About Oklahoma County, OK

In Oklahoma City we don't have the number of foreclosure and short sale properties as other areas according to companies like RealtyTrac, but I am here to dispute their numbers. There are lots more shorts that are hiding behind Realtors that don't get the big picture about having the expertise to know the difference. Let me give you examples. My team has people who specialize in short sales, and many of them come to us the old fashion way like making cold calls and mail outs. One place I look for them is on our MLS system by checking the expired listings daily. Let me give you a few examples of what i found today, and this is by no means all of them.

Home listed ar $299,99 for 279 days with a mortgage balance of $400,000.

Home listed at $334,500 for 184 days with a mortgage balance of $330,000.

Home listed at $169,600 for 178 days with a mortgage balance of $181,400.

Home listed at $135,000 for 92 days with a mortgage balance of $144,000.

What do these four expired listing properties have in common? None were listed as a short sale, nor did the realtor give you any comfort with, seller knows they will be bringing money to closing. In Oklahoma City we have a program called Realist that is a 1st American product that is an add on feature to our MarketLynx MLS. It allows us most of the time to see data compiled from county reconrds, but also other sources. We also have a program called Redlink that gives us county clerk data like mortgages that we can check against Realist for accuracy. it also gives appraisal square footage as a bonus. From this we can add information from digital record keeping from our court systems as well as the county sheriff for sales according to the judicial process.

This could easily be a rant against Realtors who take listings and probably don't do a net sheet for the seller, nor do they have a clue about short sales, and that would be a justified rant because many of these will go into foreclosure without the knowledge of the homeowner that they have alternatives including loan modifications even though that is less likely than the short sale.

My word of warning is to Realtors representing buyers. Now more than ever you need to do your homework and investigation. I have contacted the officer of three local title companies, and they are telling me that I am correct in knowing there is a problem, because contracts turned into them are not closing because the seller does not have the funds to make up for a deficiency. If you represent a buyer who has spent money on inspections and appraisal and maybe even took a contract on their existing home to buy another, they are going to by justifiably angry at you. We cannot stop Realtors from taking listings that have no chance at closing, but we can protect our buyers. If your MLS system does not have mortgage data, demand it. Bookmark the court system sites to check filings. See if you can get access to to other data entry companies for real estate. I can tell you that i see this every day and I didn't list above 76 more expired listings just like the ones above. I am expecting a banner year for foreclosures in 2010 for Oklahoma City, and Realtors are a part of the problem. Please don't let your buyers suffer because of them.

This is very good news! The tax credits have been extended, and not just for those buying for the first time.

The first time home buyer can receive an $8,000 tax credit through the following date: April 30, 2010.

If you have lived in your home for five years you may receive a credit of: $6,500

The tax credit is available to those who earn up to $125,000 for an individual, and for a couple $250,000.

I would love to tell you more.

Please call me at 570-7396

Thank you,

Charlene

I am from Oklahoma City, a place where optimism is strong, and the future looks bright. It wasn't always that way. In 1982 we had the dual collapse of the energy and agriculture industries, and went into a bad economic state that people in Detroit could appreciate. In 1993 we started to see recovery, then on April 19th, 1995 the worst act of domestic terrorism happened when two lunatics decided that they would destroy the Alfred P. Murrah federal building, no matter that they killed innocent children, older people at Social Security, and people just earning a living. I lost dear friends there, and it took me 10 years before I could even visit. I wish it would never have happened, but something remarkable came out of it. Were we angry, of course. Did we want justice, of course. Did we sink into name calling, depression, and hysteria? No we did not. Instead a miracle happened. This city unified in a way that I still find remarkable. It did not matter anymore whether you where black, white, yellow, or brown. It did not matter if you where rich or poor, from the north side or the south side, highly educated or not, we came together in mourning, and we all vowed to rebuild this city, and to tell the world we cannot be defeated by this senseless act. In the midst of a down economy we voted two huge issues that added a penny to our sales tax, and we rebuilt our schools, revived our downtown, and more. Now Oklahoma City has the lowest unemployment in the county, and gets accolades like the best place in the US to start a small business among others.

What does this have to do with blogging? Simple. Our country is in crisis. There is so much anger that wants to be against whatever is presented, tear down things and people, but does not suggest real change. We have a country where American pragmatism and optimism has started to hide in a hole. We see people more interested in assessing blame than intelligent dialogue. We have people attacking others with labels they have little intellectual understanding of like socialist and fascist. The right hates the left and the left hates the right. I say enough as a blogger. This does not mean that I can't have an opinion on what is systemically wrong, but I need to realize that it is an opinion not the absolute truth. If I have a bad experience with another Realtor, so what? Does this give me the excuse to rant about them? Od course I have the right but what does that say about me? Where is my sense of personal responsibility, and my need to help not tear down? My mantra is simple. Be tolerant, and the only thing not to tolerate is intolerance. Our blogs come with consequences and in some cases we may not even know the results.

In Oklahoma City we could have let a tradegy sink us. Instead we made a decision to take personal responsibility to make things better for all citizens. Our solutions where creative, out of the box, and enjoyed comprehensive support because we strived to be fair to all. Let's not add to misplaced anger, let's find ways to suggest a better path. Let's not become bitter and cynical, instead let us remember that through World Wars, and tragedies like 9/11, we found our resolve. I usually get to bed early so when I wake up it is that time where light is barely moving out the darkness. At that half asleep time I smile because I know that it will keep getting brighter and I can meet the challenge of a new day. It is dawn in America, and I believe that if we can overcome our differences, celebrate our diversity, and work together for solutions that are creative and fair, and it will only get brighter if we do. I hope our blogging reflects that better nature in our American way of life.

The Homebuyer Tax Credit has been extended to April 30th, 2010. First-time buyers who are in the process of making a purchase would not need to worry about qualifying for the $8,000 credit if they close after the November 30 deadline. Also, for the first time, move-up buyers as well as first-time buyers are eligible for a credit. A new $6,500 maximum credit would be available to move-up homeowners who have lived in their current residence for five of the prior eight years. If you would like more information about this tax credit , please call or email me. Happy Thanksgiving

Oklahoma City has fewer people in mortgage default than most areas, but we are seeing a rising tide of them. I am a positive person by nature, but sometimes you see a problem and wonder how to solve it or if it could be solved. The practice of conventional mortgages going into a short sale, and the handing off the value responsibility to a briker price opinion has gotten me both steamed and discouraged. When someone loses their job or has serious medical problems and can't pay a mortgage, then our team feels like it is our responsibility to rescue them no matter what the extra work load is, and it is a big workload. If it is an FHA or VA default we get to deal with real apprasiers. That is not always perfect becasue some appraisers don't understand short sales, but they can be educated and most of them get it.

But not with conventional defaults. They pay a Realtor a pittance to in many cases go out and screw up person's life with incompetent opinions. Let me give you an example. I have two short sale contracts two books apart in the same neighborhood. One is Fannie, one is FHA. The FHA one is 1089 square feet usable square footage, and it has a two car attached garage. Overall it is in good shape, has an updated roof and updated central heat and air. It had a full appraisal and with the net given to us, the sales price is $54,000. The Fannie had a BPO. It was 1026SF, had a converted garage used as a second living room, but with the garage door still on. It was in poor condition. The BPO agent said it was 1284SF (she included the garage), said that she couldn't put in repairs like a bad roof, damaged carpet, and a non-functioning and old CH/A system. Totally wrong. With her net accepted by BOA we would have to sell it at $70,000.

The German word for the BPO agent is dummkopf. The garage cannot be used for the same SF value, the condition of property is put into BPO's all the time, and honestly, all she wanted was her $45 and maybe a chance at getting an REO listing, although not this one. At least that is not allowed. Meanwhile this $40,000 value homeowner is headed to foreclosure with the probable 350 point credit hit and can't get an FHA loan for at least 5 years. The same week I had a First Franklin subprime loan where they had a full blown apprasial done. Does any of this make sense to you because it does not to me. We are in the midst of one of the greatest housing crisis ever yet we are going to trust an incompetent Realtor who violates our Code of Ethics which tells us don't do something you are not capable of doing well. We will challenge it and maybe two to three months later we will get it resolved. Is it any wonder that realtors don't want to do short sales.

FYI, most times on BPO's the Realtor with the fastest finger and can press the enter button on their keyboard before everyone else gets the BPO assignment. Some qualification for the job, isn't it.

For a team that cares and will fight for your rights on short sales, call 405-590-2135 or for answers to your questions go to www.avoidforeclosureoklahoma.com.