Month: May 2009

Another great West End weekend…

Willie Watkins “Choir in the Park”

Well, the festival promised to be a  great event and it truly was!  Food, Fun, Friends & Family- a wonderful way to spend a day off.  As per my daughter “I had excellent fun..”  lol

Networking Event

Event: Networking Meeting at Space Atlanta
      “Network in West End”
What: Business Meeting
Host: West End Merchant Coalition
Start Time: Friday, May 29 at 6:00pm
End Time: Friday, May 29 at 8:00pm
Where: Space Atlanta

1310 White Street
Atlanta, GA 30310
(404) 758-9494

“Finally, West End Atlanta has a Restaurant for neighbors to frequent a few nights a week!
SPACE ATL shows promise to be the next ‘big thing’ in the Historic West End, Westview communities since the Beltline trail.
Good music, good food, good drinks, good service- the stage is set and the show has begun, don’t miss it!

~Nia” 

Bill Offers Renewed HOPE for Troubled Owners

The Obama Administration on Wednesday signed a bill that attempts to inject some hope into the housing rescue program–called Hope for Homeowners.
 
The original program asked banks to reduce mortgage balances voluntarily to 90 percent of a home’s current market value. The loan would then be refinanced into an FHA mortgage.

The program didn’t work because it forced lenders to sell short with no chance of an upside, says Tom Kelly, a spokesman for JP Morgan Chase.

The new version of Hope sweetens the pot by paying lenders $1,000 for every Hope-refinanced loan and easing the amount they have to write off by allowing loans of up to 93 percent of the market value.

But the most important change is that it allows the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FHA’s parent agency, to share home-price appreciation with investors, up to the appraised value of the property when the existing loan was first issued.

This bill originally included cramdown legislation that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to modify the first mortgage, but that portion of the legislation was defeated in the Senate.

Source: CNNMoney, Les Christie (05/20/2009)

Community Update..

Space ATL  Restaurant, along the Beltline (White St/Hopkins) in Historic West End, hosted a fabulous  “soft” opening yesterday!  They are now officially open Lunch- 2AM – Check them out and let’s make our local businesses dynamic!!   This restaurant/lounge is destined to be our neighborhood hangout with such late hours. The Bartender, Nick, *HOT* – has his own signature drinks.  Coming over from the “M” bar, we’re lucky to have him.

This weekend, Cleopas R Johnson Park(near the Villages at Castleberry, corner of Northside Drive and Fair Street across from Paschals) will host a neighborhood Jazz festival. www.Atlantafestivals.com  the event is free- food is not!

Friday night Art& Jazz at the Hammonds House May 22nd 6-8PM. Featuring Historic West End’s own, Linc Bennett!! www.HammondsHouse.org

Brent Brewer to show his documentary on Mortgage Fraud (When A House Is Not a Home) at Georgia State University. Wednesday, May 20th from 12 to 1:30PM

More to come….

Willie Watkins Festival in Howell Park (Historic West End)

Malcolm X Festival in West End Park (Historic West End)

Washington Park Event (Booker T. Washington)

Tax Credit Can Be Used for Down Payment

Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, on Tuesday said that the Federal Housing Administration is going to permit its lenders to allow home buyers to use the $8,000 tax credit as a down payment.

Previously, most buyers wouldn’t receive the funds until after they filed their tax return, and that deterred some people from using the credit. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® has been calling for the change.

“We all want to enable FHA consumers to access the home buyer tax credit funds when they close on their home loans so that the cash can be used as a down payment,” Donovan says. His remarks came in an address to several thousand REALTORS® gathered Tuesday morning at “The Real Estate Summit: Advancing the U.S. Economy,” at the 2009 REALTORS® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C..

He says FHA’s approved lenders will be permitted to “monetize” the tax credit through short-term bridge loans. This will allow eligible home buyers to access the funds immediately at the closing table.

Source: NAR