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Posts Tagged ‘loan modification’

Short Sale Pricing

13 Jan

If you find yourself in the short sale situation, then selling your home is a different story.

You might be receiving letters and postcards from Real Estate Agents talking about listing your home as a short sale.  After all, they have looked at the tax rolls which are public records and the notice of default shows up.   After you have missed 3 months payments the bank will file a notice of default with the county.

Interview 3 Agents to see what they can do for you.  All 3 should tell you the same thing – you must have a hardship to be able to short sale your home.  Without a hardship, the banks will not grant a short sale.  A hardship is loss of employment, death, divorce or illness.  In other words, an event that caused you to get behind in your payments.  Loss of equity does not qualify you to short sale your home.  Sorry if someone has told you otherwise but claiming a hardship and proving it will be necessary.  You will be asked to write a hardship letter that will be submitted to the bank(s).

If you have a true hardship, the banks will also require that you give them copies of your last 2 years tax returns, current paycheck stubs and two months bank statements.  Make copies and give them to the Real Estate Agent that you have chosen.  They will have to prepare a short sale package to go along with an offer.

When you go to price your home, the best advice I can give is to go with Market Value.  Some agents prefer to price a little under market value to create a buzz about your home so that you will have multiple offers to choose from.  During the time that you are waiting for your home to be approved for a short sale, the bank(s) will send out an appraiser.  The bank will want to know the value of your home.  Hopefully the offer you and your Agent have sent to the bank will be the same amount that the bank’s appraiser tells them that it is.  Otherwise, they will have you adjust it.

 

 

March Stats

04 Mar

February was a good but hectic month for me – filled with nothing but Short Sales!

Are short sales the “new” norm for real estate?  Hate to say it but in this area, YES!  I am immersing myself in the world of short sales, it’s sink or swim, no getting away from them!

So knowing that, let’s look at the stats for the local cities I’ve been watching.

Upland – 159 listings, 14 of those are REO and 49 are short sales.

Rancho Cucamonga – 343 listings, 53 REO and 156 short sales.

Claremont – 84 listings, 5 REO and 11 short sales -whoa!

Ontario – 243 listings, 50 REO and 164 short sales.

Fontana – 494 listings, 81 REO and 287 short sales.

My take on these numbers for March?

Well, dear old Claremont is picking up speed – 16 more listings, 4 more REO’s and only 1 more short sale.

Overall, the other cities saw increases in listings except Rancho, down 11.   Lone wolf Fontana was the only city with more REO’s, the other cities were down for the count.

But SHORT SALES were UP in every city I’m currently watching!

The heat is on!  I just want to throw this out there.   Did you know that in the 91701 zip code, one of the most affluent in the Inland Empire,  there are 175 Notices of Default on homes?  These homeowners are 3 months delinquent.  And these homes are NOT on the market.  What happens when the loan modifications don’t work and they hit the market as SHORT SALES?   The writing is on the wall…….

 

Short Sales

23 Feb

Another day, another short sale seminar.  But the one I attended today was different.   The content went so deep into the subject and questioned  how to decide if a short sale is even possible.  Not all short sales are alike.

I learned you need to qualify the Listing Agent as well as the property.  What does that mean?  Well, not all listing agents are educated in the process.  Not all listing agents know what a hardship is.  Short sales are predicated on the fact that there is a hardship such as: death, divorce, job loss or relocation and illness.  Loss of equity is not a hardship.

The second most important factor in a short sale is: does the loan qualify for a short sale?  This means is it purchase money or refi?  Will the banks say ok to the fact that a homeowner took out a second loan to buy a new Escalade or take a trip to Europe?  Well, well the plot thickens.

If you are finding yourself at a point that you need real estate counseling, please call the right professional – an educated Short Sale Realtor.  Maybe a loan modification will do the trick, if not short sale is an option.