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Joseph Bradley

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Understand the rules of Government Foreclousre Plan's to better your chance for success!

07-21-09
Joseph Bradley

The game has changed significantly. If you are behind on your payments, need to refinance, or are just looking to short sell your home, the game has recently changed. I am going to provide you with the facts for the key program called Making Home Affordable Loan Modification Program, with three sub-programs: Home Affordable Refinance Program, Home Affordable Modification Program, and Foreclosure Alternative Program.


The Obama administration created the Making Home Affordable Loan Modification Program. This program has two sub-programs.
  1. The Home Affordable Refinance Program: this is available to 4 to 5 million homeowners who have a solid payment history on an existing mortgage owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Normally, these borrowers would be unable to refinance because their homes have lost value, pushing their current loan-to-value ratios above 80%. Under the Home Affordable Refinance program, many of them will now be eligible to refinance their loan to take advantage of today’s lower mortgage rates or to refinance an adjustable-rate mortgage into a more stable mortgage, such as a 30-year fixed rate loan.
  2. The Home Affordable Modification (HAM):program will help up to 3 to 4 million at-risk homeowners avoid foreclosure by reducing monthly mortgage payments. The program contains guidelines that are expected to become standard industry practice in pursuing affordable and sustainable mortgage modifications. This program will work in tandem with an expanded and improved Hope for Homeowners program.
In order to be eligible to participate in programs 1 or 2, the following applies:
  1. Loans originated on or before January 1, 2009.
  2. First-lien loans on owner-occupied properties with unpaid principal balance up to $729,750. Higher limits allowed for owner-occupied properties with 2-4 units.
  3. All borrowers must fully document income, including signed IRS 4506-T, two most recent pay stubs, and most recent tax return, and must sign an affidavit of financial hardship.
  4. Property owner occupancy status will be verified through borrower credit report and other documentation; no investor-owned, vacant, or condemned properties.
  5. Incentives to lenders and servicers to modify at risk borrowers who have not yet missed payments when the servicer determines that the borrower is at imminent risk of default.
  6. Modifications can start from now until December 31, 2012; loans can be modified only once under the program.
In addition, the Obama administration wanted to address the problem of what happens if you are eligible for the above programs (mainly the HAM) but you can not afford the loan modification. They created the Foreclosure Alternatives Program (FAP). The following are the key program highlights:

  1. Borrowers (Homeowners). Borrowers/homeowners qualify under the FAP if they meet minimum eligibility requirements for the Home Affordable Modification program but don’t qualify for a modification or do not successfully complete the three month trial period. Before proceeding with a foreclosure, servicers must determine if a short sale is appropriate.
  2. Incentives. Incentives include: (1) $1,000 for servicers for successful completion of a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure; (2) $1,500 for borrowers/homeowners to help with relocation expenses; and (3) up to $1,000 toward the cost of paying junior lien holders to release their liens (one dollar from the government for every $2 paid by the investors to the second lien holders).
  3. Standardized Documents. The program will include streamlined and standardized documents, including a Short Sale Agreement and an Offer Acceptance Letter. The goal is to minimize complexity and increase use of the short sale option.
  4. Property Valuation by Appraisal or BPO. Servicers will independently establish both property value and minimum acceptable net return, in accordance with investor requirements. The price may be determined based on an appraisal or one or more broker price opinions (BPOs), issued no more than 120 days before the date of the short sale agreement.
  5. Timeline. In the Short Sale Agreement, servicers must give borrowers/homeowners at least 90 days to market and sell the property, or up to one year, depending on market conditions. Property must be listed with a licensed real estate professional with experience in the neighborhood. No foreclosure may take place during the marketing period (at least 90 days) specified in the Short Sale Agreement.
  6. Commissions. The Short Sale Agreement must specify the reasonable and customary real estate commissions and costs that may be deducted from the sales price. The servicer must agree not to negotiate a lower commission after an offer has been received.
  7. No Borrower Fees. Servicers may not charge fees to borrowers/homeowners for participating in the FAP.
  8. Program Expiration. The program is in effect through 2012.
  9. Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure Option. Servicers have the option to require the borrower/homeowner to agree to deed the property to the servicer in exchange for a release from the debt if the property does not sell within the time allowed in the Short Sale Agreement (plus any extensions).

The major key is the banks are receiving "payments" from the government to perform loan modifications, and short-sales. No incentives for foreclosures...just cost.If a short-sale is unsuccessful, the government provides homeowners with a $1,500 cash for keys offer basically to turn their homes over as a died in-lieu of foreclosure.

Be safe, Be smart....and seek a Realtor's Advice.

Mr. REO
Joseph Bradley

Family Realty has specialized in REO, Short-Sale, and Pre-foreclosure properties for over 30 years, with our founder and my grandfather Joseph Goodwill. My success as the owner and chairman is based on maintaining F.O.C.U.S. during market upturns and downturns: F.O.C.U.S. stands for Financially Secure, Operational Expertise, Customer Focus, Unparalleled Industry Knowledge and Superior Technology. We are a boutique real estate firms that provides personalized services to consumers or banking institutions looking to sell or purchase a home in Contra Costa, Alameda, and Placer Counties located within California. As the Broke-Owner of Family Realty Group, I am personally involved in all of our client transactions ensuring the highest level of focus and accountability in servicing your needs. If you would like a FREE Home Seller or Home Buyer Handbook, or list of available REO properties please call me at 925.401.0405 or email at josephb.frg@gmail.com.



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Ready to Make that Offer above Asking....Wait just a minute....

07-20-09
Joseph Bradley

The good news is that the economy is showing signs of recovery. Unfortunately, I believe this is the calm before the storm as there are simply too many underlying problems with our economy. Basically, at some point we have to pay for over consumption, lack of savings, and uncontrolled lending practices. However, that is a matter for another day. Today, we are going to talk about the latest increase in real estate prices in many parts of the bay area.
BUYERS BEWARE! When looking to purchase a home in today's market make sure you understand why prices are moving forward in the areas. In many bay area locations this is driven by the artificial shrinkage of REO properties hitting the market. Banks have been encouraged and in some cases restricted from bringing these homes on the market despite the fact that they have completed the foreclosure process on many of these homes. This has happened over night and when you have a sudden reduction of homes on the market prices will rise.

Now this is not the case in all bay area markets, but you should be made aware. Ask you realtor, what is the rate of change of new bank owned homes entering the market over the last 3 months in your area. In addition, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, waive your appraisal contingency. If you submit an offer and your contingency approval has been waived you have no protection against the home not appraising. There are many situations now in parts of Oakland, Hayward, San Ramon, and Fremont where we have received multiple offers on properties several above asking. Be smart..Be safe...and consult a Realtor

Mr. REO - Joseph Bradley

Family Realty has specialized in REO, Short-Sale, and Pre-foreclosure properties for over 30 years, with our founder and my grandfather Joseph Goodwill. My success as the owner and chairman is based on maintaining F.O.C.U.S. during market upturns and downturns: F.O.C.U.S. stands for Financially Secure, Operational Expertise, Customer Focus, Unparalleled Industry Knowledge and Superior Technology. We are a boutique real estate firms that provides personalized services to consumers or banking institutions looking to sell or purchase a home in Contra Costa, Alameda, and Placer Counties located within California. As the Broke-Owner of Family Realty Group, I am personally involved in all of our client transactions ensuring the highest level of focus and accountability in servicing your needs. If you would like a FREE Home Seller or Home Buyer Handbook, or list of available REO properties please call me at 925.401.0405 or email at josephb.frg@gmail.com.



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San Ramon Market Report: Week of March 22

03-27-09
Joseph Bradley

Below is my report for this week in San Ramon! Well the market is still declining in price as 48% of the homes on the market reduced their prices. I suspect that we will see a slight leveling off as we prepare for the summer months, however I suspect we will continue back on our downward pricing trend by September. We had 271 single family homes on the market with a total days on the market of 107 days. Photobucket josephb.frg@gmail.com Broker Owner Family Realty Group, Inc.

Family Realty has specialized in REO, Short-Sale, and Pre-foreclosure properties for over 30 years, with our founder and my grandfather Joseph Goodwill. My success as the owner and chairman is based on maintaining F.O.C.U.S. during market upturns and downturns: F.O.C.U.S. stands for Financially Secure, Operational Expertise, Customer Focus, Unparalleled Industry Knowledge and Superior Technology. We are a boutique real estate firms that provides personalized services to consumers or banking institutions looking to sell or purchase a home in Contra Costa, Alameda, and Placer Counties located within California. As the Broke-Owner of Family Realty Group, I am personally involved in all of our client transactions ensuring the highest level of focus and accountability in servicing your needs. If you would like a FREE Home Seller or Home Buyer Handbook, or list of available REO properties please call me at 925.401.0405 or email at josephb.frg@gmail.com.

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Moving past the frustration: A few tips on getting the bank to accept your REO offer

03-26-09
Joseph Bradley

As a primary listing agent for numerous banks, I have been fortunate enough to receive multiple offers from buyer’s agents trying to secure a property for their client. In the past year, I have cumulated a good idea of core actions that if followed will definitely increase the likelihood of your offers being accepted. If you are consumer reading this blog, the items below are strongly relevant because if your Realtor asks you to provide this information you will have a good understanding as to why.

  1. No Inspection Contingencies: This is critical to getting an offer accepted fast and easy. In a bank owned property, the bank has no idea as to the condition of the property or environmental hazards, etc. Due to the current economy, many inspection companies are now down to $200 - $300 for termite and home inspection. Try to convince your buyers to do this upfront if they are serious about placing an offer. Submitting these reports with the offer I have found improves the chances of a positive response by over 50%. Remember, the bank asset manager has to get the offer approved by the investor and any thing you can provide to make his/her job easier is a good thing.
  2. Enhanced Personalization: In today’s world of email and paperless offers, any element of personalization goes along way. As an example, one of my buyers submitted his offer to me with a pod cast video showing his clients and explaining how strong they were committed to ensuring a successful close. I not only submitted the offer, but emailed the asset manager the video and low behold it was accepted. The asset manager later commented after we closed ,“she knew this would go through because any one who took the time to create a video with their offer had to be serious”. The point here is don’t forget to personalize the offer.
  3. The “Squeaky Wheel” gets the grease: I know that all of us real estate professionals are extremely busy. However, it is amazing how the agents that consistently followed up with their offers have a much higher success rate. This is because with the system being overloaded as it is, the system responds to only the current crisis. The key message here is, if you send in an offer follow up daily until you get a response.
  4. Provide a simplified worksheet with your offer: The majority of offers that are submitted have to be re-inputting into the particular banks system of choice. The ability for a listing agent to be able to quickly input the following core areas – Purchase Price, Contingency Period, Inspections and whether they are buyer or seller paid, any credits involved, down payment, etc. is extremely helpful.

Obviously all the usual items apply including the pre-approval letter, but the above four items seem to stand out in the crowd.
Thanks and we will talk to you tomorrow where we will discuss understanding the economics of a short sale, loan modification, and/or foreclosure to determine what is best for your clients.

Joseph Bradley
josephb.frg@gmail.com
Broker Owner
Family Realty Group, Inc.

Family Realty has specialized in REO, Short-Sale, and Pre-foreclosure properties for over 30 years, with our founder and my grandfather Joseph Goodwill. My success as the owner and chairman is based on maintaining F.O.C.U.S. during market upturns and downturns: F.O.C.U.S. stands for Financially Secure, Operational Expertise, Customer Focus, Unparalleled Industry Knowledge and Superior Technology. We are a boutique real estate firms that provides personalized services to consumers or banking institutions looking to sell or purchase a home in Contra Costa, Alameda, and Placer Counties located within California. As the Broke-Owner of Family Realty Group, I am personally involved in all of our client transactions ensuring the highest level of focus and accountability in servicing your needs. If you would like a FREE Home Seller or Home Buyer Handbook, or list of available REO properties please call me at 925.401.0405 or email at josephb.frg@gmail.com.

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Is remodeling your home worth it during a down market?

03-25-09
Joseph Bradley

I get asked this question all the time as homeowners who are trying to sell their homes consider the amount they should allocate for repairs. There are two main areas of thought that exist today around this subject. The first focuses on "Maximizing Returns". If you are trying to maximize returns then any investment in home repairs that does not change the living status is not advised. When I use the term living status this means that if a home is unlivable in its current condition and you were to invest in the home to make it habitable then this would result in a change in its living status. With the majority of local markets declining at a rate of 10% or more annually, investing in major home repairs doesn't make sense from a return perspective because your home will not appreciate greater than the amount of the investment within the next few years.

However, I do not necessarily agree with "Maximizing Returns" approach in all cases. The core reason being if your goal is really to sell now or you must sell, then the question changes to what must I do to make my home, more competitive than others on the market. At this point, depending on your repair budget this may be a strong consideration.

When determining where to place your funds, many will say to immediately place money into upgrading your kitchen and bathrooms. While in most cases this is correct, however it is important to understand why. The key is to examine your home as compared to others on the market and invest in areas where your home will naturally gain a "competitive advantage" over other homes in the market. As an example, lets say other homes on the market have a much nicer outside appeal. The homes in the area have nice custom wood doors, updated paint, stucco, or siding an your home is in need of exterior maintenance. All things being equal (assuming your kitchen is comparable to theirs), I would not invest in updating your kitchen first. I would seek to improve the exterior of the home as many buyers will never get past the outside of the home if it is not appealing.

So, lesson learned here is to think of your home as competing with others. Whatever you can do to gain a perceived difference in value as compared to others homes in the area is something worth considering if your ultimate goal is to sell in the short term.

Thanks

Joseph Bradley

Broker Owner - Family Realty Group
Real Estate Strategy Experts

Family Realty has specialized in REO, Short-Sale, and Pre-foreclosure properties for over 30 years, with our founder and my grandfather Joseph Goodwill. My success as the owner and chairman is based on maintaining F.O.C.U.S. during market upturns and downturns: F.O.C.U.S. stands for Financially Secure, Operational Expertise, Customer Focus, Unparalleled Industry Knowledge and Superior Technology. We are a boutique real estate firms that provides personalized services to consumers or banking institutions looking to sell or purchase a home in Contra Costa, Alameda, and Placer Counties located within California. As the Broke-Owner of Family Realty Group, I am personally involved in all of our client transactions ensuring the highest level of focus and accountability in servicing your needs. If you would like a FREE Home Seller or Home Buyer Handbook, or list of available REO properties please call me at 925.401.0405 or email at josephb.frg@gmail.com.

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