Depending on the location, whether you’re shopping for a new home or trying to sell your current residence, one of the biggest challenges is trying to reduce street noise.

Tony Sola, founder of Acoustics.com cautions homeowners and buyers about too high expectations when it comes to reducing traffic noise.

“Too many times I have seen homeowners try to do something about the noise by adding another layer of drywall, or something to the wall itself. It’s not minimal return, it’s zero return. Unless you control the weak point, that does nothing,” says Sola.

Sola says there are some cases where the wall might be the weak point but he says usually that’s just one percent of the time. Generally the windows are the weakest noise link.

So, if you’ve fallen in love with a home that’s perfect for you but butting up a little close to a busy road, there are options to help make the traffic less noticeable.

Starting with the interior of the house, the first area to listen closely to are the windows. They can tend to let in a significant amount of noise.

“The sound almost always goes through the window and doing anything at all to the walls will be pointless until you have fixed the noise that comes through the window,” says Sola.

Windows have a Sound Transmission Class (STC) rating. The higher the rating the less outside noise you should hear inside the home. A typical single-pane window only has a 22-25 STC rating whereas a dual-pane window might have a STC rating of 27-32. There are also specialty windows with even higher STC ratings available.

Choosing the right STC rating depends on what you’re planning to do.

“If you’re looking at a STC 30 window versus a STC 33 window, you’re not going to notice a huge difference in that but it might be worth it to you, if they’re about the same price. But if you’re looking at replacing windows and you’re planning to go from a STC 30 to a STC 33, that’s a lot of work to get virtually little improvement. If you can get a five or six decibel difference, then that can start to make a noticeable change,” explains Sola.

Keeping sound from coming into your home is usually only part of the solution. Many people want to enjoy a traffic-noise-free backyard. This can be a little more complicated but not impossible.

“One of the first things you would look at is the barrier. If you’ve got a view wall or wrought iron fence that’s not going to block anything, or if you have large oleander bushes, that might block the view but it doesn’t block the sound at all,” says Sola.

Instead he says a solid wall that doesn’t have gaps in it will help a little.

“Auto noise comes from the tires. So to control auto noise the wall will work pretty well because the source is really low — it’s at ground level but truck noise — the medium trucks or the semi truck — comes from about eight feet off the ground, so even if you build a six, seven, or eight-foot wall, that won’t help much,” says Sola.

However, if you couple a barrier wall with a noise-masking system such as a water feature then you can virtually wash away the traffic sounds.

“A water feature, if done right, can work very well,” says Sola.

“You wouldn’t want a water feature that’s just trickling water. You would want something more substantial that does have a noise level to it and more of a broad band noise,” says Sola.

He says the problem with water features is they tend to be very localized. Sola says he’s been to some homes where the homeowner placed one water feature in the backyard and it drowned out the traffic noise in that one area of the yard but the street noise could be heard from other parts of the backyard. He says that’s when a couple of fountains might need to be used.

Getting creative is the key. Working with a sound acoustic expert and landscaper can result in a beautifully designed outdoor area that’s doesn’t reveal any sign of the chaotic hustle and bustle of the nearby road.

Written by Phoebe Chongchua

  The following are some questions that will help you decide whether you’re ready for a home that’s larger or in a more desirable location than your current one.

If you answer yes to most of the questions, it’s a sign that you may be ready to move.

  Provided your home-for-sale has the curb appeal to get potential buyers inside, keeping them inside for a further look requires a staging strategy that sticks the deal.

HGTV’s FrontDoor.com offers what it considers the Top 10 tips that can turn a languishing listing to a multiple offer attraction.

Five years ago, an upscale version of the American Dream — living space, location, property, charm and more — in most U.S. metropolitan areas started at around $500,000. Then the housing bubble popped. Since October 2005, values on existing homes have dropped 27% nationally, according to the National Assn. of Realtors.

Is $300,000 the new $500,000? Here’s a look at 12 properties on the market, all in the $250,000-$350,000 range. See how far your real estate buck stretches now.

Detroit, Mich.
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Asking Price: $245,000
Square Footage: 3,288
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 4
Acreage: 0.35

Palmer Woods, a neighborhood of the Motor City, is an architectural preservation district of English Revival and Tudor-style houses just like this one. This home was built in 1938, with hardwood floors throughout, stained glass windows and doors, and a fireplace. With an asking price of $75 per square foot, you’d be hard pressed to build a new home with such amenities more economically.

Rowlett, Tex.
Price: $250,000
Square Footage: 3,670
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 4
Acreage: 0.21 acres

Priced at $81 per square foot, this Texas-style mini-mansion includes a two-story entry foyer, open floor plan, two dining areas, a game room, study and a three-car garage. If landscaping isn’t your thing, the grass-less backyard features a large stone pool. And it’s only 16 miles from downtown Dallas.

Omaha, Neb.
Price: $260,000
Square Footage: 2,726
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 3

Built in 1909, this corner-lot house is in the Old Market neighborhood of Omaha, an historic preservation district with a lively rhythm and blues scene. The nine-room home has all its original woodwork — hardwood floors, giant ceiling moldings and baseboards and an ornate staircase. It also features important updates, such as a new roof and new siding.

Marietta, Ga.
Price: $279,000
Square Footage: 2,622
Bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 3
Acreage: 1

Located on an acre of land in a quiet cul-de-sac, this home typifies the great values available in the Atlanta metro area — at about $106 per square foot. Marietta, 23 miles outside of Atlanta, is one of the area’s premier suburbs, and the local school district is one of the most coveted in the state.

Roland, Ark.
Price: $287,900
Square Footage: 2,752
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 4
Acreage: 4.37

Here’s a real estate trifecta — four bedrooms, four bathrooms… and four acres. The home features stainless-steel appliances and granite countertops in the kitchen and a backyard pool. It offers a combination of luxury and privacy 25 miles from Little Rock, which has fared better than most cities during the downturn.

Newport Center, Vt.
Price: $299,000
Square Footage: 2,416
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2.5
Acreage: 4.60

This chalet with plenty of property overlooks Lake Memphremagog in northern Vermont. It also features a detached two-car garage, patio and two fireplaces. Quiet Newport Center has less than 2,000 residents, although it is only about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Montreal.

Portland, Ore.
Price: $309,900
Square Footage: 2,008
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 1
Acreage: 0.13

This corner-lot home in the Beaumont Village area of Portland was built in 1926. But it has been fully updated and remodeled with hardwood floors, a fireplace, stainless-steel appliances and new windows. It features a beautiful backyard with deck and stone patio, and a full garage. The Portland rail system and Interstate 84 are less than two miles away. Portland is a charming city with plenty of diversity. And it’s quite green, like the house.

New York, N.Y.
Price: $325,000
Square Footage: 450
Bedrooms: Studio
Bathrooms: 1

This studio apartment in Midtown Manhattan has more the feel of a one-bedroom because of its layout. Located in a building with doormen on duty 24 hours a day, it’s close to the subway, Central Park and Columbus Circle, to name a few attractions in the Big Apple.

Lihue, Hawaii
Price: $334,900
Square Footage: 1,032
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 1.5

Lihue, on the island of Kauai, boasts the island’s premier shopping district. This two-bedroom town home is part of a community with access to a pool and the Puakea Golf Course, and it’s close to the beach. Who needs the indoors in Hawaii?

Tucson, Ariz.
Price: $339,900
Square Footage: 3,108
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 3

This spacious home is designed to stay cool during hot Arizona days. Other amenities include a three-car garage and a loft, all situated on the 16th green of an adjacent golf course. It’s located 17 miles outside Tucson, which is in the midst of a downtown revitalization.

Boston, Mass.
Price: $339,000
Square Footage: 1,240
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2.5

This duplex is in the heart of Boston’s historic Charlestown neighborhood. It has two levels, two bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, two decks and high ceilings. The large space is perfect for a young professional, new family or retirees. It’s also close to the Boston T and Route 93.

Sacramento, Cal.
Price: $339,500
Square Footage: 1,036
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2

Built in 1910, this home combines cottage charm with modern conveniences in midtown Sacramento. Everything is within walking distance: restaurants, art galleries, shops and a diverse culture. Small? Yes, but architecturally appealing and very practical.

In much of the country, for much of the last decade, renting a home has usually been a better financial move than buying one. It’s been true in Southern California, San Francisco, Phoenix, Las Vegas and large parts of Florida, the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast.

Renting required you to suffer the scorn of many real estate agents and the skepticism of friends and relatives who believed that owning a home was almost always superior. But renting also would have typically saved you thousands of dollars a year.

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• 3 Emotional Questions Every Home Buyer Should Ask

• Economix: Breaking Down the Rent-Buy Equation

• Is Your House Overvalued?

Now, however, the situation is getting more complicated because the housing bust has been playing out unevenly across the country.

In some once bubbly markets, prices have fallen so far that buying a home appears to be a bargain, based on a New York Times analysis of prices and rents in 54 metropolitan areas. In South Florida, Phoenix and Las Vegas, house prices — relative to rents — are as low as in places that never experienced a bubble, like Indianapolis and St. Louis.

But in a handful of other areas, including San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Ore., house prices remain significantly higher than they were before the bubble began. People who buy a home in these areas will face higher monthly costs than if they rented, even after taking tax deductions into account. As a result, buyers are effectively betting that prices will rise enough in future years to cover the difference.

The country’s two biggest metropolitan areas, New York and Los Angeles, are a microcosm of today’s more nuanced real estate market. Average house prices across both areas have fallen enough that buying may now be a good deal for many families. Yet there are still significant pockets where renting looks promising — including parts of Manhattan, the New York suburbs and Orange County, Calif.

The buy-versus-rent question is particularly relevant right now. To qualify for an expiring federal tax credit of up to $8,000, home buyers must sign a contract by April 30 and close on the house by June 30. Many economists also expect mortgage rates to rise in coming months.

Camela Witters, a 38-year-old trophy engraver in Las Vegas, plans to close on her first home purchase — a four-bedroom, $164,000 house nearly identical to the one she is now renting — in the next few days. She decided to buy, she said, when she found out she could save money by doing so. “I didn’t buy a house when everyone did,” said Ms. Witters, who lives with her companion and their children. “So I’m kind of taking advantage of all the foreclosures.”

The Times analysis is based on comparing the costs of buying and renting a similar home, using data from Moody’s Economy.com, a research firm, and from real estate agents. This kind of comparison can never tell someone for sure what the best financial move will be. But it does show whether a buyer will need a big jump in future prices to cover all the costs of owning — including the down payment, closing costs, property taxes, mortgage interest, repairs and co-op fees.

A simple way to do the comparison is to look at something called the rent ratio: the purchase price of a house divided by the annual cost of renting a similar one. The number 20 provides a useful rule of thumb. When you do the math, you discover that a ratio above 20 means you should at least consider renting, especially if you may move again in the next five years or so. When the ratio is well below 20, the case for buying becomes a lot stronger.

In many large metropolitan areas, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta and South Florida, the average ratio is now 16 or lower. It was more than 25 in several of these places at the peak of the bubble, about five years ago. With a ratio as low as 16 and interest rates as low as they are, the costs of owning can be less than the costs of renting — and buyers will end up worse off only if prices fall considerably more.

A two-bedroom Spanish-style condominium in Beverly Hills, Calif., for example, recently went on the market for $1.075 million, notes Don Heller of Prudential California Realty. Including taxes, condo fees and the tax deduction for mortgage interest, a typical buyer making a 20 percent down payment would face an effective monthly payment of about $6,000. Compare that with the monthly rent on a similar two-bedroom condo nearby — $7,600.

The math works out similarly in less costly areas, too, be it once booming cities like Phoenix and Orlando, Fla.; Midwestern cities like Minneapolis and Cleveland; or the outer-ring suburbs of most big cities. Much of New York’s outer boroughs appear to fall into this category.

The problem for potential buyers is that many real estate agents argue for buying even in places where the numbers don’t add up. In the Bay Area, the rent ratio remains around 30. In Seattle, it’s about 28. In parts of Manhattan, it appears to be about 25, according to current listings.

“In most markets, you’re better off buying,” Thomas Lys, an accounting professor at Northwestern University, says. “But once the ratio gets to 25 or 30, I’d say, ‘You know what? There may be a bubble.’”

The rent ratio has long been higher in New York and San Francisco than most places, perhaps because of zoning rules or because the cities are home to large numbers of affluent households willing to pay extra to own. So it’s possible that prices will not fall. But they are already high enough that the monthly costs of owning often exceed the cost of renting — even without taking into account the down payment or other one-time costs.

A big reason is that prices still haven’t fallen much in some places. In Rye, N.Y., the average per-square-foot sale price was only 9 percent lower early this year than at its 2007 peak, according to MDA DataQuick. Some similarly affluent parts of the Los Angeles, Miami and San Diego areas have experienced declines of 25 to 50 percent.

Obviously, owning a home brings benefits that are not strictly financial. It offers stability and, for many people, comfort. As I have written, I bought a house in 2008 (in part because the rent ratio in my area had fallen to about 16). Even in Manhattan, San Francisco or Seattle, a family confident that it will stay put for a decade or more may well be wise to buy today.

But it’s worth remembering that the advantages of homeownership are frequently exaggerated. The mortgage-interest tax deduction doesn’t eliminate the cost of borrowing money; it merely reduces it. The freedom to paint your house any color you wish comes with the responsibility of paying for a new roof when the time comes. The $15,000 or $30,000 or $50,000 that real estate agents’ fees add to the price of a house can wipe out a lot of other savings.

The most striking part of the current situation may be that despite everything that has happened in the last few years, there are still places where renting does not get enough respect.

In a real estate boom, buyers will clamor for almost any house that hits the market. This is great while it lasts, but unfortunately when the party’s over, some homebuyers will be left holding property that depreciates at a much slower rate. This discrepancy is largely a result of a home’s location.

“Location, location, location” is a common mantra in real estate. And it’s good advice – except for one thing: most people have no idea what this really means.

A “good location” can mean different things to different people, but there are also subjective factors that determine a home’s value. Depending on your personal needs and preferences, you may not be able to buy a home with all of these factors. And that’s OK – after all, a home is much more than just an investment. However, next time you’re shopping for a new property, keep the following factors in mind.

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Centrality
What part of a city you choose to live in will undoubtedly affect how much you pay for your home. Land is a finite commodity, so cities that are highly developed and are bound from large amounts of additional growth, such as San Francisco, tend to have higher prices than cities that have too much room to expand. For example, many suburban communities have become what the media has dubbed “slumburbs” because such a large number of homes are uninhabited that the areas have fallen into disrepair. In most cases, this urban sprawl occurs as a result of population growth, according to the U.S. Bureau of Census Data on Urbanized Areas. Between 1970 and 1990, the 100 largest urban areas in the U.S. sprawled out more than 14,000 square miles. When sprawling cities experience a population exodus, it’s the outlying areas that tend to suffer the most sever declines in property value.

Neighborhood
The neighborhoods that appeal to you will largely be a matter of personal choice. However, a truly great neighborhood will have a few key factors: accessibility, appearance and amenities. Your neighborhood may also dictate the size of the lot on which your house is built.

In terms of accessibility, you should look for a neighborhood that is situated near your city’s major routes and that has more than one point of entry. Commuting to and from work is a big part of many people’s day, so a house with easy access will be more desirable than one that is tucked away and can only be accessed by one route.

The appearance of the neighborhood is also important. Large trees, landscaping and nearby green or community spaces tend to be desirable. You can also judge the popularity of the neighborhood based on how long homes in that area tend to stay on the market; if turnover is quick, you’re not the only one who thinks this is a desirable place to live.

A great neighborhood should also include important amenities such as grocery stores, shops and restaurants. Most people like to frequent places that are convenient – if you need to drive a great distance to get to anything, this is likely to make your house less attractive. Schools are another important amenity – even if you don’t plan to have kids, if you want to sell your home this is something many buyers will be on the lookout for. The distance from and quality of local schools both play into this.

Development
It’s not just present amenities that matter, but future ones as well. Plans for schools, hospitals, public transportation or other public infrastructure can dramatically improve property values in the area. Commercial development can also improve property value. When you’re shopping for a home, try to find out whether any new public, commercial or residential developments are planned and consider how these additions might affect the desirability of the surrounding areas.

Lot Location
The next thing you need to consider is where the house is actually located. In this instance, there are a few things you should watch out for.

For example, if your home is on a busy road, you will probably get it for a lower price, but it will also be more difficult to sell down the road. The same may hold true for houses that stand next to or back onto commercial property, such as a grocery store or gas station, or houses on streets that get an unusual amount of parking traffic and parked cars, such as those near large churches or community centers. This is why a large number of such homes are rentals.

The House Doesn’t Matter
Suppose that you have narrowed your choices to two homes that stand side by side in a great neighborhood. One needs repairs and updates, but has a huge lot. The other is in tip-top shape but sits on a lot half the size. The prices of the two homes are similar. Which do you choose? This is one aspect of house hunting that surprises a lot of people (except for maybe real estate investors). In most cases, the beat up house is the better investment.

Why? Your house is a depreciating asset. The lot, on the other hand, will maintain its value (or likely appreciate) relative to the house. If you bulldozed both houses, the larger lot would sell for more. So, if you can, choose a bigger, better shaped or better situated lot over a nicer house. A less attractive house can always be updated, added on to or replaced altogether while the lot can’t be changed.

Location isn’t entirely subjective – in fact, it’s based on a fairly static set of criteria. So, when you set out to shop for a new home, make sure the neighborhood isn’t just desirable to you.

Miami boasts a popular South Beach club scene, Art Deco Architecture, and perhaps the best Cuban food in the country. But residents don’t have much else to celebrate.

More than three years after the economy started its downward slide, the Miami metro area, like a handful of Sun Belt cities, still hasn’t begun to recover. Median home prices in Miami have fallen 38% since its market peaked in the second quarter of 2007; the city’s 11% unemployment rate is above the national average and has grown more than most of the 40 cities we surveyed.

List: 10 U.S. Cities In Free Fall
Cities in the “Sand States” of Florida, California, Arizona and Nevada, where overbuilding was rampant, are also in trouble, claiming nine of the top 10 spots in our list of cities in free fall. In Las Vegas, Riverside, Calif., and Phoenix, median home prices have fallen 50%, 44% and 37% from their respective peaks. Jobs are vanishing. Though country-wide, employers added 162,00 jobs last month, Riverside gained 13% fewer jobs in February 2010 (the latest numbers available by metro) than it did the same month three years earlier. Tampa, Fla., saw a 10% drop, and Los Angeles added 9% fewer jobs over the same time period.

These cities are also slow to absorb their glut of unsold foreclosed homes, keeping recovery at bay.

“These were highly speculative housing markets,” says Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, a Manhattan-based real estate appraisal firm. “In the markets that have unloaded a lot of foreclosed housing stock there’s still a lot more coming.”

Behind the Numbers
To find the country’s cities in free fall, we rated its 40 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) on six metrics.

We ranked each MSA on the percent its median home price has fallen since its individual peak, using data provided by Local Market Monitor, a housing market data tracker. To get an estimate for the number of new homes being built, we used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which tracks how many building permits are issued. Roughly 98% of these permits become new home starts. We looked at the percent change in new building permits between February 2007 and February 2010.

We also wanted to know how many people were moving in and out of these metros, since a growing population buoys a local economy. We used the Census Bureau’s most recent population estimates to rank each metro on its net population change between July 2006 and July 2009. To judge each city’s productivity we also ranked each metro on its per capita gross domestic product in 2008, the most recent year available, using data from Moody’s Economy.com. Finally, we ranked the metros on the percent change in unemployment between January 2007 and January 2010 and the number of jobs they added between February 2007 and February 2010, with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We averaged these rankings to arrive at a final score.

Sunshine State Stagnancy
Florida cities dominate our list, with Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville joining Miami. Florida’s real estate market keeps falling even as some herald the start of a rebound. The state’s comparatively sluggish foreclosure process keeps those homes from getting easily flushed out of the market. Because every foreclosure must be approved by a judge, the procedure takes a minimum of five months to complete.

“In states with complex foreclosure laws, the recovery is clearly being delayed,” says Mike Simonsen, CEO of Altos Research, a Mountain View, Calif.-based real estate research firm, who adds that lengthy foreclosures may be driving away real estate investors in these cities.

A Trouble Spot in the Northeast
Picturesque Providence, R.I., is the only New England metro on our list. Economically, it’s struggling far more than other cities in the region. Although Providence saw a slower three-year increase in unemployment than some other major metros, it still has a high unemployment rate, at 14%. The city also added 9% fewer jobs in 2010 than three years earlier. Workers are getting the message and leaving town. Providence is the only city in our top 10 to see a net loss in population.

Grim News for the Golden State
California cities are struggling too. Riverside, Los Angeles and Sacramento are suffering because of the knocks they took after their inflated housing markets began to plummet. Unemployment in the City of Angels has nearly tripled in three years, to 12%. Riverside’s unemployment has also ballooned, to 15%. Meanwhile Sacramento saw a 75% drop in new building permits. These are troubling signs for Cali metros, but not surprising. The end of the state’s home-price climb triggered more than just a housing slump.

“In California, so many jobs were concentrated in construction,” says Michael Fratantoni, vice president of research at the Mortgage Bankers Association, the professional association for real estate financiers. “Jobs building single family homes wound up not being sustainable, and there were a lot of job losses.”

The long-term consequences of the housing crash in these cities are still playing out, and new factors that complicate a recovery keep cropping up.

“Places like Phoenix and Riverside may take even longer to recover because people might just pick up and leave to go to places doing better,” says Fratantoni. “It may make more sense to leave, rather than wait for jobs to return.”

Top 5 Cities in a Free Fall
1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
Net Population Change, 2006-2009: 1.47%
Per Capita Gross Domestic Product: $42,645.52
Change in New Building Permits, February 2007-February 2010: -77.46%
Change in Unemployment, January 2007-January 2010: 202.70%
Change in New Jobs Added, February 2007 – February 2010: -9.68%
Change in Median Home Price from Market Peak: -38%

2. Tampa-Clearwater, FL
Net Population Change, 2006-2009: 2.33%
Per Capita Gross Domestic Product: $42,562.92
Change in New Building Permits, February 2007-February 2010: -44.18%
Change in Unemployment, January 2007-January 2010: 235.90%
Change in New Jobs Added, February 2007 – February 2010: -9.87%
Change in Median Home Price from Market Peak: -32%

3. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.
Net Population Change, 2006-2009: 4.40%
Per Capita Gross Domestic Product: $32,403.49
Change in New Building Permits, February 2007-February 2010: -65.69%
Change in Unemployment, January 2007-January 2010: 177.78%
Change in New Jobs Added, February 2007 – February 2010: -12.94%
Change in Median Home Price from Market Peak: -44%

4. Jacksonville, Fl.
Net Population Change, 2006-2009: 3.83%
Per Capita Gross Domestic Product: $16,035.65
Change in New Building Permits, February 2007-February 2010: -66.09%
Change in Unemployment, January 2007-January 2010: 227.03%
Change in New Jobs Added, February 2007 – February 2010: -7.74%
Change in Median Home Price from Market Peak: -23%

5. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
Net Population Change, 2006-2009: 7.85%
Per Capita Gross Domestic Product: $40,870.16
Change in New Building Permits, February 2007-February 2010: -83.61%
Change in Unemployment, January 2007-January 2010: 148.65%
Change in New Jobs Added, February 2007 – February 2010: -10.01%
Change in Median Home Price from Market Peak: -37%

Click here to see the full list of Ten U.S. Cities In Free Fall

Obtaining Due Process in Non-Judicial Foreclosure States

Things are starting to get really ugly out here on the front lines. The banksters latest tactic has them confirming in writing that the homeowner’s eligibility for a modification is being considered while secretly continuing to foreclose.

The homeowner breathes a huge sigh of relief and waits….and waits….and waits. Then comes a knock on the door and the homeowner is out on the street. And, in more and more cases, the borrowers are not even being served with notice as required by law.

Anyone, and I mean anyone, can record a notice of default, wait the appropriate amount of time, and file a notice of sale; take these two documents to court and get an unlawful detainer.

The system is being abused by third parties who’s only interest in the property is the desire to collect on credit default swaps.

One way to advance awareness of the problem of pretender lenders would be to record these notices on the homes of all of our congressmen.

There is no judicial review, no oversight and, as a result, no due process even for those who have done nothing wrong; and nowhere is anyone considering the rights of the true beneficiary.

There is no review of the legitimacy of the foreclosure, and unless the borrower is willing to go to court and fight, there is no stopping the foreclosure.

And, with more borrowers rising up to fight their illegal foreclosure, the courts are becoming more crowded and judges are becoming impatient, often dismissing the borrower’s case without even a preliminary review of the facts.

In their view, the purpose of non-judicial foreclosure is to provide a quick and inexpensive means for the lender to remedy a default. The borrower agreed to non-judicial foreclosure when the loan documents were signed. End of challenge; end of case.

California, like 29 other states, is a non-judicial foreclosure state. Rules of individual states very widely and you should only use this as a guide for examining applicable laws and procedures in your state. I cannot over state the importance of having an experienced attorney as a resource.

In California, judges have been isolating on a small portion of the California Civil Code, 2924, to the exclusion of other applicable law, and have been dismissing “produce the note defenses” on the grounds that 2924 contains “no produce the note” requirement.

The stated intention of the code is: “(1) to provide the creditor/beneficiary with a quick, inexpensive and efficient remedy against a defaulting debtor/trustor; (2) to protect the debtor/trustor from wrongful loss of the property; and (3) to ensure that a properly conducted sale is final between the parties and conclusive as to a bona fide purchaser.”

The Courts, in their haste to apply the first purpose, are ignoring the second and third purpose of the Code. There is now a substantial body of evidence of wrongful foreclosures by entities lacking both authority and justification to do so.

Homeowners who have never been late on a payment have been evicted while others, negotiating a loan modification, have met the same fate.

Noting the opportunity created for fraud in a non-judicial foreclosure state, judges should be particularly wary of the potential for organized crime. Now comes evidence that foreclosure mills are simply manufacturing and illegally backdating documents.

Courts are making the assumption, unsupported by facts, that the allegations contained in the notice of default and notice of sale are truthful.

And, how can a properly conducted sale be final between the parties if the party of interest isn’t involved. What about that individual?

2924 isn’t intended to allow a trustee to act against the interests of the beneficiary.

The court should want to protect its own interests against a fraud upon the court by simply administering the basic judicial procedure that requires parties who come before the court to identify themselves.

Nor are foreclosure statutes intended to be exclusive. It cannot be the intention of non-judicial foreclosure procedure to deny aggrieved parties access to remedies or trump other rights intended to protect consumers.

2924 by its own terms, looks outside of the statute to the actual obligation to see if there was a breach. Being entitled to foreclose non-judicially under 2924 can only take place “after a breach of the obligation for which that mortgage or transfer is a security.”

This brings us to the Uniform Commercial Code, the essence of which is replicated in almost every state.

Under California Commercial Code 3301, a note may only be enforced if one has actual possession of the note as a holder, or has possession of the note, not as a non-holder, but with holder rights.

If there is no possession of the note or possession was not obtained until after the notice of sale was recorded, it is impossible to trigger 2924.

And, if the note is unenforceable under Article 3, there can simply be no breach.

Simply rubber stamping an illegal foreclosure is a far cry from due process, and until enough judges get it, we are going to have to show judges how financial intermediaries are gaming the system and committing fraud upon the court.

Lawyers say, “If you have the law on your side, you pound the law; if you have the facts on your side you pound the facts; and if you have neither, you pound the table.”

You have the law and the facts on your side, but if you do not present them adequately, the banksters will beat you simply by pounding the table.

And, while they are pounding the table, they will be doing so with forged documents and perjured testimony, and when they pack up and leave, no one will have any idea who they are.

While the intent is to stop the foreclosure, you need to take baby steps. You want to work your way back to the true party of interest. To do that, you are simply disputing the amount you owe. You want a full and complete accounting of all monies paid and received in connection with your loan. That means, where the money came from that funded the loan, what was the amount of the service release premium, yield spread premium, credit default swaps, and tarp funds, as well as, the late charges and fees associated with the foreclosure.

You have a legal right to that information, but you will need the power of the court to compel information as to how much you really owe. Either the pretender lender will give up or a full accounting might produce evidence of fraud, predatory lending and the possibility that the obligation was satisfied by TARP funds, credit default swaps or both.

See my blog for more: http://www.realtown.com/gwmantor/blog.

George W. Mantor is known as “The Real Estate Professor” for his consumer education efforts including a long-running radio program, monthly workshop series, public appearances, and frequent articles.

During a career dating back to 1978, he has amassed experience in new home and resale residential real estate, resort marketing and commercial and investment property.

Prior to starting his own real estate and mortgage brokerage in 1992, he had been Director of Training and Customer Service for Great Western Real Estate. In addition, he has served on virtually every real estate committee, including a term as a Director of the California Association of Realtors.

George is a nationally respected authority on all areas of real estate and is frequently quoted in a wide range of publications. He is an oft invited guest of Fox Business Network and for many years, he was the host of “Keepin’ It Real…Real talk about the real thing, real estate” on KCEO radio.

The Real Estate Professional includes him in “a directory of the Nation’s outstanding authors, columnists, and speakers. His articles have also recently appeared in Real Estate Finance, The Real Estate Professional, National Real Estate Investor, Broker Agent News, and Realty Times. His blog is http://www.realtown.com/gwmantor/blog.

RISMedia welcomes your comments and questions. Email realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Data show lot size shrinking along with Sacramento housing market

For a half-century, Sacramento real estate has resembled big-bang theory – waves of homebuyers headed to ever more distant suburbs for bigger houses on larger lots.

Now comes the contraction.

New data show the share of homes built on large lots of 5,500 square feet or more dropped steadily regionwide from 80 percent in the early 2000s to 32 percent in 2008.

Builders are responding to a downsized economy and public interest in “green” living with less expensive houses packed closer together, town houses and urban lofts, much of it nestled into existing city cores.

The portrait of a region cinching its belt a notch comes from data to be published Friday by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments at a growth symposium called “Blueprint: Then, Now, Next.”

The purpose of the SACOG event is to assess the effect of the blueprint, a groundbreaking regional plan adopted in 2004 by local governments to keep Sacramento’s urban footprint reasonably compact as the population grows, and to encourage walking and use of public transit.

The smaller-lot trend emerged during extraordinary times, coinciding with a run-up in real estate prices through the mid-2000s, and the subsequent market tailspin that caused home construction to drop to its lowest levels in decades.

That has left planners uncertain whether the data represent a reaction to the moment, or a longer-term market shift.

“We believe it will continue,” said SACOG Executive Director Mike McKeever, but “we need a few more years.”

Building industry official Dennis Rogers says the move toward more types of housing – rather than simply spacious suburban stand-alone models – is what the region needs to attract and retain residents in the future. Young people, empty nesters and seniors, in particular, may not want or need big houses.

“This is a significant maturing of our housing market,” said Rogers, who works for the North State Building Industry Association.

While the movement includes urban lofts in central Sacramento, and plans for 12,000 housing units in the old downtown railyard, planners say a Rancho Cordova development – Capital Village – actually typifies the trend.

The Beazer Homes project off Zinfandel Drive sits squarely in the suburbs. Yet it includes a walkable “Main Street” of offices and eateries, a central village green and narrow streets of densely packed houses and three-story town homes, some with front lawns no bigger than a twin-sized bed. Garages are hidden in back alleys.

Planners call it “urban light.”

With Capital Village, Rancho Cordova seeks to address the lack of housing near its office and industrial parks – an imbalance that clogs Highway 50 with cars at commute time.

Now, the jobs are “literally across the street,” said Rancho Cordova Councilman David Sander.

For new residents, though, low prices may be a greater draw than the promise of a short commute and a new, more urban style of living.

Signs boast town houses for under $200,000. That’s what attracted Kendris Cabral, 33, and his wife, Crystal, with their 8-month-old daughter to a two-story, two-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot house.

Cabral and his family love to walk to the frozen yogurt shop at the other end of the village, but he said neither he nor any of his neighbors work in the nearby office parks. He drives 15 minutes to work in south Sacramento, taking back roads to avoid the freeway.

Empty nester Terre Southwick kicked a ball Tuesday afternoon with her grandson on the village green. Southwick said she loves to walk to stores, but doesn’t consider herself an urbanist of any kind.

“I’m a country kid,” she said. “This just seems comfortable, safe. Like we’re our own little community.”

The turn to smaller-lot housing, condos and lofts is mainly market-driven, said local housing analyst John Schleimer, who has pronounced dead the 6,000-square foot residential lot.

“In a market of accelerating land and lot costs, you have to keep new homes affordable,” said Schleimer, president of Market Perspectives in Roseville.

But Schleimer and others say there are deeper causes that suggest the small-lot movement is not just a momentary response to a bad economy and high real estate prices.

The contraction’s roots go back a decade, before the economic downturn, and mirror a national trend in metropolitan areas, according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study.

Report author John Thomas cited work the Sacramento Area Council of Governments and other local officials did in the early 2000s as part of the blueprint effort.

Following blueprint guidelines, cities and counties have changed zoning codes to make it easier to build denser housing near offices and retail in already-developed areas.

The goal is to retain open space, reduce commute distances and congestion, improve air quality and provide housing stock variety, while the region’s population grows by more than 1 million in the next half-century.

Southwick in Capital Village likes one aspect of the small-lot trend that leaves more time for grandkids: “I can mow my lawn in two minutes.”

Sacramento-area home sales dismal in February

Sacramento-area home sales hovered around two-year lows during February, branding the start of 2010 as real estate’s long slow winter.

But prospects for spring are stronger with thousands of new sales contracts blossoming across the region, say real estate agents and mortgage brokers. Most will close escrow in March and April.

“The people who have money out there are buying right now,” said Lori Mode, a Keller Williams agent in Elk Grove. They include first-time buyers and investors from as far away as Australia, she said Thursday. A $589,000 bank repo in Wilton fetched “10 offers the first week, and it went for almost $100,000 over the asking price,” she said.

That’s a silver lining in an otherwise lackluster February sales report. Amid a short month, wet weather and unemployment that has reached 13.1 percent regionally, buyers and sellers closed just 2,464 escrows in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, La Jolla researcher MDA DataQuick reported.

That was up from January’s 2,428 sales, but well under 2,809 in February 2009. Buyers closed 2,162 escrows in February 2008 and 2,534 in February 2007.

“January and February were dismal,” acknowledged Jon Dobbel, Elk Grove branch manager of Summit Funding. “It’s the rain, the unemployment, the housing depression and the inability of people who own a house to buy a house because it’s upside down. The move-up market is virtually dead.”

The new home market is equally rough. Just 6.6 percent of February’s regional sales were new homes, 163 in all, DataQuick reported. In 2005 new homes accounted for 25 percent of sales.

But Dobbel, too, is cheered by a March “that has just taken off. We’re going to be up about 300 percent in closings over February.”

February’s median sales price for new and existing homes in Sacramento County rose slightly from January, reaching $169,000, DataQuick reported. That’s a 5.6 percent gain from Feb. 2009 when repos were 70 percent of sales and prices bottomed out at $160,000. They went as high as $180,000 during the second half of 2009. Median is that point where half cost more and half less.

Sales prices were also 5 percent higher than last year in Sutter County and 2.7 percent higher in Yolo County. Other area counties, especially the affluent suburban zones, saw prices dip from last year as owners slashed them to sell.

At this point, Sacramento’s housing recovery is lagging coastal California. The Bay Area saw sales prices jump 20 percent from last year. Prices rose 10 percent in the Los Angeles, Inland Empire and San Diego region.

DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage said the high-end markets there have awakened from being “asleep a year ago.” Foreclosures are also a smaller part of their sales mixes.

Sacramento County’s February repo market share was 54.8 percent, reflecting a continuing widespread mortgage crisis where 12.3 percent of area home loans are seriously delinquent, in foreclosure or tied to a bank repo listed for sale. The foreclosed inventory attracted large numbers of absentee buyers, usually investors, who accounted for 27.4 percent of sales. DataQuick said 34 percent of buyers paid cash in a county market where nearly one in four sales were priced below $100,000.

“As an investor you pretty much have to be cash,” said Warren Adams, a broker associate with Security Pacific Real Estate in Fair Oaks. Banks, he said, have stopped lending to most investors after they buy four houses. First-time buyers are getting most of the rest.

“I would say a majority of my accepted offers are owner-occupied,” he said. Adams attributed March’s rise in activity to the season, low interest rates and possibly an April 30 deadline for an $8,000 first-time buyer federal tax credit. Buyers must be in sales contracts by then and close escrow by June 30 to qualify.

Mortgage rates have stayed below 5 percent, before paying points, for seven of 2010’s first 11 weeks, according to federal mortgage giant Freddie Mac. Rates this week for 30-year fixed loans were 4.96 percent.