney, Syndicated columnist

With foreclosures soaring — and homeowners with unblemished payment histories abruptly walking away from houses with no advance warning to lenders — the two major producers of credit scores have begun changing how they evaluate consumers' risks of default.
The revisions could affect you personally the next time you apply for a loan.
In late October, both Fair Isaac, the developer of the FICO score that dominates the mortgage field, and VantageScore Solutions, a joint venture by the three national credit bureaus and marketer of the competing VantageScore, outlined modifications they are making to handle the vast credit-disruptions caused by the housing bust, the recession, high unemployment and behavioral changes by consumers.
Overall, credit-industry experts agree, consumer creditworthiness has deteriorated in the United States since 2006 — especially among what used to be considered the credit elite, people with the highest scores.

3 ways low mortgage rates can work for you

By Sarah Max, contributing writer, Money Magazine

November 2, 2010: 5:56 AM ET

Just when it looked as if mortgage rates couldn't fall any further, they did.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (excluding jumbos) hit an average of 4.3% in September, the lowest level since 1953, according to Freddie Mac, and are still hovering below 4.5%.
Fifteen-year rates are even more mouthwatering: 3.8%. Mind you, those are averages. The most creditworthy borrowers can do even better, snagging rates perhaps a quarter of a percentage point lower.
So what's in this for you? A lot, potentially. If you have a credit score of 720 or higher and at least 20% equity in your home, you might use these crazy-low rates to shorten your mortgage term, free up cash, or even add to your real estate holdings, for example.
Whatever you decide, don't wait too long.

Seattle Area Leads Nation in Foreclosures

KOMO4 News:
Story Published: Oct 28, 2010 at 7:07 AM PDT

In the greater Seattle area including King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties, 1 out of every 129 homes has recieved a Foreclosure Notice. Nationally that number is 1 out of every 339 meaning that Seattle is facing more than doubble the average foreclosure rate as the rest of the nation.

The foreclosure crisis intensified across a majority of large U.S. metropolitan areas this summer, with Seattle and Chicago - cities outside of the states that have shouldered the worst of the housing downturn - seeing a sharp increase in foreclosure warnings.

California, Nevada, Florida and Arizona remain the nation's foreclosure hotbeds, accounting for 19 of the top 20 metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates between July and September, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.