Campaign Rhetoric and the Housing Market
By Nancy Russell, Vice President Select GMAC Real Estate
The housing market is a prime driver of the U.S. economy. As focus shifted in the Presidential debate from the Iraq War and Foreign Policy to Domestic issues, the housing and mortgage industries have been thrust into the campaign. As of the writing of this article, there are three main Presidential candidates left. Yes, Ralph Nader just announced that he is entering the 2008 election, but conventional wisdom says that he will garner no more than 1percent to 2 percent of the popular vote. So, like it or not, there will be a U.S. Senator sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. Interestingly enough, Senators Clinton, Obama and McCain have very diff erent ideas concerning the housing market. In the following, I will take an unbiased look where each candidate stands today with regards to the housing industry.

Nancy Russell Vice President SELECT GMAC Real Estate www.nancyarussell.com

Hillary Clinton: Senator Clinton would like to clamp a 90-day moratorium on all real estate foreclosures. In addition, she would like to see a five-year freeze on sub-prime adjustable interest rates.

Part of Senator Clinton's plan would be the establishment of at least a $30 billion federal foreclosure prevention fund that would help people either renegotiate their mortgages or help them sell their home.

John McCain: Senator McCain is an advocate of beefing up the FHA. FHA has very specific guidelines for lending limits and mortgage insurance. These guidelines not only vary by state but by county within a state. The guidelines actually set lending limits for FHA loans. For example, today the FHA lending limit for a single-family home in Worcester County is $292,600.

Senator McCain is also in favor of letting the private sector remedy the current foreclosure situation and supports the Hope Now Alliance. The Hope Now plan will assist up to 1.2 million homeowners by providing relief in one of three ways:

1. Refinancing an existing loan into a new private mortgage;

2. Moving loans into an FHA Secure loan;

3. Freezing current adjustable interest rates for five years.

In addition, he would like to see tougher crackdowns on mortgage fraud and predatory lending. Finally, Senator McCain is advocating a national license for mortgage brokers.

Barack Obama: Senator Obama would like to change the current bankruptcy laws which would empower Bankruptcy Judges with the ability to reduce Borrowers' debt to the Lenders. In addition, he would like to create a new write-off program for lower- and middle-income wage earners that currently do not itemize on their taxes. This plan would create in the neighborhood of a $500 tax credit. An estimated 10 million tax filers would benefit. Finally, like Senator Clinton, Senator Obama would like to establish a federal foreclosure prevention fund but set the dollar limit at about onethird that of Senator Clinton's plan.

It is the observant reader that read and understood the last sentence in the first paragraph of this article, "… where each candidate stands today." One thing is for certain and that is that campaign rhetoric does have the tendency to change as the candidate moves up or down in the polls. Many a politician has been branded as a "flipflopper" while not standing on principles. However, we can be certain that whoever is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States will bring with them very specific ideas on the Housing and Mortgage markets. This will aff ect us all, so please exercise your civic duty and get out and vote on the first Tuesday of November.

"Whatever Nancy touches turns to SOLD."
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