Register Real Estate Advisors

Ever wanted to find out more about Foreclosures in Spring, The Woodlands, and Houston, Texas? Check out this video from The Houston Association of Realtors to learn more. It’s part of my twice a week video blog series that helps consumers make informed real estate decisions.

This video, produced by the Houston Association of Realtors, helps consumers to understand what a short sale is and how the process works. A distressed property is one that is in the short sale process or is currently under foreclosure. Currently, Shannon Register is a designated Certified Distressed Property Expert and Certified to do Short Sales and Foreclosures. When a foreclosure does not sell on the courthouse steps, it returns to the Bank Owner in what Realtors refer to as an REO (Real Estate Owned Property.) If you know someone having dificulty paying their mortgage, the best advice you can give them is to contact our team as soon as possible for help. The short sale process takes time, so the sooner you get the property listed, the sooner it will sell and the less likely the bank is to foreclose on the owners. It can be humiliating to be behind on your mortgage, but our team knows the sensitivity of this ordeal and we understand that there are many situations that can lead to slow mortgage payments that cannot be caught up. Please contact us first for help! We are trained and work with banks regularly to help consumers in the Houston area. Our expertise could save your home from Foreclosure and save your credit so you can purchase a home again in two years – and there’s usually no cost to you!

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – More than 51,200 troubled homeowners nationwide received long-term mortgage modifications last month under the Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention program, according to figures released today.

 That brings the total to more than 389,000 since the program began in spring 2009.

 However, the June figures also showed that 520,814 distressed homeowners have had their trial modifications canceled, leaving 364,077 borrowers in the initial phase of the program.

 Homeowners usually are dropped from the trial program because they do not make the required payments, meet the qualifications or submit the needed paperwork.

Homeowners who have the ability to pay their mortgages but think it makes financial sense not to may want to think again. Fannie Mae announced a new policy directed at borrowers who choose a “strategic default.” Those who walk away from their mortgages without making a good-faith effort to resolve the situation will be barred from getting a new Fannie Mae-backed mortgage loan for seven years.

If that doesn’t get people’s attention, perhaps the policy’s other main provision will: Fannie Mae plans to take legal action against borrowers who strategically default. The secondary-mortgage giant will seek deficiency judgments to recover the outstanding balance of those loans. 

NEW YORK (New York Times) – April 5th will mark the beginning of a new program by the Obama administration intended to end the foreclosure crisis — one that will pay homeowners to sell their homes.
The program will allow owners to sell their homes for less than they owe and give them cash to expedite the process.
Hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers will be encouraged to sell their houses through short sales, in which properties are sold for less than the balance of the mortgage.
The new program will give the servicing bank $1,000, and another $1,000 may go toward a second loan, if one exists. The distressed homeowners will also receive $1,500 in relocation assistance.
Borrowers could suffer less damage to their credit ratings under the new program, and they will receive the lender’s assurance that they will not later be sued for an unpaid mortgage balance.

The Texas Association of Realtors, in partnership with the National Association of Realtors and other organizations, has launched two consumer oriented Web sites. 

http://KeepMyTexasHome.org made possible by an NAR grant, is a comprehensive resource for Texas Homeowners who are, or who may become, behind on their mortgages.  The site outlines the foreclsoure process in Texas and provides best-practice steps and other resources for Texans who may face foreclosure.

http://TxHomePrograms.com , part of an NAR pilot program, offers a continuously updated database of statewide affordable-housing programs.  Not only does the site enable consumers to search for specific types of programs, it also has a real estate glossary (just like my site!), and outlines the homebuying process (just like my site!) and provides helpful information on consumer issues, such as predatory lending.

Due to the massive amount of short sales and foreclosures in the Houston area I have acquired my CDPE – Certified Distressed Property Expert Designation.  This new designation has taught me the short sale process and how to get the deal closed.  It is the designation that banks require for Realtors to work on their distressed and foreclosure properties.  If you or someone you know is behind on their mortgage please choose a Realtor that holds this designation.  I enjoy helping homeowners learn how to avoid foreclosure and helping them sale their properties before they are foreclosed on.