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1:01	SignOnLiveChatModerator - Welcome to today's real estate chat with Roger Showley, Lori Weisberg and Emmet Pierce. Roger and Emmet will be joining us shortly, but Lori is here. Feel free to ask her any questions you have about the local real estate market or President Obama's housing plan.

1:01	Lori Weisberg - Hi, I'm Lori Weisberg and ready to answer any of your questions.

1:02	[Comment From Jim] I read the homeowner bailout won't be offered to people who knew they couldn't afford their homes in the first place. How will this be determined?

1:04

Lori Weisberg - Hi Jim. Yes, in a general sense that's true, but because the more specific details of the plan won't be available until March 4, we don't know how the government is going to handle that. More importantly, the rules will look at how under water people are on their mortgages and whether a modification would lower the monthly payment on the first to an affordable level.

1:04	Emmet Pierce - Hi, I'm Emmet Pierce. Thanks for logging on.

1:05	[Comment From Sarah] How is the market doing for Million plus homes such as Coronado?

1:05	Emmet Pierce - Hi Sarah, Roger will take that question shortly.

1:06	SignOnLiveChatModerator - Lori, yesterday President Obama released a housing plan to help people avoid foreclosure. Could you briefly summerize that plan?

1:10	[Comment From Cameron] Will there be any action taken against the banks and mortgage brokers who commited fraud by submitting false loan apps with inflated income amd assests?

1:11

Lori Weisberg - The two key elements of the plan would expand opportunities to refinance for those who have little or no equity in their homes and encourage lenders to modify loans for homeowners at risk of default or foreclosure. In order to qualify for help with refinancing, borrowers cannot owe on their first mortgage more than 105 percent of the home's value. The loan must also be one that is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. For those seeking loan modifications, servicers of loans will be provided with monetary incentives if the help borrowers modify loans. In all, the plan is supposed to help up to 9 million homeowners nationwide.

1:11	SignOnLiveChatModerator - Roger Showley has just joined us and is looking up the information for Sarah.

1:13

Roger Showley - Sarah - In answer to your question about million-dollar homes in Coronado, the latest MDA DataQuick numbers, for January 2009, showed the median there was $1.425 million, up 46.2 percent from January 2008. But this is a good case of beware of the numbers. There were only two single-family-resale homes in January and four a year earlier, so that is certainly not a good enough sample to tell you whether values are rising or falling in Coronado or any other low-transaction ZIP code.

1:15

Emmet Pierce - Just how much payback there is remains to be seen. Citizens are understandably angry about the cost of the bailout and stimulus. Many people who paid their mortgages feel that irresponsible borrowers shouldn't be rewarded. The president says everyone must share in the cost of the bailout to get the economy back on track. The focus right now is on fixing the problem. Clearly there is plenty of blame to go around. Lenders, brokers, consumers, regulators, etc. Authorities are pursuing cases of fraud around the country.

1:16	[Comment From J] Now I'm kind of wishing I hadn't refinanced last year. Should I have waited, or would it have been worse now?

1:17

Roger Showley -

J - In the boom of the early-2000s, people refinancing every other month, it seemed, as rates dropped and terms improved. The same thing holds true today. But you should compare the costs of staying where you are versus taking out a new loan. If you can a considerable sum by refinancing now, go ahead.

1:19	SignOnLiveChatModerator - Emmet, the DataQuick numbers that came out yesterday showed that San Diego's median home sale price fell below $300,000 for the first time in seven years. How much lower do you think they will fall before stabilizing?

1:21	SignOnLiveChatModerator - Here is a chart on January's housing prices for San Diego County

1:22

1:25

Emmet Pierce - Hi Moderator. That's a tough question. There are a lot of factors to consider. Lower prices are bringing buyers back to the market, but the median home price is being pulled down by foreclosure home sales. When prices drop, more people are underwater on their mortgages, meaning they owe more than their homes are worth. That makes them more likely to go into foreclosure and walk away from their investment. Many experts say things will turn around when the bulk of unsustainable loans that were issued work their way through the system. The new $75 billion foreclosure prevention program should help stabilize things, but it's hard to say when or how much.

1:25	SignOnLiveChatModerator - Roger, in an upcoming story you offer advice for home buyers and home sellers. Could you preview those stories for us?

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