Yuri M. Ramirez

I like to think of Fridays as the last day to make a difference in someone's life for the work week...

This morning around 7:45am I got a phone call from a homeowner who was responding to a flyer that my partner and I had sent to his home...he was inquiring about a short sale and if he could do one. I started asking him some questions and quickly learned the unfortunate truth, which was he was too late. We would've been able to help him stay in his home, at least until he found somewhere else to go for a couple of months, and we could have begun negotiations with the bank to accept less for his home than what he owed. In this case however, the bank had already foreclosed on his home, and I informed him that the 'cash for keys' that the bank appointed agent was offering him, was actually real money, intended to help him move.

Moral of the story--DONT WAIT! As soon as you start falling behind on your payments call us! When you learn of a TRUSTEE SALE DATE set on your property--CALL US! We can usually help up until it's actually sold at the trustee sale...and remember; it doesn't cost you anything to inquire. We can't help everyone, but you can be sure that we will give you an honest answer.

The real estate market in Sacramento, although in a recovery stage, is still landing many buyers amazing deals. Congratulations to the Chows, happy new homeowners who just landed a great deal. They purchased a short sale listing for less than HALF of what the sellers had paid for the property. Their monthly payments with taxes and insurance are less than $800.That's less than the average rent for an apartment in the city of Sacramento! They were able to get a great loan with a 30 yr fixed interest rate at less than 5% interest rate. What did they purchase? An 1,100 sq. ft. half-plex, that was built in 2004 with 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths. It was move-in ready!

Short sales, however, are not for the weak hearted. The buyers waited about 3.5 months from the date they wrote the offer to the time it closed, but I'd say it was definitely worth the wait! Why aren't more people taking advantage of deals like this?

Ayer en Washington se anunció que el Senado votó a favor de extender el crédito para las familias que compran vivienda por primera vez. Actualmente el beneficio es de hasta $8,000 de reembolso para los que compren su primera casa antes del 1º de Diciembre de este año.
Bajo esta legislación los senadores también no solo votaron a favor de extender el crédito hasta Abril de 2010 sino que también ofrecerían un incentivo económico extra para aquellas personas que quieran comprar casa y mudarse a otra. El único requisito para este incentivo es que hayan vivido en su residencia durante los últimos 5 años.
El crédito para quienes califiquen para este beneficio será de hasta $6,500. De ser aprobado y convertido en ley por el Presidente Obama, aquellos que quieran aprovechar esta oportunidad deberán tener un contrato para la compra de una casa aceptado antes de finales de Abril de 2010, y contar con dicho contrato finalizado para finales de junio de ese mismo año.
Aunque esto aun no es un hecho, esperamos que pronto se presente en la casa de representantes, de ser aprobado en esa cámara entonces el proyecto se enviaría al Presidente Obama, quien ya expresó su apoyo hacia esta medida. Sabemos que hasta ahora más de 1.4milliones de personas han podido beneficiarse y lograr su sueño de ser propietarios de su casa gracias al crédito actual.

Chris has been is real estate almost all his life, since he was born, because his mother is a well known, top rated Realtor in Sacramento. Chris began in the business as a buyer's agent for his mother, before going out on his own. Since then, he has made Master's Club, an accomplishment which less than 5% percent of all real estate agents in Sacramento. He has lived in Sacramento all his life, and is very involved with different charities throughout the region.

With the shift in the real estate market, we both saw the writing on the wall with regards to where the market was going. We've found that more homeowners are struggling with making their payments due to job loss, military, loans with payments that keep increasing while the values keep declining, and the overall economy going down. Chris and I have decided to focus our efforts on helping those who are facing the possibility of losing their homes. I recently obtained the Pre-foreclosure Specialist Designation, in order to help our clients facing a foreclosure. We have a vast network of business partners from CPAs, Tax Attorneys, Credit Counselors, and advisors that can offer good advice when needed.

Right now, close to 80% of our business is made up of short sales. A short sale is when a homeowner needs to sell their home, but owes more than what the home is worth. Our goal is to save 100 people from facing a foreclosure and completing successful short sales over the next 2 years. With the partnership that we have formed, I am fired up to have Chris as a partner, and we are looking forward to growing our business together for many years to come!

If you have missed more than three mortgage payments, or your lender has filed a Notice of Default (NOD), you might think the loss of your home is inevitable. Even at this stage, there are five options to stop a foreclosure!

1)Up until the time your home is scheduled for auction, most lenders would rather work out a compromise that would allow you to get back on track with your mortgage than take your home in a foreclosure.

2)Short Sale
After your lender files an NOD but before they schedule an auction, if you get an offer from a buyer, you lender must consider it. If they foreclose on your home, the lender is going to simply turn around and try to resell it; if you present them with a reasonable short sale offer, they may see it as saving them the time, effort and trouble of finding a qualified buyer in a soft market. So, if your home is on the market, continue to aggressively seek a buyer for it, even after your lender initiates the foreclosure process. Call today to find out"How to Sell Your Home Immediately When Foreclosure Looms" for action steps you can take to unload your home fast, then make your best pitch as to why your lender should agree to the short sale.

3)Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy stops foreclosure dead in its tracks. Once you file a bankruptcy petition, federal law prohibits any debt collectors, including your mortgage lender, from continuing collection activities. Foreclosure is considered a collection activity, and so the day your lender becomes aware that you have filed for bankruptcy, the foreclosure process will effectively be frozen. But here's the rub; once you get to court, the bankruptcy trustee's role is simply to play referee or mediator between you and your creditors. Bankruptcy really just buys you more time to replace your lost job or recover financially from a temporary disability; it doesn't let you off the hook for your debts. The law requires your mortgage company and other creditors to work in good faith with you to formulate a reasonable repayment plan so you can get back on track. Consult with a bankruptcy attorney regarding whether filing for bankruptcy is a good strategy for you.

4. Assumption/Lease-Option.
Most loans these days are no longer assumable. The average mortgage now contains a "due on sale" clause by which the borrower agrees to pay the loan off entirely if and when they transfer the property. However, if you are facing foreclosure, you might be able to persuade your lender to modify your loan, delete this clause and allow another buyer to assume your loan. The lender may want to assess the new buyer's qualifications, but it can be a win-win-win option for all. You might be able to negotiate a down payment from the buyer which you can use to pay off your outstanding past due mortgage balance. In a lease-option scenario, the buyer becomes your tenant, and you continue owning the property until the buyer has saved enough down payment money, improved their credit sufficiently or sold their other home. In some situations, the buyer will make a one-time, lump option payment upfront, paying you to obtain the option to purchase your home. You can apply the option payment to bringing your mortgage current. Then, the buyer will make lease payments monthly which you, the seller, then apply to your mortgage. To successfully use a lease-option to stop the foreclosure process, you must negotiate lease payments that cover most or all of your mortgage payment, property tax and insurance obligations -- enough that you can make up any difference and still pay to live somewhere else.

5)Deed in Lieu
A deed in lieu of foreclosure is exactly what it sounds like. The homeowner facing foreclosure signs the deed to the home back over to the bank -- voluntarily. This sounds like it would be a great option, but actually has the same impact on a homeowner's credit that foreclosure does. Lenders are very reluctant to agree to take a home back through a deed in lieu of foreclosure for a number of reasons: They fear the homeowner will sue later alleging they didn't understand what was happening, the lender must pay any second or third mortgages or home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) off before executing a deed in lieu, and the lender wants to be certain that the borrower's financial distress is real. Allowing the foreclosure process to proceed is one way the lender can be sure the borrower is not faking poverty.

When facing a foreclosure, the worst thing you can do is NOTHING! Call or write today for more information!