Daily Real Estate News | January 10, 2009 |
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Fannie Tries Short Sales Over Foreclosures
Fannie Mae has launched pilot projects in Phoenix and Orlando intended to reduce foreclosures by pre-approving short sales, agreeing on a price and the loss it will take prior to a deal even being made. It is hoped the program will improve the popularity of short sales among real estate agents.
Property professionals initially had welcomed short sales but soon found the process to be a frustrating one--due to squabbling about the sale price and slow approval times by the mortgage companies--that often ended with no sale at all.
"Short sales have received such a bad reputation among real-estate agents that, as a portion of the overall mortgage market, they have gone down," says Tom Popik of the research firm Campbell Communications, whose November survey of realty practitioners found that agents had to wait as long as 8.1 weeks to receive a response from the lender on a short sale. That was nearly double the 4.5 weeks the process took earlier in the year.
Fannie Mae's pilot will focus on homes that are listed at less than the mortgage balance and carry a Fannie Mae-backed loan serviced by Countrywide Financial Corp.
If it proves successful, the concept could be expanded to other geographical areas and additional lenders. There are concerns, in the meantime, about the program's success, with real estate agents noting that property prices could decline before the pre-approval is issued.
To view our short sale listings and/or receive foreclosure prevention resources and help contact us at
281-797-3941 or view our websites at
http://www.katyforeclosurepreventionspecialists.com
http://www.houstonforeclosurepreventionspecialists.com
http://www.thewatsongrouprealty.com
We look forward to working with you,
THE WATSON GROUP
ReMax Galleria Associates
4703 Richmond Ae., B2
Houston, TX 77027
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When does foreclosure begin? Lenders will initiate foreclosure proceedings when homeowners become delinquent in their mortgage obligations, usually after three payments are missed. The lender will then notify the buyer in writing that he or she is in default. The lender can request a trustee's sale or a judicial foreclosure, in which the property is sold at public auction. A borrower can cure the default by paying the overdue amount and the pending payment after the notice of default is recorded, usually no later than a few days before the property's sale. Some sales allow the successful bidder to take possession immediately. If the former owner refuses to vacate the premises, the court can issue an unlawful detainer that allows the sheriff to come out and evict them. Borrowers should do everything they can to avoid foreclosure, which is one of the best decisions you can ever make. How long does it take to complete the case? Anywhere from 2 days to several months. This depends on the stage of foreclosure
Should I negotiate with the lender myself? Yes. If you are only a payment or two behind and your lender has not hired an attorney to begin foreclosure proceedings you may be able to negotiate a work out agreement yourself. If you are successful then you have saved yourself some funds that can be used to get caught up on your mortgage. Just remember, don?t waste a lot of time on this. Time is not on your side right now. If you don?t have something worked out within 1-2 weeks, then it?s obvious that your lender is not serious about working things out with you directly. When you get to that point you will be better served by professional representation that can use the formal business and legal protocols to your advantage. The Watson Group delivers the critical information and professional representation that you need to get the best possible work out agreement with your lender.Is there anything I can do to stop the foreclosure of my home? Yes. If you are only a payment or two behind and your lender has not hired an attorney to begin foreclosure proceedings you may be able to negotiate a work out agreement yourself. If you are successful then you have saved yourself some funds that can be used to get caught up on your mortgage. Just remember, don?t waste a lot of time on this. Time is not on your side right now. If you don?t have something worked out within 1-2 weeks, then it?s obvious that your lender is not serious about working things out with you directly. When you get to that point you will be better served by professional representation that can use the formal business and legal protocols to your advantage. The Watson Group delivers the critical information and professional representation that you need to get the best possible work out agreement with your lender.How long will it take to negotiate a shortsale? The short sale negotiation process is a lengthy one. It may take several weeks or, more likely, several months to get an approval. Many lenders have numerous layers of bureaucracy, insurers, and investors that we will have to maneuver through in order to get a short sale. Therefore, it is important to be patient during this processTime is of the essence when you are behind on house payments. Time is definitely not your friend in this situation. Each day that passes makes it that much harder to get a work out agreement with your lender that you can live with. The home foreclosure process can take anywhere from a few days to 3 weeks inTEXAS. We have encountered many homeowners who did not even know that they had already lost their house! But my house is going to foreclose, will I have enough time? Maybe, maybe not. Just starting a short sale will not automatically stop a foreclosure. However, many times we can convince the bank to stop the foreclosure to let us attempt to negotiate the process. So, while there are no guarantees, it does not hurt to try.Can I stay in the house? The key word in short sale is sale. The purpose of a short sale is to get the property sold. So, you will be inevitably moving out of the house. This is not a program that can stop a foreclosure and allow you to keep the house indefinitely. It will be easier to sell the house if it is vacant, so you should make plans to move as soon as possible.How do I know this will work? You don't. We cannot, have not, and will not make any promises to you that this works. Once you have missed a payment, the bank is in charge and can proceed to foreclose if they want to. But, we know they do not want to and we are very good at presenting alternatives to the bank that they often want to accept rather than to foreclose. We are very good at what we do, but no promises are being made as to whether or not the bank will accept a short sale- they may or may not.Will I get any money from the sale? No. A universal requirement of lenders in granting a short sale is that the borrower will not get any proceeds from the sale of the property. The bank is going to take a loss on your loan- they are not going to allow you to make any money.What happends if this doesn't work? Your house will likely go to foreclosure. A short sale is something we try after you have exhausted your other options. However, if the debt exceeds the value on the property, the lender will want to work something out. While we cannot make any guarantees, there is a very good chance it will work.What is a Release? A lender may offer to release its security interest against the property in exchange for less than the total amount of the note. A release will allow the property to be sold without paying off the obligations of the note. However, the note is not satisfied. Advantages: This successful short sale will allow the property to be sold and thus avoid a foreclosure. Disadvantages: The remaining debt on the property (also called a deficiency) still exists. You are still liable for the note: in other words, you still owe the money. Reality: It is not likely that the bank will pursue the deficiency unless you have other significant assets. What is a Satisfaction? A lender may agree to accept less than it is owed as complete and total satisfaction of the note and release its lien against the property. Advantages: Your note and obligation to the lender are satisfied for less than you owe. When the property is sold, the debt is paid off completely. Disadvantages: You may have some tax consequences due to the fact that the bank is dispensing with making money you owe. You should discuss this situation with your tax advisor. Why will they discount for you but not for us? Lenders only will approve a short sale as a last resort. The circumstances that would lead a lender to resort a short sale for a property are directly related to the property?s value as it relates to the amount owed to the bank. If a property was purchased in an inflated market that has experienced a severe downturn, the home may have decreased in value and the loan maybe ?upside down??more is owed than it is worth. The lender may consider a short sale. The same holds true if a property was refinanced at 100 percent plus leaving the property without equity. Another circumstance where a bank may consider a short sale would be in the case of a deteriorating property with would require extensive repairs to make it marketable. Lenders also require borrowers to show hardship before they will approve a short sale. What can loss mitigation do for you? The goal of loss mitigation is to work out an agreement between the homeowner and the lender that will stop foreclosure proceedings permanently. This allows the homeowner to stay in their home and protects their credit history.How do we stop foreclosure? Our company specializes in resolutions of mortgage delinquencies or home foreclosure claims on behalf of you, the homeowner. We perform a detailed financial analysis and work with you to determine your best alternatives. We review your lenders loss mitigation policies and your state?s foreclosure law to make sure that we give you the best service within the context of your situation. By working with you and your lender we can tailor a resolution to meet your specific criteria and financial circumstance. We do all of this quickly and effectively because we have over 5 years experience in the Real Estate and Mortgage industry.Several companies have contacted me recently offering to help. What's different about THE WATSON GROUP? There are many predatory companies who are not what they appear to be. Beware of unscrupulous companies who are actually just interested in buying your house at big discount, or attorneys who just want to take you into bankruptcy or companies that collect a consultation fee then do nothing for you. You can check us out through Re/Max.com and Re/Max Galleria Associates whose logos are seen on our home page. We are very proud of our track record of success and many satisfied customers. They are strong evidence that we deliver on our promises just visit our sold listings and client testimonials.Can THE WATSON GROUP help me improve my credit rating? THE WATSON GROUP does not do credit repair services but we do strongly recommend the nation?s leader in credit repair, Lexington Law Firm. Right now, of course, the best thing you can do to help your credit is to prevent foreclosure.I'm currently in bankruptcy. Can you still help? Yes. But we cannot negotiate a work out agreement with your lender until your mortgage has been discharged or dismissed from the bankruptcy proceedings. Our professional loss mitigation consultants can still evaluate your case and explain the best options to save your home. Then when the mortgage is out of the bankruptcy we can proceed with the home foreclosure help. Sometimes after bankruptcy it is easier to make a mortgage payment because other debts have been discharged.Should I file for bankruptcy to save my house? Maybe. The American Bar Association has reported that 96% of homeowners who declare bankruptcy end up loosing their home to foreclosure anyway. Bankruptcy is very unlikely to help you save your home. If you declare bankruptcy you will likely end up with BOTH a bankruptcy and a foreclosure on your credit report. That being said, there certainly are times when bankruptcy is appropriate and we recommend you consult a reputable attorney should you think you need it.I've already talked with my lender and they just want all their money. Can you still help me? Yes. Most of our clients have experienced this kind of inflexibility from their lenders before calling us. We get your bank to listen to your needs because they know and trust us. We have more than 5 years experince. That kind of experience gives us credibility with your lender. Over the years we have developed positive working relationships with key people at most banks. Our integrity and professionalism have earned us a reputation that allows us to be heard when no one else can get through the red tape. We will use our experience and connections to your advantage.What if I can no longer afford my home? Can THE WATSON GROUP still help me? Yes. If you are certain that you cannot afford your home any longer and wish to sell, THE WATSON GROUP can help you to secure a short sale payoff or a deed-in lieu of foreclosure agreement with your lender. Often times these agreements can be arranged at low or no cost to you. |
What we do |
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The Short Sale
Did you know that there are actually options available to you should you find yourself in the situation of being unable to continue to pay your mortgage loan but you need to sell you home, and your home is worth less on the market than you owe?
One of these options is a Short Sale, which occurs when a lender agrees to accept less than the actual balance of the loan as payment in full, allowing you, the homeowner to get out of the property and start over.
Why are banks willing to do this? Because the alternative is foreclosure, and the foreclosure process is usually far more expensive than the discount that lenders take on a Short Sale.
How the Short Sale Affects Your Credit
What happens to your credit as a result of this, you may ask? In almost every case we have ever worked, the homeowner walks away from the situation free and clear with no further damage to their credit beyond the effect of the late or missed payments that led up to the situation.
The bottom-line: a Short Sale proves to be a "win-win" solution for everyone involved.
How Do We Get Paid?
In the Short Sale transaction, we primarily act as the real estate agent, which enables us to be the liaison between you, the homeowner and your bank, as well as all other parties in the transaction. For this service, the bank pays us a commission on behalf of the homeowner. The homeowner doesn't pay us anything!
Are we Investors?
So you might wonder, since we are also Investors, why don't we actually purchase these properties as investments, since we could buy them at a discount. Well, as any smart investor knows, to make an investment worthwhile, the property must be purchased at no more than 65-70% of its after-repair-value. Generally, in a Short Sale, unless the property is in horrific condition, the bank will not discount the loan below 75-85% of its appraised value.
Since 95% of the calls we get come from first-time homebuyers who have bought brand new homes in the last 2-5 years, the banks simply cannot discount the property enough for it to qualify as an investment opportunity for us.
When we first started our Short Sale business, our primary objective was to purchase investment properties through this process. We quickly learned, however, that it was like looking for a needle in a haystack to find a good investment candidate.
We Knew We Could Help
We began to realize, however, that we could develop a business helping homeowners get through this process and walk away from a potentially devastating situation with hope, our focus quickly shifted to simply offering our services as real estate agents. Furthermore, because so few real estate professionals have the information and experience to help their clients navigate this process, we have dedicated ourselves to providing a professional service to distressed homeowners in the Houston community.
With so many homes for sale, some potential home buyers simply don't know where to begin. Here are a few tips you can help clients think about, so they don't waste either their own time or that of their real estate professional by looking at every property.
Brought to you by!
Laura and Rod Watson
THE WATSON GROUP
Re/Max Galleria Associates
4703 Richmond Ave, Ste. B2
Houston, TX 77027
Laura's Cell: 281-797-3941
Rod's Cell: 281-797-3841
Fax: 281-817-5488
thewatsongroup.remax@gmail.com
www.thewatsongrouprealty.com
Distraught sellers who need to generate more interest in house that has been languishing on the market for months should consider 10 steps from MSNBC financial guru Laura T. Coffey
Brought to you by!
Laura and Rod Watson
THE WATSON GROUP
Re/Max Galleria Associates
4703 Richmond Ave Ste. B2
Houston, TX 77027
Laura's Cell: 281-797-3941
Rod's Cell: 281-797-3841
Fax: 281-817-5488
thewatsongroup.remax@gmail.com
www.thewatsongrouprealty.com
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The Watson Group Realty specializes in: Residential Listings, Foreclosure Prevention, Short Sale Listings, REO Properties, and New Home Sales in Katy, Cypress, Galleria, Medical Center, and Inner Loop
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