Lilburn, GA

I don't like to write about short sales, because people will find the post through Google... but this is important.

While I was wandering through a neighborhood grocery store here in Lilburn, GA, I overheard a conversation. I wasn't liking what I was hearing.

Two folks were talking about a friend that was upside down on the home she bought a couple of years ago. One of them then suggested to the other that she could "just make the bank settle for less on a sale." There was a little more explanation, and then "get her to find a friend or relative to buy the house for a reasonably fair price and the bank will HAVE to take the write-down."

Ok, that would be fraud.

And I'm not kidding.

If the transaction isn't "arm's length", then it has to be disclosed to all parties, including the bank that would be writing down part of the mortgage. Arm's length means that the transaction is between people that are NOT otherwise engaged.

If the transaction isn't arm's length, the bank is not going to write down the loan balance.

So, the point...

If you are in this situation, you need QUALIFIED help. Even most real estate agents are NOT qualified help. I am NOT qualified help. I can help you find someone... but that is about it.

There are a LOT of agents out there that are "Short Sale Experts". But, few of them are actually experts. There are a lot of opportunists that are offering classes in Short Sales... But a few hours don't make one an expert. This is a tough nut to crack. And honestly, the place to start isn't with an agent unless you really need to move... and not because of the value, but because you need to move.

Don't wait until the world is crashing around you before you act.

If you are having problems keeping your home, talk with your bank. Talk with a professional that actually knows about loss mitigation for mortgage holders. But don't wait until you don't have any viable option except to walk away.

from LaneBailey.com

We live in interesting times. Last year at this time we were looking at the Sub-Prime Mortgage Meltdown. This year we are looking at a full blown credit crisis. Comparisons to last year deserve a giant asterisk. Of course, that is going forward. But at the same time, last year is what the market will be judged against.

There is a good bit of pent-up demand, now we'll see if that can be unleashed by the "Rescue Package" or if it will remain pent-up. At some point there will be a rush back into the market. Right now I am seeing increases in inventory again and a slowing (seasonal) of sales.

I had to run out and pick up a few things this morning, and I saw more stations with gas and fewer with lines... That is a good sign.

I'm also hearing on the news that RaceTrack is at 100%, QT is at 90% and that the pipeline is expected to be churing full capacity by Friday, Oct 3rd. So, it seems that the news a few days ago that it could be two more weeks might have been a touch pessimistic.

Keep in mind that people going and filling up every hour isn't going to help.

It certainly isn't the time to panic...

You can still check out my post on looking for gas if needed. It has a couple of tools that we can use to find stations that have gas in the holding tank.

Good luck... and don't wait in line.

I was with a buyer last week that wanted to look at a certain foreclosure home that they had seen listed. The price seemed a little high, but they thought there might be room for the bank to wiggle... It had been on the market for about 8 months.

When we walked in the door, the odor of decay was overwhelming. Literally. We couldn't walk into the house for more than a moment.

Of course, there was no power, the HVAC had not run for at least as long as it had been on the market, probably longer. There was (probably) a roof leak... and the moisture had allowed mold to grow unchecked.

Of course i called the listing agent, got a recording, left a message and... never heard back. I know that I couldn't have been the first person in the house in eight months... this couldn't have been the first time someone said that the house was having issues.

Now, this is likely a teardown. I couldn't recommend it to any of my buyers. The price was slightly too high for a home in reasonable shape. For what it had become, it wasn't even close. Priced at $345,000 it was about $20k too much. But, it had become a liability and not worth more than $50,000 (value of the land and cost to remove the house).

With banks having collateralization issues, losing $250,000 on this property over spending a little and pricing it reasonably seems kind of stupid. Multiply this by tens of thousands of properties across the country.

from LaneBailey.com

Yep... we still have a problem around Lilburn and Gwinnett County finding gas. In fact, the whole Atlanta area is facing the problem. I have been searching for ways to find gas for my readers. I have found a couple of ways to keep up to date on where there is gas...

The first way is Wright Express... Here is a link... Take a look at the right side, and you can see the date of the transaction. While I can't say for sure, it would seem that those with VERY recent transactions have gas. You can also see the price. This is also a good one to keep in mind later when looking for the best price nearby.

Another option is to use Twitter Search... Here is a link... This isn't well organized, but folks all over town are reporting what they see and marking it with a hashtag to make the search easier. #atlgas is the hashtag to look for.

Don't run out.

Don't freak out...

That is all...

via LaneBailey.com