Register Real Estate Advisors

Hey guys! It’s White Board Monday again. This week is the 10 reasons why your short sale was not improved. Hope you find it informative.

8-Day Window to Submit Backup Offer

Based on agent feedback and to reduce overall cycle times, changes are bring made to the short sale process. If it becomes necessary to submit a backup offer during a short sale, you now have a reduced window for making the submission. Instead of 14 days, backup offers must now be submitted within eight calendar days after the initial offer becomes invalid.

When a backup offer becomes necessary:

• Contact your short sale specialist immediately.
• Let the specialist know if you have a backup offer to submit.

Within eight calendar days, resubmit the listing data, submit the short sale offer, and upload the offer documents and supporting documents.  Any backup offer will require analysis and investor approval, regardless how similar it may be to the previous offer.

If no backup offer is available:

• The short sale will be closed in Equator by your short sale specialist.
• You should return to marketing the property.

You may initiate a new short sale in Equator when you receive a new offer on the property.

This information is primarily for Bank of America, but could be applied to other short sale situations.

PLANO (HousingWire.com) – Many jobless homeowners unable to make their monthly mortgage payments will soon get a little help from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The government-sponsored housing finance companies have announced plans to allow such borrowers to defer part or all of their mortgage payments for up to 12 months while they are out of work.

Fannie Mae will require mortgage servicers to install a new program providing forbearance relief to unemployed borrowers beginning March 1.

Servicers will be able to provide up to six months of relief without getting approval from the government-sponsored enterprise. Special consideration can be given to borrowers who require up to 12 months of forbearance.

Freddie Mac will begin offering 12-month forbearance plans on Feb. 1.

Delinquent borrowers and others on the verge of default are eligible for the program. Second homes and investment properties will not be considered.

Servicers must determine that a borrower has less than 12 months worth of mortgage payments in reserves and has monthly housing expenses above 31 percent of their income before extending a forbearance plan.

If You’ve Exhausted All of Your Options the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) Program May be the Program for you.  If you can’t afford your mortgage payment and it’s time for you to transition to more affordable housing, the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program is designed for you. HAFA provides two options for transitioning out of your mortgage: a short sale or a Deed-in-Lieu (DIL) of foreclosure. In a short sale, the mortgage company lets you sell your house for an amount that falls “short” of the amount you still owe. In a DIL, the mortgage company lets you give the title back, transferring ownership back to them.

In either case, HAFA offers benefits that make the transition as favorable as possible:

• Unlike conventional short sales, a HAFA short sale completely releases you from your mortgage debt after selling the property. This means you will no longer be responsible for the amount that falls “short” of the amount you still owe.  The deficiency is guaranteed to be waived by the servicer.
• In a HAFA short sale, your mortgage company works with you to determine an acceptable sale price.
• HAFA has a less negative effect on your credit score than foreclosure or conventional short sales.
• When you close, HAFA provides $3,000 in relocation assistance

21515 Twin Aspens Ln, Houston, TX 77073 (MLS # 71314401)

Short Sale - Great three bedroom all brick home with fireplace, huge master bedroom and bath, along with walk in closets. Home backs up to Arboretum so no worry about neighbors. Needs TLC but not much, carpet, paint, stove, etc. Can be a great rental for an investor.

Property Type(s): Single-Family

Price History

Schools

Additional Details

Features

Location

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Listed with Register Real Estate Advisors

(view all details for MLS #71314401)

Have you found your dream home?  Chances are there are many other buyers competing for the very same house.  Maybe it hasn’t been taken off the market because they are waiting to sell their house or maybe they are waiting on their pre-approval letter.  If you wait until tomorrow to put in the contract…it might be sold!  This can be a stressful situation for home buyers.  This is one of the reasons you need a Realtor to help you with your home purchase.  Many times on a foreclosure property they will get multiple bids and ask for the highest and best offer to be submitted.  I can take the stress out of house hunting and help you get int the home of your dreams without losing so much sleep!   Call Register Real Estate Advisors today at 281.288.3500 for an experienced Realtor that can help when you need to compete for a home.

Watch Out! An old axiom states, “The more things change, the more they stay the same”. Crooks and scam artists find new ways to separate you from your money or good name. This article by Amy Hoaks brings you up to speed on some of the new moves from the thieves.

Link to original article HERE.

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Fraudsters find a way to scam lenders and homeowners out of money no matter how the housing market is faring, but in recent years they’ve shifted their tactics to profit from the market’s downturn.

Today, there’s less identity fraud and misrepresentation of income or employment to obtain a mortgage, mainly because stricter validation criteria when a borrower applies for a loan makes that strategy much less successful, said David Johnson, vice president of fraud and consortium solutions for CoreLogic, a provider of financial, property and consumer information.

But other types of fraud are replacing those scams. Some schemes target distressed homeowners who are looking for a way to save their home from foreclosure. Another tactic: Profiting off of short sales at the expense of the lender.
Foreclosure rescue

Schemes that prey on struggling homeowners heading toward foreclosure are still prevalent, even years into the foreclosure crisis, said Yolanda McGill, senior counsel for the Fair Housing and Fair Lending Project of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

“It’s a crime of opportunity. A lot of people who are participating in this are probably long-term schemers and this is the cash cow right now,” McGill said. “They’re going to ride the train and milk it for all it’s worth. You have an enormous pool of distressed homeowners.”

Scammers use various pitches. Some say they can prepare your documents for you as you try for a loan modification; others claim to be an attorney or say they are working with an attorney. Often, these offers sound legitimate, echoing some of the same language used by big government programs and lenders to gain a homeowner’s trust.

They offer a service, take the homeowner’s money, then disappear, McGill said.

But the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule, in effect since January, prohibits firms offering mortgage-modification or mortgage-relief assistance to accept up-front fees, McGill said, so homeowners should never pay before services are rendered. There’s an exception for attorneys, causing some scammers to pose as representatives of law offices, she said.

Other fraudsters get homeowners to sign a quit-claim deed, which transfers ownership of the home to the scammer, who promises the homeowner a situation where he or she will be able to remain in the house, McGill said. In a newer scam, those who have already lost their homes are being approached to pay money to get the home back, she said.

“The scams are going to morph, but the message really needs to be: Don’t give anyone money to help you with this,” she said. Instead, seek out a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved housing counselor and your servicer, she said.
Short-sale fraud

A short sale can be a lifeline for a distressed homeowner heading for foreclosure. That’s because in a short sale the lender accepts a lower mortgage payoff when the homeowner owes more than the home is currently worth.

But fraudsters have found ways to make a profit off these deals. CoreLogic estimates that suspicious short-sale transactions may cost lenders as much as $375 million a year.

Hey guys! I am here for another White Board Monday, RREA’s educational series published every Monday.

This week is about the difference between short sales and foreclosures, when they are needed, and how to minimize the impact on your credit.

We are specially trained experts in helping people in these situations. If you or someone you know is having trouble with their mortgage, please have them call us anytime to find out their options. The sooner you get assistance with this, the less impact on your future. Call us at 281.288.3500 or email me at sheryl@rrea.com .

Due to the amount of short sales and foreclosures we have endured over the past two years, it has been my prediction that there will be a lot of well incomed homeowners that need housing that cannot get a mortgage due to these losses.  Therefore, owning houses and selling them to consumers through seller financing instead of with regular mortgage loans will be very lucrative in the coming years.  I predict it will be the new trendy way to generate income instead of flipping real estate or holding onto rentals.  That is just my opinion, of course, but that is what I am predicting.  Below is an article from last month’s Realtor Magazine that explains Seller Financing Pros and Cons that I think every potential seller financing buyer or seller should be aware of.

When traditional lending avenues fail, seller financing can help seal the deal.  But watch out for pitfalls.

If you’re working with sellers who have seen offers collapse
because buyers can’t get a mortgage loan, you might want to suggest they
consider offering some variation of seller financing.  If structured carefully, seller financing not
only makes deals possible but also can typically help transactions close
quickly, as less due diligence is required.
After all, who knows the property better than the sellers?

There are other perks, too:
Sellers can often negotiate an interest rate that’s more favorable than
would be available for other sorts of investments.  And they might also get a higher selling
price as compensation for assisting the buyers.
Finally, there can be some tax benefits; if the seller structures the
loan as an installment sale, for example, there can be tax advantages based on
how recognition of the capital gain is timed.

But against these benefits is the big downside of seller
financing:  the potential for buyer
default.  This risk is compounded if the
deal is structured as a wrap-around deed of trust, as many are.  With a wrap-around deed of trust, the seller
issues a promissory note and deed of trust for the dollar gap between the
amount of the first mortgage and the buyer’s down payment.  When structured this way, the seller’s
performance on the underlying first mortgage is linked to the buyer’s
performance.  If the buyer defaults, the
seller will likely default, too.

Here are some ways to help sellers minimize such pitfalls,
no matter how the transaction is structured:

• Request a
  credit report and credit references.
  Sellers can get a credit report from any credit reporting agency, but
  they’ll want to get a signed consent letter from the buyer first.  For credit references, one place to go is the
  buyer’s landlord, if they’re renting.
  Sellers should also ask for independently audited financial statements.
• Consider
  loan assumption.  In many cases, the
  seller’s existing mortgage loan has a due-on-sale clause that requires the
  principal to be paid upon sale of the property.
  Having to settle their own financing makes it hard for many sellers to
  offer financing, especially if they’re buying a house themselves and need their
  sale proceeds to make their own down payment.
  In these cases, it might be better to simply have the buyer assume the
  seller’s existing loan.  The buyer still
  must submit to the lender’s underwriting analysis and get the lender to approve
  a modification, but the process should be less time-consuming than if they were
  applying for new financing.
• Provide
  expanded remedies.  For many sellers,
  the only remedy for buyer default included in their loan documents is
  foreclosure.  But it’s best to include
  lower-level remedies so foreclosure doesn’t have to be the only option.  Suggest that sellers set rules for imposing
  late charges or default interest.  Or
  suggest that sellers hire a property manager to keep track of incoming payments
  and to spearhead collection efforts, because these activities can be
  time-consuming.
• Understand
  the risks to buyers, too.  Although
  it might seem like most risks are on the sellers’ side since they’re putting
  their resources on the line, there are risks to buyers as well—and if you’re
  working with buyers, you’ll want to be aware of them.  First, buyers could pay the loan in full but
  still not receive title if there are encumbrances that were never divulged by
  the seller.  Second, if the transaction
  is structured as a wrap-around deed of trust and the sellers are supposed to be
  making payments on senior debt, the buyers could be at risk if the sellers fail
  to make their loan payments, even if the buyers are scrupulous in holding up
  their end of the deal.  Third, buyers might
  not have the protection of a home inspection, mortgage insurance, or an
  appraisal to ensure they’re not paying too much.

These are challenging times in credit markets, so there’s a
role for seller financing.  But be aware
of risks so you can help protect your clients.

AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal)
– The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and NeighborWorks
America have given Texas more than $135.4 million in federal grants to
help homeowners at risk of foreclosure.

The Emergency Homeowners Loan Program provides funding to help
homeowners who fall behind on their mortgage
payments because of involuntary unemployment or underemployment
caused by the economy or medical conditions.

One in every 1,074 homes in Texas received a foreclosure filing
last month.