We are all anxiously awaiting a housing recovery so that home values and sales will increase and this turnaround will, hopefully, help pull us out of the current recession. The government is offering an $8,000 incentive to new homebuyers (and those who have not owned a home for three years) and, yet, people are still unsure if they want to take the risk. Everyone knows someone who has been through a foreclosure on their home, and no one else wants to go through this heartbreak and major financial setback. The Real Estate Industry and a number of homebuilders and developers are offering a solution to those people who are hesitating to commit to a home for fear of losing their jobs.

One major national real estate chain has developed a job loss protection plan for buyers. The seller of the home purchases the protection for a flat fee of $500 and includes it with the sale of their property. If the buyers lose their jobs within the first two years after they purchase the home, the plan will pay up to $1,800 per month for six months towards their mortgage payments. So many people are living in fear of losing their jobs that this extra insurance may be the extra incentive necessary to help them decide to purchase their new home.

A local builder is offering a similar program but his pays up to $1,500 per month and it is included in the price of the home.

I am certain that many real estate offices and builders will begin offering plans of this type to potential buyers in the hope of removing the stress and worry of job loss while instilling confidence in them to move ahead with the purchase of homes being offered at very competitive prices with low interest rates.

The housing market collapse has left almost every neighborhood with vacant homes and untended property. Neighbors are upset with the fact that these homes are destroying the appearance of the neighborhood and lowering the value of their homes. Although there are laws on the books requiring that these properties be maintained, with so many vacant homes, there isn’t anyone available to enforce the regulations.

Some homes are vacant because families could not afford to pay the mortgage and should never have qualified for it in the first place. Others are a result of job loss, while still others defaulted due to marriage problems, which left only one person with a low income in the home.

In many cases, squatters are moving into vacant properties and signs are attracting vandals and thieves. Homes are being destroyed and many items are stolen for profit.

Some neighborhoods are fighting back. Residents are actually taking turns cleaning up specific properties in an attempt to keep their area looking good. It is upsetting to them to see their locality falling apart because the large mortgage companies who hold title to these properties are not acting responsibly. New laws are being introduced and attempts to increase enforcement are being worked on. But as of today, the neighbors are still working together as a team to maintain the beauty of their neighborhoods and the value of their homes. They are all hoping that these new laws will help alleviate the negative impact these homes are having on their community.

Many homeowners are very upset over the falling home prices we have been experiencing for the past two years. The home is the largest asset most people have and watching the value slipping down regularly is making them nervous.

When you have money invested in the stock market, there are ways to adjust your portfolio to the current pace of the market. You can maintain a diversified portfolio to balance risk, continue saving money, and invest wisely after thorough investigations.

To begin with, do not let the current value of your home upset you unnecessarily. Despite headlines, most homeowners still have reasonable gains even after the recent declines. Homes were artificially inflated for quite some time and they have now settled into prices more in tune with their actual value. Chances are very good that the housing market will continue with some ups and downs, but the end result should leave most homeowners with reasonable gains in the value of their property.

Today we are living with a buyer’s market and we just have to mentally adjust to the current home values. Homes take some time to sell and many are sold in response to offers from potential buyers. Do not become discouraged as it may cause marriage problems if you and your spouse are always upset. As long as you do not have to sell your home quickly, you will most likely profit on the sale. If, however, you are pressured to sell as soon as possible, then a loss should be expected.

Remember that the housing market works both ways. If you sell your home at a lower value, you will also be able to replace it with a purchase that will be a very good deal. Shop around and make sound decisions and everything most likely will work out very well.

These are particularly difficult times for a real estate appraiser. The past few years have been extremely tough for these professionals because of all of the pressure they are receiving to bring the homes in at the selling price, or above, so financing can me offered.

Appraisers are in the unenviable position of being hired by the real estate people who are offering homes for sale, or by the lender who wants to finance the loan. Unreasonable demands are being placed on the appraisers requiring them to state the value of the home at or above the selling price, even if their calculations disagree with this decision. Purchasers have a specific down payment available to them and this must equal the percentage required by the lender. If the appraisal is too low, the down payment will not be sufficient and the sale is then in jeopardy. Imagine how the selling agent feels if he loses a sale because of the appraisal number. He will no longer hire that specific appraiser because he or she is costing him his sale and his commission. In some cases they become very upset telling the appraiser they should never have accepted the assignment if they weren’t going to arrive at an appraisal comparable to the selling price. It is a terrible cycle and has been for years. As appraisal values increase, homes are selling for more than their actual value, and the result is the falling home prices that we are currently seeing. Many homes were appraised at an excessive value, and then the housing slump hit and these homes decreased rapidly from their inflated value to the actual possible selling price. This left people with mortgages they could not afford and the inability to sell their properties for the amount they needed to recoup. This is how we arrived at the current state of our economy.

Real estate appraisers realize that by appraising a property for more than it is worth, they are continuing the current decline of the housing market. They know that the home they are appraising is worth a specific amount. To raise their appraisal puts that home and the homeowner on the path to foreclosure. It would be hard to sleep at night if you knew your decision could cause a family to lose their home and eventually lose their entire investment.

It is difficult for an appraiser to ignore the pressure and submit an honest appraisal on a piece of property. Yet, this is what we hope they will do for both the benefit of the homeowner, and also the economy. The current situation must be addressed and the appraisers, if they stand by their values, can have a large influence on how we resolve this problem.

The housing market has been in trouble for some time. However, recently, the number of foreclosures has been increasing rapidly and may be causing confusion as to the current availability of homes for sale.

The combination of lower home values, decreased volume of sales, less credit availability, and a slowing economy is placing financially strapped homeowners in a very difficult bind. Some have no other choice then to let their homes go to foreclosure.

Since many foreclosed homes are in the hands of the banks at this time, frequently they are not recorded as “homes for sale” on real estate listings such as MLS (Multiple Listing Service). Foreclosed homes also often sell for less money and, therefore, they will lower the prices of homes in the area.

The possible result of this information is that the housing market may be in more trouble than originally believed. The hope has been for sometime that the market has bottomed-out, but this may not be completely true. If many foreclosure sales are not included in the current calculations, we may have even more trouble ahead before this market can return to normal.

Meanwhile, our government is introducing a program, Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which will allow homeowners who qualify to cancel their old home loans and refinance with 30-year fixed-rate loans for up to 90 percent of the home’s current value. This may help many struggling families but can only apply to foreclosed properties if the bank agrees to take a loss on an existing loan in exchange for avoiding the high expense of processing a foreclosure.