President Elect Obama

atethat will work in tandem with state, local and
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Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTableforeclosure to renegotiate with lenders or put their
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";house on the market.  In the long term, the Stop
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;Fraud Act would create criminal penalties for
mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99;mortgage professionals found guilty of fraud. This
mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:"";would increase funding for federal and state
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;enforcement of antifraud programs.
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mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;·         Mr. Obama  also wishes to create a
mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%;simplified, standardized metric for calculating the costs
mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt;of a home mortgage that would be similar to the
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";annual percentage rate used by the banks to identify
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;effective interest rate that a borrower pays for a loan.
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; 
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;·         He also proposes changes in the
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}transport facility to needy neighborhoods.  In this
Senator Obama swept to an historic and decisiveregard, federal Jobs Access and Reverse Commute
victory in the presidential elections to become the firstprogram are to be doubled so as to ensure that
black president in America.  He must now trekadditional federal public transportation dollars flow to
through the on-going crisis in the country by forging histhe highest-need communities.
promised “Change”.  
At present, real estate is one of those issues which·         Mr. Obama has also expressed a
needs  to be addressed. The newly elected presidentgoal of making all new buildings carbon-free by 2030. 
also has a series of plans to both builders andThis law has already made its first move by allowing a
buyers.  President Elect Obama’s take onhigh tax credit for users of “energy-efficient”
issues concerning real estate is a welcome changesources of energy like solar or wind energy.   In
that should delight both buyers and builders.future, Obama has proposed introduction of
·         Falling property prices and the risingcompetitive grant program to recognize states and
number of foreclosures are key concerns in reallocalities that take steps to implement new building
estate.  Mortgage —holders and builders arecodes that prioritize energy efficiency. 
likely to be the focus of a wide range of initiatives.  In 
this direction, Mr. Obama has already proposed a·         He has also proposed certain tax
mortgage tax credit for home buyers whoreforms such as simplifying tax codes that would help
don’t itemize deductions. We still imagine moregeneral public. 
aggressive relief is likely to be sought. 
 With the implementation of these measures, our
·         In an interview during his eventfulanxiety brewed from today’s real estate
presidential campaign, Mr. Obama had mentionedmarket is sure to see some signs of ease in the near
measures to ease mortgage crisis.  He has called forfuture.
the creation of a $10 billion foreclosure prevention fund