Homes for sale in foreclosure by Frederic Din REALTOR(r)

See Imperial Valley listings, info & photos on your cell phone, text GOTO IVREO to 95495

What are homes for sale in foreclosure? They are bank owned or REO (real estate owned) properties in which the bank has taken the ownership of the home in the bank or lenders name.

The process in which a home goes into foreclosure is and can be a lengthy one, especially in judicial foreclosure states, however Imperial County or Imperial Valley California is located in a non-judicial foreclosure state, which means you don't have to attend a court hearing for your foreclosure.

California is a self-help state which the note and deed of trust most residential property owners get when they finance the home gives the specific details as to what happens when a default occurs (default missing payments).

Typically banks and lenders will beginning contacting you once your "grace period" or late charge period is over, which varies amongst lenders but say its 10-15 days. After that time frame your lender will start calling you and reminding you about your mortgage payment.

If the time frame is within three weeks, your lender may send you a letter requesting you to contact them and letting them know when your payment will be made. Should you miss a payment in the calendar month, your lender may report the missing payment on your credit history by sending a negative payment notice to the credit agencies, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, therefore aside from a late charge added to your payment, you will have a negative late mark on your credit report.

Typically during the time before two or three missed payments, your lender will send you a notice stating they intend to foreclose on the property by sending a Notice of Default, which is usually recorded with the county records office around three missed payments, however the time frame can vary.

Often times homeowners in this late payment stage will try to modify or sell their home through a process known as a short sale, which means they will sell their home for less than the amount they owe on the mortgage and the payoff to the bank or lender will be short (hence the term short sale), it has nothing to do with timing or length of the sale process. A short sale will result in a loss to your bank or lender since they have to agree to accept less than they are owed to clear your debt. The homeowner has to have a hardship in order to qualify for a short sale.

Short sales are often referred to homes for sale in foreclosure since the lender may continue the foreclosure process during the short sale. If the lender accepts any payments or a partial payment the foreclosure process stops and the foreclosure clock is reset, which is why most lenders who are in the foreclosure process will not accept any payments unless its a full mortgage payoff or a short sale.

If the lender does not receive a favorable market value for the sale, they may not approve the short sale and continue with the foreclosure process, which can take an additional two to three months to process.

The final state of a home for sale in foreclosure is the Notice of Trustee Sale, which is the sale by the lender to the general public at an auction typically held at the County Court house in El Centro 939 W Main Street. The auction times vary and are usually either at 2pm or 3pm, depending on the number of homes being auctioned at the time.

The Trustee Sale auction is not your typical auction, the lender sets the opening bid price and many times the amount is more than the home is worth which means nobody ends up bidding on the home and the home goes back to the beneficiary which is fancy speak for becoming bank owned.

If an attendee at the Trustee Sale auction would like to bid on a home for sale, they are required to show proof of funds by a cashiers check for the amount of the bid or more. Typically settlement (the closing of the sale) will take place within a short time after the auction is conducted and all sales are cash sales, no financing is eligible.

Those who bid on these Trustee Sale auction properties need to conduct their research before making bids on the property to ensure they are buying the note in first position or the first mortgage and not a junior or subordinate lien. The reason you want to research to deed history and outstanding liens is if the bidder buys a second or third mortgage they need to pay off the first mortgage to gain control of the home, which can be very costly and counter productive.

Ok Ok so perhaps an auction sale is not for you but I thought to share the process with you.

See Imperial Valley listings, info & photos on your cell phone, text GOTO IVREO to 95495

Most home buyers choose to buy a home at one of three stages, even through there are more than three stages, however these are the most common home seller stages in todays market.

1) The regular market sale seller - these sellers have equity in their home and are not in distress, they can sell their home without needing to short sale or being in foreclosure. Often times these sellers are not in a hurry and will wait a longer period to sell their home and get the offer they want. These homes can be in a variety of condition however most are owner occupied sales and the owners live in the home and are taking care of it.

2) The short sale seller - these sellers owe more on their mortgage than the home is worth, they are upside down and have no equity. As we discussed earlier, these sellers need their mortgage lender to approve the sale in order to sell and typically other conditions exist in the sale terms. The short sale sellers home condition can vary depending on the situation and if the owner still lives in the home. Most short sale sellers will not make any repairs or pay for any repairs or inspections since they are not making any money on the sale of their home.

3) The bank or lender seller - these sellers are financial institutions or banking entities which have foreclosed on the home and are now in a position to sell the home to recover some of the monies owed. The bank or lender has taken the loss against the home loan and is going to sell the home to get some of the money owed to them back. The condition of bank owned homes can vary depending on the bank and the situation. Most bank sellers will keep the home in average to good condition so it can be financed and sell easily, however other times the bank will not make any repairs and sells the home "as is", which means it may not be financed and in this case the bank will only consider cash offers.

Each seller has one goal and one goal only, to get the most money for the home in the least amount of time with the least amount of costs or repairs made.

Knowing these facts can help you, the Imperial Valley home buyer who is looking at homes for sale in foreclosure.

To learn more about buying your first home, check out my How To video called http://firsthomebuyervideo.com to learn more.

How can I help you? Feel free to visit and post comments regarding the website and stay tuned for upcoming changes to the look and feel of ImperialValleyREO.com

Are you in the market to buy a home? Get personalized information for any area in the Imperial Valley, including El Centro, Brawley, Calexico, Imperial, Heber and surrounding cities by going to ForSaleByFred.com, GetRealWithFred.com,
ImperialValleyREO.com, or First Time Home Buyer Video

Imperial County homeowners who are considering selling their home are encouraged to contact Frederic Din, REALTOR(R) for additional information about getting the most current market values for your home or area. Member of the Imperial County Association of REALTORS (ICAOR).

El Centro real estate - Brawley real estate - Imperial real estate - Calexico real estate - Heber real estate - Imperial County real estate - Imperial Valley real estate - Imperial Valley REO - Imperial Valley MLS

Imperial Valley listings, info & photos on your cell phone, text GOTO IVREO to 95495

Buying Your First Home Doesn't Have to be Taxing
by Frederic Din, REALTOR(r), Imperial Valley Real Estate Agent
member of Imperial County Association of REALTORS(r), California Association of REALTORS(r) and National Association of REALTORS(r).

I'm sure you you've heard the stories from your friends and family members, story after story about how hard, challenging, and ultimately rewarding buying your first home can be, however it doesn't have to be taxing. As a matter fact, for most would be homeowners, buying a home is going to be provide a new tax deduction, far exceeding the standard deduction, however this article is not about taxes and does not provide tax advice. Any reference to tax statutes, deductions and exemptions are talked about for your educational and informational purposes only, you need to consult your tax preparer or CPA before making any tax type decisions.

Earlier this week thousands, if not millions of tax paying Americans filed and paid their Federal and State income taxes including yours truly. Most of these people are self-employed and owe federal and/or state income tax. As an independent contractor, my check doesn't get nickeled and dime'd by Fed, State, FICA, SDI and a host of other income type tax acronyms regularly associated with a W2 wage earner employees paycheck.

On the other hand owning a home allows you more tax deductions, including but not limited to points and fees you paid when you buy a home, as well as mortgage interest and property taxes, and a few others but make sure you check with your tax preparer or CPA before taking such deductions.

Many first time home buyers I speak to who pay a certain amount in rent also want to same mortgage payment since renters don't often get much of a tax incentive for being a renter, although there are some perks for renters, they are much smaller and mostly insignificant when compared to being a homeowner.

Over the years I counseled many renters into the financial benefit of being a homeowner and have found the following basics to be true.

1) Home ownership provides a long term and long lasting foundation to wealth building. You see I said long term, not a few years but more than ten years typically to fully see the benefits of owning a home.

2) Home ownership provides a much needed tax haven for most home owners. Yes, there are certain income and tax brackets on both sides of the spectrum that may not see the financial rewards of owning a home versus renting, but for most people it does.

3) Home ownership provides community stability and strengthens neighborhoods, cities, and even counties by providing a stable and sold property tax basis to provide funds for needed infrastructure such as schools, safety, hospitals and a host of other services we take for granted but come from our property tax dollars.

4) Home ownership provides a way to strengthen family and overall is responsible for families coming and staying together.

5) Home ownership provides a means of contributing to the neighborhood through pride of ownership. You know what I mean, those areas of town where all of the lawns are green, well kept, flowers in bloom, the home neatly and nicely painted.

As I've talked about in the past and will continue to encourage and talk about is how would be home buyers can educate and prepare themselves for their biggest purchase ever, a home, by following these three simple steps:

A) Make sure you get credit-approved or pre-approved first before looking at homes. This step will review your income and expenses, such as credit cards and car payments to find out exactly home much of a mortgage payment you can handle on a monthly basis.

B) Make sure you have or save some money to go hand-in-hand with your pre-approval. Money is needed for down payment, closing costs and/or home repairs. You can find mortgages that do not require a down payment and you can negotiate a home purchase where the seller pays part of your closing costs, but you will more than likely need to have something put away to make sure.

C) Once you have some money and are pre-approved, find and identify your home buying zone. This is probably where people search too far and too wide, meaning they begin looking at homes in Calexico to Calipatria, however you should narrow down your choices to school districts, work zone, and shopping districts which are important to you. With gas at $4.19 a gallon, driving long distances can be huge cost, so plan accordingly and you will be much better off in the long run.

To learn more about buying your first home, check out my How To video called http://firsthomebuyervideo.com to learn more.

How can I help you? Feel free to visit and post comments regarding the website and stay tuned for upcoming changes to the look and feel of ImperialValleyREO.com

Are you in the market to buy a home? Get personalized information for any area in the Imperial Valley, including El Centro, Brawley, Calexico, Imperial, Heber and surrounding cities by going to ForSaleByFred.com, GetRealWithFred.com, ImperialValleyREO.com, or First Time Home Buyer Video

Imperial County homeowners who are considering selling their home are encouraged to contact Frederic Din, REALTOR(R) for additional information about getting the most current market values for your home or area. Member of the Imperial County Association of REALTORS (ICAOR).

El Centro real estate - Brawley real estate - Imperial real estate - Calexico real estate - Heber real estate - Imperial County real estate - Imperial Valley real estate - Imperial Valley REO