Steve Olson

Are more people living with their relatives?

Studies and surveys are showing that over 16% of the nation lives within a multi-generational home. Likely, most of this is caused by the glooming foreclosure issues and what happens after a homeowner forecloses.

A lot of people in distress don’t understand that if a short sale is done rather than a foreclosure, people can recover much quicker, and it makes it easier to rent right after. FHA for instance, will let you finance a home the day after a short sale assuming you are not late on any payments.

Read the full story here --> Are more people living with their relatives?

Are you a buyer worried about the 20% Down QRM Mortgages?

Don’t be. There is a lot of hype in the marketplace right now about this ruining the mortgage industry and killing the first time home buyer. I heard a VERY similar story of this first hand from a prominent mortgage pro a while ago and haven’t been able to put it in words… Until now.

I found a great article on another perspective on the new mortgage plan. To sum it up and put it into plain terms. The low down FHA and conventional mortgage products will not go away… The only thing that is changing is that there will be more risk on the banks side if the buyer defaults on one of these loans. IF the bank writes a mortgage with 20% down they won’t assume the risk..

Check out the entire story –> Dispelling the 20 Percent Downpayment Myth

How To Price Short Sales so they ACTUALLY Close!

A prospective buyer just called me and told me he was interested in one of our short sale listings but wanted to know if I was going to pull a bunch of bait and switch cr#$ on him. I asked what he meant and he said he offered on a previous short sale property at $249,900 and then the seller decided to just raise the price 70 days later to $270,000. He got so mad that he canceled and moved on… I could understand why he was frustrated.

I asked if his agent had taken the time to explain short sales to him. He said no, but this had nothing to do with a short sale, the owner scammed me. I told him the following…

When a REALTOR takes a listing, it is up the REALTOR to price the home. In this market, pricing a short sale means doing so in most cases to generate a contract in 30 days. In most areas, that means pricing well under market value. Upon executing a contract, there is a financial package (some banks are more thorough than others) that is then submitted with the offer. The bank (on the seller side) then derives a value to the property and decides if the offer is sufficient enough to accept.

Sometimes, banks accept the offers as is, sometime they are countered, sometimes they are just outright declined. If the deal falls through and the buyer walks, a good thing to come from it, is that we now know where the bank is on pricing the property. Sometimes they are unrealistic, other times it turns out to be a phenomenal deal for the next buyer. Nevertheless, what ever price comes back is most of the time, is the price the listing agent should adjust the listing to. If we already know the bank is only going to accept $344,900 for the property, it makes no sense to market at $309,900. Now if the property is only worth $309,900 then that is an entirely different story.

After hearing about this, the buyer calmed down and was ready to start the offering process now that his expectations were in line with the process.

I can't beliive it!!! We are down to 114 Gilbert Foreclosures for sale!!!

You can view all the Gilbert Bank Owned Homes for Sale Here...

Walking away from a home is never easy. There are memories attached to it and there is a huge financial burden that arises from doing so. The stigma of having a house go into foreclosure is nothing like it used to be. Now, to most people, walking away from your home is just a sound business decision.

In most cases, it does make sense to liquidate your property right now if you are severely upside down or if you are in a financial hardship. You should however do it on your terms and with strategies that benefit you in the long haul. Letting your home go back to the bank, although it can provide some guaranteed protections against deficiencies in the future can cause much more headache in the long haul.

When you are foreclosed on, most banks will not lend for up to 7 years to you. Think about how life was 7 years ago today… Was it different? If you are like most people, it was TOTALLY different. Don’t assume you have the next decade figured out because things change in an instant.

Assuming you know you you need to sell your property, in almost every case, a homeowner should attempt a short sale. A short sale in most cases will give you the same protection a foreclosure would without the horrible financial consequences of it.

A short sale is when a bank agrees to take less then what is owed on the property in order to avoid foreclosure. Do banks short sale properties that are not in foreclosure? ABSOLUTELY. There does need to be a hardship or a need to HAVE to move. Here is the best part, it doesn’t cost you a dime to do and in a lot of cases can keep you in your home longer then if you were to go through the foreclosure process.

If you are considering selling your home as are upside down on you mortgage, call or email me today. 480 626 5575.

You can also learn more about distressed property, loan modifications, short sales, foreclosures and more at Short Sale VS Foreclosure.