About Hawaii County, HI

Act 48 has put a whole new spin on the foreclosure market in Hawaii, we are going to take a minute and explore the different options.

Act 48: This act was designed with all good intent, if you are an "owner occupant" and want to stay in your home, this can be God-sent for you. First of all, as a homeowner that has personally gone through the "Make Home Affordable" program that Obama enacted, IT CAN BE A NIGHTMARE . Act 48 was designed to help and protect you, and make the banks take a minute, sit down, and actually take a look at the situation and see if there is a way to save your home.

A few things

1: you need to have means to make payments - (like - have a job)

2: If they start asking you for an appraisal, they have done the bait and switch (trying to get you to do a Refinance - not a loan modification) - hang up and call back, ask for the HAFA/HAMP program again, Keep doing it until you get the right department - DON'T GIVE UP.

You know what, for far better help on saving your home, go to - www.KnowYourOptions.com - great resource.

Short Sale:

Plus and Minus

Plus: Your in charge - you set the closing dates, you know if there is - or - is not - a deficiency. You know the HOA is taken out of your name, and most of all you know the - first day, of the rest of your life - the day it closes, is the day your credit recovery starts.

Plus: you know when you fill out a loan application, it asks you

Have you ever had a Bankruptcy? Have you ever had a Foreclosure - NEVER once have I seen an application that ask's - Have you ever done a SHORT SALE? (think about it)

Minus: usually takes an average of 45 days before you get an answer,

Plus: price is usually better than a foreclosure home.

Minus: still thinking?

Plus-you get a home that is usually in very nice condition,

Plus: you get disclosures and you have recourse if something is not disclosed.

Plus-you have warranties that transfer with the sale. I know I already mentioned that you are actually helping the family that's in trouble, but most of you don't realize the extent of help they are providing in a short sale. Did you know that a homeowner, that short sales his home, can be eligible to purchase a new home in 2 years - it is very possible and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac are exploring the idea of dropping that wait time to 1 year.

Traditional Short Sale :

Usually the quickest short sale, no real rules or regulations, but it can be the riskiest short sale - you don't know until the very end what they will accept and if they are going to waive the deficiency? (we have a ton of experience in negotiating this in the end).

HAFA Short Sale :

Anytime you get the government involved, its a recipe for disaster, Poorly dispersed, unprepared, slow, cumbersome, full of so many rules and regulations, you have to be a magician to get this one done (we have magicians on our team)

Cooperative Short Sale :

My personal favorite - run much like a HAFA, without getting the government involved, some basic guidelines to qualify (hardship is about it) it can be a second home, an investment home, a whatever home - most qualify. They come out and do an appraisal on your home before you list it, you get paid money to cooperate, and you get the deficiency waived - its really a no-brainer!

Sorry guys, life is calling me right now - got to take off, I will write more on this later or -----

Feel free to call me, It is a lot more complicated than words can express, and a lot easier than it looks. (What?)

Big Shout Out for Julie Ziemelis and her Social Media Seminar !

Learn how Big Island businesses are using social media and digital marketing successfully and how you can, too!

See examples of Kona businesses using Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc, learn specifically how you can show up in search, and get some individual ideas and advice,too!

A portion of all proceeds and 100% of all donations from this seminar will go towards supporting Project Hawaii’s Summer Program for Homeless Keiki.

Seminar is March 22nd from 12:30-1:30 at the West Hawaii Association of Realtors, 74-5620 Palani Court #106. Seminar fee is $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Please RSVP by March 20th to Julie Ziemelis, Ziemelis Communications

S

julie@ziemelis.com

Docusign may be a dinosaur before it even reaches puberty!

I have held off on the "electronic signature" or "digital signatures" craze for many reasons.

First of all: It seemed a little crazy that anybody would accept a click of a mouse as a legal, binding obligation by the person that "clicked" it. Have you ever really thought about it ? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the convenience of it, as much as the next guy.

But ask yourself this question - If you were selling your home, and you were going to finance it yourself, would you sign over title and rights to the property to someone, that just clicked a mouse? NOT ME. I want wet ink - I want DNA evidence on that mortgage note, I want physical proof - not electronic proof. And believe me - everybody calls me the gadget guy I have the latest and most up to date electronic gadgets, software, upgrades that a guy could imagine - but digital signatures was not on my list.

BTW - that scenario goes the other way too, if I were an investor, and I was going to write off $200,000 (average loss on a home in Hawaii) worth of your obligation in a short sale, I want the same physical proof that you were the one signing all the papers - that you actually put your "John Hancock" on the statement that swears your hardship is a real one, your loss of income is true..... I want to compare it the "note" you signed 5 years ago.

For years now I have run into this problem with many of the small lenders,and investors. But today I received an email from Bank of America - see below (copy and paste from email)

NOTE: Please DO NOT set a closing date for the last 3 business days of the month, to ensure an on-time closing. Also, BOA no longer accepts documents with digital signatures on them.

REALTORS: Save yourself time, down the road, take a few extra minutes and get the "wet ink' signature on your documents.

Buyers: Same here, save your frustration for something else, print, sign, and scan back to your bank/realtor/escrow officer what ever documents require a signature.

Sellers: Same here, save your frustration for something else, print, sign, and scan back to your bank/realtor/escrow officer

Hope this helped

Aloha and Mahalo

Photo for the day

Magic Sands Beach a couple of weeks ago

Fannie Mae Guidelines for Foreclosure, Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, and Short Sales, seem to have a moving goal post. Honestly I think it will lighten up even more, with the ever increasing amount of homeowners in trouble, and the amount of bailouts being given out like candy - they are eventually going to have to give the honest, hard working, American a break also.

Take a look at their brochure below and be sure to follow us Facebook

Kona Real Estate Market Update - March 2012

I just reviewed the Kona real estate market data as of March 2012 and it looks very similar to last year at this point. The North Kona District saw 56 single family homes sold in the first three months of 2012 compared to 58 homes sold during the same period in 2011. Land sales are also looking very similar to last year with 8 transactions year to date compared to 7 in 2011. There has been a slight slow down in condo sales with 44 units sold so far in 2012 compared to 50 a year ago.

The median sales price of homes sold in Kona during the first three months of 2012 is almost unchanged compared to 2011, down just 2.52%. Condo prices are are down 11.1%. I believe that we are seeing signs of the Kona real estate market stabilizing. Although, the statistics do not show prices increasing, I have seen some slightly upward pressure on prices in the most popular, mid priced neighborhoods ($320,000 - $425,000). Homes that are priced where recent comparables sold are moving fast in many cases. Home sales in the higher price ranges are still sluggish.

Financing is still difficult to obtain for most buyers, especially those that are self employed. I believe that there is good demand for real estate in Kona, especially at the current prices. The missing piece of the puzzle in my opinion is widely available financing. I have seen buyers willing to put substantial money down to purchase, often 50% of the price and are still unable to obtain financing. In past real estate corrections, the first buyers willing to step in and assume some risk are the investors. This really isn't happening now because of the current state of lending.

I believe that a wider range of financing options will be available in the not too distant future. Right now, lenders are waiting for a clear sign that prices are on an upswing. However, upward pricing pressure comes from more buyers. When such a large segment of the buying population cannot get a loan, prices do not increase. At some point, the cycle will begin to move again and both sales activity and prices will begin to pick up. At the present time, the Kona real estate market is just moving along sideways with well priced properties and only strong competition for the most desirable lower and mid priced properties.

If you would like more information about the Kona real estate market, contact Rich Bosselmann at (808) 345-5085, or Konaconnection@gmail.com.