Category Archives: Short sale

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, selling, Short sale, Team work, tips

SHORT SALES ARE STILL PART OF TODAY’S MARKET

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inboxEven in today’s market there are many homeowners who are still considering selling their home through the short sale process due to personal hardships they are facing.

Hardships can take on many forms. The loss of value in a home or not budgeting your income well enough are two examples that can lead someone to decide to short sell their home but they are not really hardships. To qualify for a lender approved short sale you need to have a valid hardship such as a divorce or death for instance.  There are many more valid hardships.

Some homeowners will decide strategically (voluntarily) to default on their mortgage even so they do have the ability to make their monthly payment and don’t have a valid hardship. They do this with the intent on achieving approval for a lender approved short sale. Just because you voluntarily default on your mortgage does not mean you will receive approval for short sale. You will still need to prove the validity of your hardship prior a lender approving you for a short sale.

As buyers and sellers we need to be informed of the ins and outs of a short sale while keeping in mind, that when you as the seller opt to sell your house through a short sale, you might not be able to buy anther home for about 2 -3 years. This would be at the discretion of the servicer and what type of mortgage you had previously.

As the buyer you might need to have some patience during the closing process because it is the seller’s lender who has the final say so on the sale of the house and not the seller. You also need to be willing to be pre-approved (not pre-qualified) for a loan. Many homes are being sold “ASIS”. You can have your home inspection but most of the time the seller is not able to make any repairs.

For additional information about short sales or selling real estate in general feel free to contact our office.

commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, selling, Short sale, Team work, tips

EASY NO COST SELLER IDEAS TO SELL YOU HOME WHEN YOU ARE IN TROUBLE.

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piggy bankMoney is tight and you are faced with having to sell you home but you do not have any money to fix or repair the home? The home then will have to be sold AS-IS.

 

Here are several things you can do to give your home the best chance to sell quickly, even if it needs repairs.

 

Think of what you can do rather than what you cannot do.

 

None of the ideas listed below cost you any money and it is possible they may make you some money! (OK one maybe will but only if you have no other option).

 

  1. In the sellers disclosure identify what needs to be repaired. Better to disclose than to hope they will not see.
  2. Start clearing out and selling items you do not need. Look in every nock and cranny.
  3. Take down all your personal pictures and notes from the walls, desks, tables and refrigerators. Buyers are not interested who is in the house. They want to know about the house.
  4. Vacuum all the carpets in the house including under the bed, couch, and chairs.
  5. Deep clean all of the bathrooms, and the Kitchen. Do not forget behind the stove and under the refrigerator. People will pull the shower curtain to see how clean the shower is.
  6. Take a damp sponge and clean the finger smudges off the walls by the light switches and other places you can find. Don’t scrub hard. Be very gentle.
  7. Clean out overstuffed closets, and if you can, put the excess into storage or sell it.
  8. Organize your kitchen. Get rid of the junk drawer. We all have one.
  9. Clean off the kitchen counter top. If you keep it cluttered, you tell buyer that you do not have enough room to store your items, or the other message you might give them is it will take me months to move out! Or I have too much stuff to move!
  10. Clean out the garage and once again, when you have to store or sell some of the items you have, then do so! Once again, do not use the garage as storage unless you are planning on telling the buyers that the house is too small and does not have enough storage.
  11. Clean up the yard. It will have better curb appeal.
  12. Mow the yard and keep it trimmed.
  13. Ask friends or family members if they maybe have some plants you could plant in your yard when you have none.
  14. Clean your windows and open the curtains to let light in.

 

All these ideas, unless you need to put stuff in to storage, will cost you no extra money. All what this will cost you is your time and effort to get it done.

 

The faster you can sell your home the faster you can get back on track and the faster you might be able to get into a new home. The longer it takes the larger your shortfall will be. In this case time is money.

buying, Communication, education, Short sale, Team work, tips

Mortgage fraud affects all of us

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piggy bankJust opening the email this morning and again I read about another Real Estate “ring” that was broken up. This time this ring was apparently helping individuals who would not qualify for mortgage relief by showing them on how to falsify their income, employment, and assets to qualify for mortgage relief.

The heat is being turned on any type of mortgage fraught by calling the lender to task. Lenders themselves now have created and fine tuning on proactively detecting, spotting and preventing fraught.

Bad news for the fraudsters!

Also not to hot news for any borrower who is looking to borrow money at this time. Now every loan, proof of income and employment is being scrutinized, checked, double checked and triple checked. The mortgage approval process has moved from taking in some cases from 4 to 8 weeks and in some cases to 12 weeks especially when the loan is an insured loan.

In short!

When you are looking to buy a home anytime soon make sure you first get a mortgage approval not a pre-qualification before looking at homes. This will make the home buying process a lot less stressful and you will make the process a lot more enjoy full.

Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Short sale, Team work, tips

FHFA Streamlined Modification Initiative

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FHFA announced just recently the new Streamlined Modification Initiative for Borrowers and Servicers to benefit from a more simplified program to the borrower and servicer.

The New Streamlined Modification Initiative Borrowers is an additional option for borrowers who are in trouble with their mortgage in addition to the modifications options their servicer’s offers to them.

This FHFA program is offered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and runs from July the 1st 2013 and expired on August 1, 2015 and is a program that is available to homeowners whose loan is guaranteed by either Fannie Mea or Freddie Mac. Their mortgage must be a first-lien mortgage with either Fannie Mea or Freddie Mac and needs to be at least 12 months old with a loan-to-value ratio equal to or greater than 80 percent.

Borrowers who are between 90 days to 24 months delinquent starting July 1st will receive a Streamlined Modification Solicitation Offer from their servicer and when the borrower agrees to the terms of the offer they do not have to Streamlined Modification Solicitation Offer but will need to make trial period payments on time.

Borrower should still work with their servicer to possible pursue the full range of modification options available to them like the HAMP program ever prior to being later more than 90 days.

planning, Short sale, Team work, tips

Don’t take short cuts….it will cost you at the end…..

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came to mind as I talked to an individual who complained about their short sale transaction.

 

Asking a few probing questions I uncovered what the reason could be for not having a smooth short sale transaction.

 

Here are some quick tips and questions to ask that could help you out in a short sale:

 

What type loan is on the house? Conventional or insured

Has a loan modification been attempted? Yes/no

Was a written short sale approval given? Yes/no

Is the homeowner cooperating? Yes/No

Is the homeowner employed or self employed?

Do you have a CURRENT:

  • Tax return
  • Bank Statement (2 months contiguous)
  • Pay stubs or other proof of ALL reported income (2 months contiguous)
  • Filled out financial form, signed and dated and all income information confirmed or back up with written proof.
  • Hardship letter (not older than 30 days)
  • Filled out RMA form. Signed, dated and all information can be confirmed and is backed up in writing.

 

I am sure you noticed that I have not listed anything that has to do with a short sale contract.

 

Point is…when a short sale approval was not given at the time you list a home, why would you want to waist your time by looking at offers when you don’t even know what the mortgage servicer will agree to.

 

You will speed up the selling process by starting first with the short sale approval process prior to listing the home and NOT while the home is listed.

Communication, education, planning, Short sale, Team work, tips

Are you losing business…..

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….and you might not even realize you do….

 

In today’s market personal and business continues education and fulfillment is much easier than it was in the past.

 

With many companies having many of their educational material, free or for pay, online available it is truly heartbreaking when I see and talk with prospects for a position and they have not a clue what is going on the field they have chosen to practice in.

 

Today phone call was a great example of this again.

 

I had contacted a very well know business person I need for a task in an area he considers himself an expert in this field (at least what his website said). During the conversation I found out that he was not aware of” recent” changes in his field that happened in 2009 and today is 2012.

 

What I did not tell him during this conversation was that I have several referrals for him in his area of “expertise” but due to him not willing to keep up with his personal and business continues education in his chosen filed I am moving on to the next potential business in the area.

Communication, Short sale, Team work, tips

Could you sometimes disclose information you should not disclose?

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Be honest with yourself.

 

When we as Real Estate Agents work with home sellers we need to disclose, by State and Federal Law, certain information about our sellers. How many times have you gone a step above and disclosed more then you really should?

 

Then have you ever thought of who you give any of this information to?

 

I don’t mean to outside agents that are showing the home and bring offers. This ruling includes to your internal staff as well. Did you realize that when you disclose any vital information, that you are not suppose to disclose, to an internal party that is part of your office but not part of any contract, like an administrative assistant or during a office meeting, you might be in violation of the federal disclosure rulings (privacy law)?

 

This is especially true when you are dealing with a lot of short sale or pre-foreclosure properties. Mortgage companies are not very keen on revealing information to a third party who has not been given an authorization to discuss the homeowners’ information and there is a reason for that.

 

Let me ask you just one question;

 

When you would be in the homeowners shoes, and you entrusted your personal information to someone you thought can help you. Would you want them to discuss your information with every person in the office including personal who might be your neighbor or a friend of a friend?

 

Think about it…..

Short sale, Team work, tips

What the heck is a HAFA and what has it to do with a Short Sale?

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HAFA Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives is a program that offers the seller, their mortgage servicers, and their investors an incentive to complete the short sale of a home.

The HAFA option is available to

  • Owners who cannot qualify for a loan Modification under the HAMP program
  • Owners who did not successfully complete their trial period during the loan modification
  • Missed a payment during the loan modification trial period
  • The owner who is asking for a short sale rather than a loan modification

Before you can qualify for the HAFA program you still need to meet the HAMP guidelines. Your current monthly expenses to income ratio needs to be more then 31%, the maximum mortgage amount for 1 unit can not be more then $729,750, and the loan needs to have an origination date on or before January 1st 2009.

When you have been turned down for the HAMP modification you have 30 days to ask to be part of the HAFA program. (You can sell your home at a later time as a short sale but you will not be part of the HAFA program).

The Servicer then will send, to the Seller, a Request of Short Sale approval  (Alternative RASS) that the seller has to fill out and sign. The Alternative RASS has to be returned to the sellers servicer with in 14 days of the date of the . The Alternative RASS will give the homeowner an initial 120 days to sell their home. In some cases the servicer might extend the time to sell up to 12 months.

When there is an offer on the house, keep in mind, you as the seller have every right to counter the offer. Not every written offer needs to be sent to your mortgage servicer but all offers need to be presented to you, the seller. You do not have to settle for a low ball offer, just counter it. There will be more buyers…..

When you, your listing agent, the buyer agent, and your buyer come to a full agreement that this offer is the best offer you can put together, be certain that all parties that need to sign the purchase agreement have done so.

Before your Listing agent sends the offer to your servicer make certain that  you have given your Agent all of the paperwork that is needed for a full short sale package and that the full short sale package is being delivered to your servicer. When something is missing, use a plain piece of paper and  write on the top what this paper represents in your package, then sign and date it. This will serve as a letter of explanation on why this specific item is missing.

Make certain on your end that all “T” are crossed and all “I” are dotted.

Do not leave anything out….or don’t go for…”well let’s just send only this offer to the servicer and see what sticks”

The servicer only can give you an answer on your offer and plead your case to their investors, when they have a complete short sale package. Keep in mind that you have 3 days from the final date of agreement to send your offer with the complete short sale package to the servicer.

In the HAFA program, and only in the HAFA program, the Servicer has 10 days after they have received the offer from you to give you an approval, counter offer, or denial on the offer. If they deny the offer they need to give you a statement explaining why there was a denial and sometimes it is something that can be turned into an approval with a simple explanation either from you or your listing agent.

commitment, Short sale, Team work, tips

What is the HAMP Program and why my agent does not know about it?

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  HAMP – Home Affordable Modification program is a loan modification program designed to reduce eligible, delinquent and at-risk borrowers’ monthly mortgage payments. Why some Real Estate Agents and Broker are not aware of this program I do not know. I have my thoughts but I will keep them for myself.

 

HAMP possible can lower your monthly mortgage payment up to 31 percent of your verified monthly gross (pre-tax) income, which usually provides savings of hundreds of dollars per month.

 

You may be eligible for HAMP if you meet all of the following criteria:

 

•You occupy the house as your primary residence.

• You obtained your mortgage on or before January 1, 2009.

• You have a mortgage payment that is more than 31 percent of your monthly gross (pre-tax) income.

• You owe up to $729,750 on your home.

• You have a financial hardship and are either delinquent or in danger of falling behind.

• You’re not unemployed

• You have sufficient, documented income to support the modified payment.

• You must not have been convicted within the last 10 years of felony larceny, theft, fraud or forgery, money laundering or tax evasion, in connection with a mortgage or real estate transaction.

 

To apply for HAMP, you need to complete and provide the following to your Mortgage Servicer

 

•Request for Mortgage Assistance (RMA)

•IRS Form 4506T-EZ or 4506-T

•Verification of Income

 

If your mortgage is owned, insured, or guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA or USDA, ask your mortgage servicer which solutions might be best suited to your situation. Each one has it’s own guidelines and rules.

 

When you not qualify for a HAMP you might qualify for the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) Program.

Inspiration, Short sale

Reaching the defaulted borrower ……..early…….

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We are still not through the wave of possible short sales that are coming on the market. The new furcated number I have been given just recently is a HUGE scary number and when all of them would hit the REO market…..wow…..

2012 might be the year of the short sale and have you prepared yourself for the huge workload?

Mortgage servicers are still using the Door-to door outreach program and from reading though all of the information I have I can see that the personal face to face contact approach and reaching defaulted borrowers early during their default period is still the way to go to avoid having to many REO’s hit the open market.

Reaching the defaulted borrows is one thing, but are you willing to work with the defaulted borrower early in the ball game or do you just hope they might consider calling you for a short sale?

Are you truly ready for them when they call you up and ask you to list their home as a possible short sale?