Category

Foreclosure

Jul 10
0

Short Sales… and how about Tax Liens?

By | Foreclosure, Sellers, Short Sale, Sonoma County info | No Comments

When a person/business does not pay taxes the IRS can put a lien on a house. A contractor can do the same by the way, it’s called a mechanic lien. When a homeowner wants to avoid a foreclosure and do a short sale, there is no money to pay for these put of the proceeds of the sale. The IRS understands this predicament and has a form one can request a release of a lien, this is form 14135. The form is not hard to fill out, it asks for an appraisal report and there needs to be anfvsshortsalesquare.gif offer on the property. There is also a news article on the CA Franchise Tax Board about the same subject: Partial Release of Lien for Short Sales.

So don’t let a tax lien against your property stop you from doing a short sale to avoid foreclosure. Apparently also banks are not unwilling to accommodate the release of the liens. If you need

On a general note: in unincorporated Sonoma County, the sales tax is 9%, this seems high but that’s all perspective, in Netherlands the sales tax is in general 19% and 6% for food, medication and plants/seeds. This is the sanederland-1-euro-170.gifme for all of Netherlands, there is no difference between cities/provinces AND it is part of the price displayed in the store. When we were traveling from Canada to USA years ago, I thought I was cheated on my change when I bought something…

You will smile when you read this but pretty much in all of Europe and also Canada, sales tax is part of the displayed price. Travel tip to keep in mind by the way šŸ˜‰

When I have visitors coming from Europe who have never been here before, this is something I explain to them so they don’t have to feel ‘cheated’ on their change. And that the exception is gas, the price of gas includes the sales tax.

Have a most wonderful day.

Mirjam

Apr 10
0

60% of all Foreclosed Homeowners….

By | Foreclosure, Making Home Affordable, Short Sale, Sonoma County info | No Comments

On March 29th, Alex Charfen from the CDPE Institute did a webinar with Rick Sharga from RealtyTrac – the leading online market place for foreclosed properties.

Besides the fact that foreclosure activity has increased on a year-over-year basis for 52 consecutive months from January 2006 through April 2010 and 2010 set a new record with 2.9 million home receiving foreclosure notices there was a number that was more disturbing to yours truly…

February 2011 Foreclosure Rate Heat Map:

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About 60% of all home owners who were foreclosed on never contacted the bank as to foreclosure alternatives. You might react, well a lot of people never got through to the bank when they called. After thinking about this, I am not so sure about that. Every time you call the loan servicer, the person you talk to asks your loan number, your SS number etc to make sure you are the home owner or person who is either authorized on the loan and they put the call into their system… This means that the 60% should be fairly accurate, give or take some.

About 2.5 years ago this percentage was 62%… So with all the government programs, the advertising etc we only gained 2%… That is disturbing… But then again, everyone responds different to financial distress and a lot of distressed home owners do NOT open the mail sent by the banks to inform them about the help available.

This means that friends and family members need to help… If you have a feeling your friend or family member is in trouble financially, have the courage and share them info about help available and tell them to open the mail from the bank.

As a CDPE trained agent, I am offering help to all the people who are referred to me ad I know of many other great Realtors doing the same.

ā€œIt is trouble that ā€œnever comesā€ that causes the loss of sleep.ā€ -Chas. Austin Bates

Mirjam

Mar 27
0

Buyers… and Sellers

By | Buyers, Foreclosure, Sellers, Short Sale, Sonoma County info | No Comments

Statement for today: when you as a buyer are frustrated with the seller or the sales process, please keep in mind: it’s most likely not your intention to create a life long friendship with that seller, you are interested in the house. It would be nice if everything works out well and amicable. However in today’s market there are so many frustrations, as a buyer it’s important to keep your goal in mind: you like to buy the house, that’s it. Even if the seller is …… that’s should not be a reason to walk away from a sale. It is OK not to like the seller. The same when it is the other way around by the way.

There are many reasons a situation gets tense: a seller is unreasonable as to concessions for repairs, doesn’t accept it when an appraisal comes in lower than the agreement purchase price, in case of a divorce, one party agrees, the other doesn’t… to name a few.

Same is the other way around: lending situationsĀ  are changing constantly, what used to be a easy process has become an obstacle course where banks are asking for more and more information while the process is in place: more documentation from a buyer, extra reviews. All these situations will quite often extent a sale.

During the process it’s sometimes good to take a step back and realize that frustrations are the result of expectations that didn’t work out… for both parties. Discuss your frustrations with your Realtor and keep the big picture in mind: the new house, the new neighborhood, the ability to move on with your life.

And don’t forget to smell the roses, or take the afternoon of and do something fun. Sonoma County is a beautiful place to life.

Mirjam

Jan 09
0

Short Sales and every changing guidelines

By | Foreclosure, Making Home Affordable, Sellers, Short Sale, Visit WineCountry, Wine Tasting | One Comment

This week there were 2 interesting updates: BofA is going to announce a major change in the way they work with agents. They are changing their systems to approve short sales within 2 weeks of an offer. Currently I am working on 2 short sales with BofA and am waiting for approval of the authorization letter for 4 days now. CDPE will have an interview with a Short Sale Exec on January 20.

Next, the Making Home Affordable HAFA guidelines are changing per February 1st. The servicer is no longer required to verify any financial information as to monthly income exceeding 31%. The property can be vacant or rented out for up to 12 months prior to the Short Sale application -> still had to be your primary residence. The other changes have to do with release of subordinate liens, timing to respond, timelines and deed-in-lieu programs.

Short Sales are a dignified way to get out of a financial difficult situation, a seller stays in control, also as to the financial consequences, is able to negotiate to a certain degree and able to anticipate the consequences.

In 2010, about 50% of all the sold properties was either a short sale or a foreclosure. It is expected that the coming year will be about the same. It will be interesting to see what will happen this year.

On aĀ  happy note: next week is the 19th Winter Wineland, check out the website. A great event with 140 wineries participating.

Mirjam

Dec 12
0

Foreclosures… How is our market?

By | Buyers, Economy, Foreclosure, Sellers, Short Sale, Sonoma County info, Visit WineCountry | One Comment

Only articles with spectacular-read bad news- titles sell. Quite often the perception is that every home sold is a foreclosure or a shortsale.Ā  Our MLS keeps track of this and guess what??? In 2010 in Sonoma County,Ā  about 50% of all the sold properties were distressed. While that is still not the way we like it to be, it brings perspective. Other fact to share: we already have a pretty stable real estate market in the last 3 years. Prices have remained fairly stable and it looks like it will stay that way. The higher end might come down some more, but the lower end of the market has been pretty much the same in the last 3 years, as a matter of fact, it has gone up a little bit. Numbers to follow.

Other myth: buying a distressed property is a better deal. While that is true in some situations, a foreclosed property is appraised as to the market value and then put on the market by the bank. And as to short sales: when a seller accepts your short sale offer, the bank needs to approve the loss and guess what? They have the property appraised to make sure it is sold at market value. So with this in mind, a regular sale might up being a ‘better deal’

Coming on the market in JC area in a few weeks fro now: it is a foreclosed property, we are waiting for the valuation -price-. This means that 2 local realtors will do a market

Ā Foreclosure in JC area

analysis and give the bank their opinion of the market value of the house. I will keep you posted.

2010 is not finished yet, the stats for 2010 will follow in the coming weeks. There are quite a few agents who do not sell distressed properties. Yours truly has specialized in foreclosure alternatives so 80% of the homes I sell are distressed/short sales.

Fun restaurant to try in Santa Rosa: Starks Steakhouse. Great bar area, great ambiance.

Mirjam