Rocky Dole

In a short sale it is important to start out by having an initial consultation with a real estate attorney. The reason for this is that the real estate attorney can examine your situation and help you to decide if a short sale is right for you. They get paid whether you short sale your home or not so their is no financial incentive for them to tell you to list if it is not in your best interest. A good real estate attorney is versed in every aspect of the laws and legal issues affecting your short sale and can help you foresee any problems that may arise in the future. They can also look over the agreement letter that is delivered by the lender before the sale is completed so that you will know that your best interest is protected.

Your realtor is also important in getting the deal completed but they are not as well versed in the legal system as a real estate attorney is going to be. With all the legal issues facing short sales and the fact that banks are sometimes pursing deficiencies after the short sale is complete it is becoming even more important to have a good real estate attorney. There is no doubt that the bank has an attorney on their end as well. Do you really want your real estate agent trying to interpret a legal agreement that was probably written by an attorney?

My team and I think that it is so important to use a real estate attorney that we are even helping to pay for it. We will pay half of the cost associated with the initial consultation. The only catch is that you use our real estate attorney and that you end up listing the property with us. Our real estate attorney not only provides the initial consultation but will review the payoff letter from the bank and generally answer questions during the process. For more information or to schedule a short sale consultation call Rocky at (520) 413-1520 today.

Are you thinking about short selling your home? Do you know where to turn for information? My team is experienced in working short sales all over Arizona. Our primary markets are Pinal and Maricopa counties. If you are in these areas then we will provide you with the resources and assitance that you need in order to make the short sale process as easy and painless as possible. Below are some genneral resouces that you can check out to point you in the right direction. Of course it is still important to have an agent to assist you who is knowledgeable in these agencies and how the process works.

The Arizona Foreclosure Prevention Hotline: 1-877-448-1211 www.azforeclosureprevention.org

State Bar of Arizona: 1-866-482-9227

Bank of America: 800-846-2222 www.bankofamerica.com

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage: 866-488-2028 www.wellsfargo.com

Wells Fargo Financial: 800-275-9254 www.financial.wellsfargo.com

Chase: 866-550-5705 www.chase.com

Fannie Mae: 800-732-6643 www.fanniemae.com/homeaffordable

Freddie Mac: 800-373-3343 www.freddiemac.com/avoidforeclosure/

Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-784-2433 www.suicidehotlines.com/arizona.html

This list should help as a starting point but should not be considered as exclusive. Their may be other numbers that you will need in your specific situation. If you feel that you may be right for a short sale then I would love to visit with you so that we can discuss your options and decide what is right for you. It is important to note that a short sale is not right in every situation and if it is not right for you then there may be other alternatives. The important thing is that you get help if you are having problems so that you can get help. If I am unable to help you then I will do my best to point you to someone who can.

Short Sale Your Home Before Its Too Late/Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act!!!

Are you like many people who are “under water” in their home? Are you considering a short sale? Then you need to know some important information regarding changes that are coming in regards to your income and taxes according to the Mortgage Forgiveness and Debt Relief Act. The tax breaks are currently set to expire at the end of this year. This means that after this year if your debt is cancelled or forgiven on your home such as in the case of a short sale or repossession then you will be taxed on the difference between what the home sells for and what you owe on the property. For example if you owe $200,000 and the property sells for $100,000 then you will be taxed on the other $100,000 as income.

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act applies to debt that was cancelled or forgiven in calendar years 2007 to 2012. If you borrowed money from a commercial lender and the debt is later cancelled or forgiven then you may have to include this cancelled or forgiven debt in your income. When you borrowed the money you did not have to include it as income because of your obligation to repay the money. However, when the money is cancelled or forgiven then you do not have any further obligation to repay the funds. Therefore, you end up with a net gain.

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act which was enacted on December 20, 2007 permitted an exclusion of this net gain from you income. This legislation applied to debt that was used to buy, build, or improve your principal residence or refinance debt incurred for those purposes. However, this legislation is set to expire at the end of this calendar year. What this means is that if you have your debt was cancelled or forgiven after this year such as the case in a short sale or foreclosure then you will be taxed on this cancelled or forgiven debt as income. The good news is that there is still time to act. For more information or to short sale your home contact Rocky at (520) 413-1520 today!

Short Sale Your Home Before Its Too Late/Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act!!!

My first real estate deal was a real roller coaster ride. It involved first time buyers who's credit was too low to originally qualify for a mortgage. The loan officer issued them a prequal form anyway because he thought that he could get them to where they could qualify before the close of escrow. I had assumed that if they had a prequal form then they were good to go so I started showing them homes that they liked. It was only later that I found out that they were going to have problems actually qualifying for the loan that they were supposed to be prequalified for. By the time I found out it was too late to go back. We had already went through the inspection period. Shortly after I found out that they would have trouble qualifing I also found out that the wife would have to be taken off of the loan because of her credit. At this point I was really starting to think the worse. Luckily this was not a fly by night type loan officer. This was, believe it or not, my loan officer who I have known for several years. Once I found out what he had done I went to his office and sat down with him. I told him that I wanted to know right then and there if he was going to be able to perform and to get the deal closed. I told him that if he could not perform then it was time that we bring in someone who can perform. He told me that he was very confident that he could still get the credit where it needed to be in order to close the deal so I was put into a position where I had to totally and completely trust that he could and would perform. It came down to the last week of the deal and the credit was still not where it needed to be. We were very close but not quite there. At this point I was very worried because my clients were first time buyers and did not have the cash to just through away without getting anything in return. They made enough to afford payments but not to just pay out for inspections and appraisals without being able to close. About 2 business days before we were supposed to close the loan officer finally called me and informed me that the credit was finally where it needed to be. Of course we still needed to have it go through underwriting and have the documents drawn up but we finally knew that the deal was going to happen. I then called the other agent and explained what was going on and that we would need a few extra days to close. We closed 3 days after the original date for close of escrow but we did close. This was one case where both the loan officer and myself earned every penny of our service fees. In the end everyone was happy and I even helped the client to move a few of their items into the new house.

There is no doubt that the loan officer you choose makes a huge deferance as to whether your deal will close. My loan officer worked a miracle in this case and he definately got my attention. I plan on having him as a business partner for many years to come. As far as I am concerned, I don't care how low the credit is when my loan officer issues the prequal form so long as he can back it up in the end. In this case he definately did.

My loan officer is Ron Sublett, Homeowners Financial (602) 228-4911

I know that just by this title I am probably turning off some people who may otherwise read my blog. However, I have heard many people say that you should not mention religion while working in real estate and that you should not mix the two areas. I have also heard people say that religion is a big part of who they are in all aspects of their life. I have always been of the opinion that you should not force anyone to believe the way that you believe and that is not my intention by writing this blog. I think a big question that comes into my mind is that if you are truly into religion and you truly believe in the Lord then how can you keep that separate from any part of your life. It is who you are.

As far as I am concerned the Lord is a very big portion of my life and if that offends someone else then I am sorry that they can not accept it. For me, I know that I would not be able to do many aspects of this business without the help from a higher power. This business is a very tough business and I do not feel that there is anyone out there who can do everything that this business demands without help. I also feel that if people are offended by my beliefs then they are probably people who I do not want to conduct business with anyway.

My beliefs are further expanded by the fact that my broker has founded his business on similar beliefs. We are very like minded in this area. This is the reason that the word "Revelation" is the last word of my brokerage firm's name. We both believe that real estate is a calling and that real estate is the area where the Lord wants us to be.

I really hope that I do not offend anyone by posting this blog but I truly do believe that this blog is something that is due to be posted. I do not believe that you can truly believe in the Lord and yet exclude him from your business or any other area of your life. Besides that, our country was founded on the belief in the Lord and this belief continues to be present in our country today. Many people try to hide it and think it is something that should not be spoken about but it is still there and always will be.