Michael Neville - Intown Atlanta Realtor

So there are a number of people in the Metro Atlanta area that are confused as to what a short-sale is and how it works, both as a buyer & a seller. No neighborhood is immune to these. I've seen them in East Atlanta, Virginia Highland, Morningside, Camp Creek, Alpharetta, it doesn't matter - they're happening in all price ranges because they depend on the seller's financial challenges.

Short sales aren't typically short in the time process compared to a traditional residential sale, they are "short" on cash for repaying the outstanding balance of a loan and where you are trying to get the bank to say "close enough - we'll call it even". This won't happen just because you don't want to repay the loan, heck everyone wants free. You must be able to show true financial hardship. Here are a few terms and components of the process:

Repayment Plan

The servicer may be able to arrange an increase in monthly payments until the loan is brought current. This means that each month you would add an additional amount of money (determined by the servicer) to their regular monthly payment until the amount that was overdue has been repaid.

Forbearance

Forbearance is a formal, written agreement between you and the mortgage servicer to reduce or suspend monthly payments for a specific period of time. This means that for a period of time, you would either pay only a portion of the regular mortgage payment or not make any payments at all. At the end of the agreed-upon period, you would be required to resume regular monthly payments as well as pay additional funds to make up for the past due amount. During the time that the payments are either suspended or reduced, you would have the opportunity to resolve the financial hardship you are facing.

Loan Modification

In situations where the servicer does not believe that a repayment plan or forbearance is the appropriate course of action, a loan modification may be considered. A loan modification involves changing one or more of the terms of a mortgage in order to help you bring a defaulted loan current and prevent foreclosure. This option generally is considered for homeowners whose financial problems are expected to be more long term.

If you have tried these options and have determined that they are not a possibility, then we can attempt a Short Sale.

A Short Sale is the sale of a property in which the servicer agrees to accept the proceeds of the sale, even though it may be less than the amount owed on the mortgage. To avoid going through a foreclosure proceeding, the servicer can agree to accept the proceeds of the sale in satisfaction of the mortgage loan.

Please contact me to discuss these options at you earliest convenience if you live in the Metro Atlanta area. While I focus on neighborhoods inside the I-285 loop, especially East Atlanta Village, Ormewood Park, Grant Park, and Kirkwood, I’m happy to evaluate your situation and see what we can do to assist you.

This time in history is not merely unprecedented, it's NEVER HAPPENED, NEVER. There have been 2 buyer's* markets in recent history. (A buyer's market is defined by high inventory, and typically marked with lower prices)

1) 1978-82 - early 80’s rates were 18%!!!

2) 1989-1992 – early 90’s rates were 10%!!!

NEVER have we had both high inventory/lower sales prices and low rates simultaneously. If you know ANYONE NOT IN A HOME, OR ON THE FENCE ON INVESTING, I’d be happy to help so please send me there info. IT DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN NOW TO BUY....EVER. I promise to take great care of them and to make you look good! If you are a first time buyer, this is the golden opportunity to greatly improve your position since there are opportunities to pay a mortgage that is smaller or equivalent to rent, but you get to the privileg of tax benefits & equity positions.

*Yes, the Great Depression was a buyer's market, but you couldn't get a loan AT ALL and values were down nationally by 50%, not 10%. So, it’s truly not a good point of reference/comparison.

Our current Buyer’s Market started in 2007 so you can see the historical trend that it will likely last through 2009, but the potential of an interest rate of 4.5% and rates in general staying at this level for an extended period is not expected. The change in an interest rate of 1% is equivalent to a 10% change in Sales Price. The fact is the Average Home Sales Price has already made the dramatic shift back to the historical trend of a 3-4% annual appreciation that has been in place for the last 70 years.

This market is both cyclical & seasonal. I’m predicting we will see the Average Home Sales Price to continue to trend down below the historical appreciation level on a national level before rallying up to the historical trend, but real estate is truly a local market when it comes to sales price. Within Atlanta we have small pockets that have seen increased sales price and not just a maintaining of sales prices, while most surrounding areas have seen declining sales prices. The FMLS reported sales prices were up 13K from Sept. ’08 to Oct. ’08, but down 9% (roughly 15K) from Oct. ’07 for the metro Atlanta market. Just know that you won’t know we’ve reached the bottom & what the best opportunities are/were, until we see them in the rear-view mirror and those incredible opportunities are gone.

Every major indicator is saying this is it! Make your move to dramatically increase your long-term wealth. Buying in today’s market gives you the potential of earning an extra 20K a year for the next 3-5 years passively by getting in on great equity positions. Who couldn’t use that?

All The Best,

Michael

This time in history is not merely unprecedented, it's NEVER HAPPENED, NEVER. There have been 2 buyer's* markets in recent history. (A buyer's market is defined by high inventory, and typically marked with lower prices)

1) 1978-82 - early 80’s rates were 18%!!!

2) 1989-1992 – early 90’s rates were 10%!!!

NEVER have we had both high inventory/lower sales prices and low rates simultaneously. If you know ANYONE NOT IN A HOME, OR ON THE FENCE ON INVESTING, I’d be happy to help so please send me there info. IT DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN NOW TO BUY....EVER. I promise to take great care of them and to make you look good! If you are a first time buyer, this is the golden opportunity to greatly improve your position since there are opportunities to pay a mortgage that is smaller or equivalent to rent, but you get to the privileg of tax benefits & equity positions.

*Yes, the Great Depression was a buyer's market, but you couldn't get a loan AT ALL and values were down nationally by 50%, not 10%. So, it’s truly not a good point of reference/comparison.

Our current Buyer’s Market started in 2007 so you can see the historical trend that it will likely last through 2009, but the potential of an interest rate of 4.5% and rates in general staying at this level for an extended period is not expected. The change in an interest rate of 1% is equivalent to a 10% change in Sales Price. The fact is the Average Home Sales Price has already made the dramatic shift back to the historical trend of a 3-4% annual appreciation that has been in place for the last 70 years.

This market is both cyclical & seasonal. I’m predicting we will see the Average Home Sales Price to continue to trend down below the historical appreciation level on a national level before rallying up to the historical trend, but real estate is truly a local market when it comes to sales price. Within Atlanta we have small pockets that have seen increased sales price and not just a maintaining of sales prices, while most surrounding areas have seen declining sales prices. The FMLS reported sales prices were up 13K from Sept. ’08 to Oct. ’08, but down 9% (roughly 15K) from Oct. ’07 for the metro Atlanta market. Just know that you won’t know we’ve reached the bottom & what the best opportunities are/were, until we see them in the rear-view mirror and those incredible opportunities are gone.

Every major indicator is saying this is it! Make your move to dramatically increase your long-term wealth. Buying in today’s market gives you the potential of earning an extra 20K a year for the next 3-5 years passively by getting in on great equity positions. Who couldn’t use that?

All The Best,

Michael

One of the best pieces of advice I've heard is "Money & Opportunity lie on the other side of fear."

The fact is that in a world filled with media focusing on perpetuating fear, they've got people fooled on how to truly make wise decisions - especially when it comes to their investments.

Let's be honest, when everyone is excited, you should be aware the bubble will probably soon burst, and when everyone is running away in fear b/c the bubble burst, you need to be excited about the incredible investment opportunities where real wealth is created. Everyone has heard "Buy low & Sell high" - well the only way to do that is BUY when the bottom has fallen out. You won't know when the absolute bottom has been reached until you see it in the rear view and it's already passed you by.

There's no doubt that the people making moves in this market will be better positioned and dramatically well better off than the masses who are tucking their tails and hoarding there assets. Remember, you don't realize a loss in the stock market until you sell, if you hold on then it's "just a fluctuation". I'm not advocating wreckless spending, just logical/historically driven strategic movement - which is buying well positioned real estate in a down market.

Historically, the fastest way to acquire massive wealth is through land ownership and that's because:

REAL ESTATE is the most ABLE investment:

1) Accessible - anyone in the free world has the ability to acquire land

2) Appreciable - historically it increases around 3% per year over time (yes, it rises & falls in shorter periods - but ask just about anyone who's owned a piece of property for 30 years what they bought it for & what it's worth now. People throw money into an IRA and know they can't/shouldn't touch it for possibly 40 years, so why is holding onto a piece of Real Estate for 10 years seem so hard?)

3) Leverageable - you can buy on margin, and gain return on the total value (i.e. - 5K down on a 100K home -- if in a few years you sold it for 105K - you've made 100% profit on your true investment. The stock market can't touch that!)

4) Rentable - you can have others pay down your mortgage and create a positive cash flow (and there are definitely a lot of renters right now)

5) Deductible/Depreciable/Deferrable - GREAT TAX BENEFITS!

6) Stable - It's slow to rise & slow to fall and it NEVER drops to ZERO.

7) Manageable - heck, you don't even have to deal with renters, you can out-source & have a hands-off investment with managers in place

People are watching their stock portfolios disappear completely - poof - in a blink of an eye, but land never goes to zero. This is how the rich get richer - you BUY WHEN PRICES ARE LOW! and with the incredible interest rates, you definitely have the potential to cash flow immediately.

Oh, by the way - real estate is "understandable" - with a knowledgable realtor pulling the most recent comp's & sitting down with you about a clear plan and exit strategy, you can make some wise investments that will pay huge dividends over time.

I have clients in the Atlanta market buying foreclosure, short sales, etc. for 20K-50K (imagine how tiny the mortgage on a 30-year fixed is), renting properties with immediate cash flow - so they're making money NOW and they'll be cashing in on the APPRECIATION later. They will retire millionaires by continuing this strategy consistently & safely.

I'm hoping the same for you & would be happy to help if you're looking to make a similar move in the Atlanta area, even if you don't live in GA - but even if not, take a careful look around your area and I'd almost certainly bet that there are opportunities waiting for you within a reasonable distance of where you call home.

All The Best,

Michael

One of the best pieces of advice I've heard is "Money & Opportunity lie on the other side of fear."

The fact is that in a world filled with media focusing on perpetuating fear, they've got people fooled on how to truly make wise decisions - especially when it comes to their investments.

Let's be honest, when everyone is excited, you should be aware the bubble will probably soon burst, and when everyone is running away in fear b/c the bubble burst, you need to be excited about the incredible investment opportunities where real wealth is created. Everyone has heard "Buy low & Sell high" - well the only way to do that is BUY when the bottom has fallen out. You won't know when the absolute bottom has been reached until you see it in the rear view and it's already passed you by.

There's no doubt that the people making moves in this market will be better positioned and dramatically well better off than the masses who are tucking their tails and hoarding there assets. Remember, you don't realize a loss in the stock market until you sell, if you hold on then it's "just a fluctuation". I'm not advocating wreckless spending, just logical/historically driven strategic movement - which is buying well positioned real estate in a down market.

Historically, the fastest way to acquire massive wealth is through land ownership and that's because:

REAL ESTATE is the most ABLE investment:

1) Accessible - anyone in the free world has the ability to acquire land

2) Appreciable - historically it increases around 3% per year over time (yes, it rises & falls in shorter periods - but ask just about anyone who's owned a piece of property for 30 years what they bought it for & what it's worth now. People throw money into an IRA and know they can't/shouldn't touch it for possibly 40 years, so why is holding onto a piece of Real Estate for 10 years seem so hard?)

3) Leverageable - you can buy on margin, and gain return on the total value (i.e. - 5K down on a 100K home -- if in a few years you sold it for 105K - you've made 100% profit on your true investment. The stock market can't touch that!)

4) Rentable - you can have others pay down your mortgage and create a positive cash flow (and there are definitely a lot of renters right now)

5) Deductible/Depreciable/Deferrable - GREAT TAX BENEFITS!

6) Stable - It's slow to rise & slow to fall and it NEVER drops to ZERO.

7) Manageable - heck, you don't even have to deal with renters, you can out-source & have a hands-off investment with managers in place

People are watching their stock portfolios disappear completely - poof - in a blink of an eye, but land never goes to zero. This is how the rich get richer - you BUY WHEN PRICES ARE LOW! and with the incredible interest rates, you definitely have the potential to cash flow immediately.

Oh, by the way - real estate is "understandable" - with a knowledgable realtor pulling the most recent comp's & sitting down with you about a clear plan and exit strategy, you can make some wise investments that will pay huge dividends over time.

I have clients in the Atlanta market buying foreclosure, short sales, etc. for 20K-50K (imagine how tiny the mortgage on a 30-year fixed is), renting properties with immediate cash flow - so they're making money NOW and they'll be cashing in on the APPRECIATION later. They will retire millionaires by continuing this strategy consistently & safely.

I'm hoping the same for you & would be happy to help if you're looking to make a similar move in the Atlanta area, even if you don't live in GA - but even if not, take a careful look around your area and I'd almost certainly bet that there are opportunities waiting for you within a reasonable distance of where you call home.

All The Best,

Michael