Category

Making Home Affordable

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

Mirjam

Oct 03
0

Loan Modification, just in name?

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

Do you know people  who have been living in their house for a few years now without paying their mortgage? Wondering when something is going to happen? Well I see the trend changing. Recently I have been talking to home owners who have diligently been working on their loan modification,and nothing is happening so far and now all of a sudden a Notice of Default is filed. It seems like investors are getting fed up with loan servicers -the bank you are talking to to get your modification done- who take so long to make a decision. In our area, this means that if you are not careful, the bank will sell your house -foreclose- while you are still under the impression that you are working on a loan modification. Last year, when a homeowner was receiving a Notice of Default, nothing was going to happen within a short period of time. This has changed, now I see it happening more and more that a bank will move forward with the Notice of Trustee sale 3 months after the Notice of Default has been filed. And 3 weeks after the Notice of Trustee sale, the Trustee Sale will take place -> this is what we call the foreclosure.

If you want to avoid a foreclosure, a short sale is a good alternative for a lot of distressed home owners. One of the benefits is that you are more in charge of the situation, you can negotiate the deficiency,

A few months ago, CDEP posted that Freddie Mac reported its short sale volume was up 600%. Today, REOInsider reported that “short sale volume is up more than 150% from volume in 2Q09, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s second quarter government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) ‘Foreclosure Prevention & Refinance Report.’”

Short sales are on the rise nationwide. More and more agents are receiving training in assisting distressed homeowners, and there is a movement to provide solutions to these homeowners facing foreclosure.  Your truly did some extensive training to be able to help distressed home owners with alternatives to foreclosure.

Mirjam

Sep 09
0

A short sale is a dignified solution…

By | Foreclosure, Making Home Affordable, Sellers, Short Sale | No Comments

CDPE logo

With   millions of homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages, you or someone you know may need the best information on what steps to take next. Before deciding this, it’s important to understand the consequences of and alternatives to foreclosure.

A short sale is a dignified solution to foreclosure with less effect on finances, future loan eligibility, employment, security clearance and other factors. I’ve created a free report explaining the different results of short sales and foreclosure, which you can download here:

http://hosted.cdpe.com/14365/

As a CDPE-designated agent, I can assess all of your available options and help you move in a positive direction. I’m here to help, and only a phone call or an email away.

Mirjam

Aug 29
0

Wondering why a loan modification is so dificult?

By | Economy, Foreclosure, Making Home Affordable, Sellers, Short Sale | No Comments

This was earlier this week on Inman’s website:

“Nearly half of the 1.3 million homeowners who have accepted loan modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program have washed out of the program, according to the latest report from the Treasury Department. At the end of July, there were 421,804 homeowners enrolled in permanent HAMP loan modifications, and another 255,934 borrowers in active trial loan modifications.All told, a total of 677,738 homeowners were in permanent or trial HAMP modifications. But almost as many borrowers had already washed out of the program — 629,751.
Many analysts expect that more than half of HAMP loan mods will end up redefaulting. With fewer homeowners entering the HAMP pipeline — only 24,577 new trial modifications were reported in July — it’s considered unlikely that the program will meet its initial goal of helping up to 3 million borrowers avoid foreclosure.
In releasing its “Housing Scorecard” for August, the Obama administration nevertheless offered a positive outlook on the overall housing picture, saying the HAMP program represented “just one, targeted piece of the administration’s larger efforts on housing.”
From April 2009 through the end of June 2010, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has also entered into 472,000 loss mitigation and early delinquency interventions, and loan servicers modified 1.4 million mortgages outside of the HAMP process, the scorecard noted.
The 3.15 million mortgages modifications started during the period was more than double the 1.24 million completed foreclosures.”

Time will tell, right now I see longer times with the trial payments. It is of utmost importance to keep your trial payment, you miss one, you are out.

When BofA started with their loan modifications 2 years ago, they had an 80% default rate. As it looks right now, the default rate will stay high, around 50%.  On the bright side, the other 50% is able to stay in their house and they would have lost their house otherwise.

Usually when I sit down with my clients I can pretty much tell whether a loan modification is doable or just an extension in staying in the house. For some people, going through the loan modification process means that they can stay longer in their house and that was what they wanted. As a whole I see that as part of a ‘strategic short sale’. My website has a link with more information about short sales.

Have a great day!

Mirjam

Aug 01
0

Strategic Short Sales

By | Economy, Foreclosure, Making Home Affordable, Short Sale | No Comments

Alex Charfen made a great blog posting this morning.Everyone keeps talking about strategic foreclosures… I don’t think there is anything strategic about a foreclosure, you just let it happen. Some articles mention that it takes 3 years to be foreclosed on… yes, in some states, not in CA. Our official time line for the foreclosure process is 3 months and 3 weeks. First the notice of default, then after minimal 3 months the notice of trustee sale which will take place 3 weeks after that.Of course with the overload, it takes the banks longer to take action. I know quite a few homeowners living in their home without paying their mortgage, some for a long time now. Must feel strange… However, the bank will take action. A more dignified option to foreclosure is a short sale. The Making Home Affordable program has forced banks to accept short sales.And… even better, plan your short sale. As mentioned, the foreclosure process takes time and there is plenty of time to strategically plan your short sale. The million plus market has the highest deficiency rate: 1 in 7 is 30 days or more late on their mortgage.For those who for some reason might have some savings set aside: retirement accounts are not affected by a short sale. You might allocate some savings to a retirement account.An other benefit from a short sale: you can negotiate the deficiency judgement, this is lot harder with a foreclosure.Have a great day!Mirjam