Real Homeowner Stories #2: A Fresh Start

For homeowners who are in danger of losing their home to foreclosure, it is common to feel like you are all alone and that there is no one who can help. This simply isn’t true. There are real people who have been in the same situation who have found solutions. Take, for example, Dan and Jessica M. of Grand Blanc Township, Michigan.

For Dan and Jessica, their homeownership dream always involved building a house on a piece of land. “We build a house on half an acre,” said Dan.

 In order to achieve their dream, they stretched a little beyond what they were comfortable with by getting two adjustable rate mortgages, a common practice at the time. “The introductory rates were 8.5% and 11.5%, but our lender said, ‘Don’t worry, you can refinance after two years.’”

 For a while, they were getting by. Then, a couple of things happened. “We had our first child, and soon afterward, Jessica lost her job,” said Dan. “Soon, bills started piling up.”

Because they believed they’d be able to refinance, they started paying their bills on credit cards. “We hung on for the full two years hoping we could refinance at a lower interest rate, but when the time came, our lender said no because our home’s appreciation was too low.”

 Dan and Jessica needed help. A friend referred them to a real estate agent who was a Certified Distressed Property Expert®. The agent answered their questions. Most importantly, the agent explained the difference between a foreclosure and a short sale. In a short sale, the bank agrees to allow the home to be sold for less than the amount due on the loan.

 “With this information, we were able to decide that a short sale was our best option.”

 It was a stressful process, but the agent helped them tremendously. She even kept a potential buyer from walking when the process was taking longer than expected. “Honestly, if it weren’t for her, the buyer would have left and we’d have been stuck.”

 Dan and Jessica’s story is just one of many. I have a report entitled “From Foreclosure to Freedom” which tells other stories of real homeowners who faced foreclosure and found relief. Download the report, read the stories, and then contact me for a free, confidential consultation.

 

Rob Sales
Smart Short Sales-Providing Dignified Solutions

CDPE Advance, DPP, REO Specialist, CIAS
912-655-7674

Prudential Southeast Coastal Properties - Savannah, GA   Associate Broker

 

 

 

 

 

Prudential Great Smokys Realty - Sylva, NC      Broker 

Real Homeowner Stories: It All Started with a Miscommunication

For homeowners who are in danger of losing their home to foreclosure, it is common to feel like they are alone and that no one can help. This simply isn’t true. There are real people who have been in the same situation who have found solutions. Take Lian S. of Lakewood Ohio, for example.

For Lian, her financial troubles began with a miscommunication.

Lian and her husband had just had triplets who were born extremely premature. “I was on bed rest months before they were born and they had to remain in the hospital for four months afterwards.

Despite the difficulties, they were still making their payments. “We had never been late on our mortgage since purchasing the house. Then I called my lender to push back our payment date a week or two to better align with our earning schedule,” she said.

The bank went even further, offering them a trial loan modification to help lessen their payments. “We were placed in the trial program while they processed our application for the program,” said Lian.

Unfortunately, a mixup with the paperwork at the bank caused some issues. Even though the loan modification department was processing their application, all the collections department knew was that they were making payments for less than they owed. “We were getting collections calls, but our bank told us to ignore them.”

 Then, the worst-case scenario happened. After months of processing, the bank told them that they didn’t qualify for the loan modification and that they would have to come up with the $12,000 they missed on their original payments.

 “We couldn’t come up with the money,” she said. “At that point, we realized that even though we loved this house, we’ll unfortunately need to move out.”

They had done their research and knew that a short sale was probably their best option. They sought out an agent who was knowledgeable about short sales. The agent, a CDPE®, got the foreclosure proceedings halted immediately. “She was an expert in the field of short sales and knew all the ins and outs,” said Lian.

The agent sold the house and Lian and her husband feel grateful. “We try and look at the positives,” she said. “We got out of the shadow of the bank and foreclosure, and we have three healthy children. Beyond this, we just let the negative roll off of our backs.”

Lian’s story is just one of many. I have a report entitled “From Foreclosure to Freedom” which tells other stories of real homeowners who faced foreclosure and found relief. Download the report, read the stories, and then contact me for a free, confidential consultation.

Rob Sales
Smart Short Sales-Providing Dignified Solutions

CDPE Advance, DPP, REO Specialist, CIAS
912-655-7674

Prudential Southeast Coastal Properties - Savannah, GA   Associate Broker

 

 

 

 

 

Prudential Great Smokys Realty - Sylva, NC      Broker 

 

   

Chatham County Foreclosure Stats for June 2013

Source: RealtyTrac.com

In June, the number of properties that received a foreclosure filing in Chatham County, GA was 9% lower than the previous month and 24% lower than the same time last year.

Home sales for May 2013 were down 8% compared with the previous month, and up 462% compared with a year ago. The median sales price of a non-distressed home was $168,000. The median sales price of a foreclosure home was $68,000, or 60% lower than non-distressed home sales.

Why Homeowners are in the Driver's Seat

 

There are a number of trends affecting today’s market in dramatic ways. Historically low interest rates are driving more and more people to buy homes, but there are not enough homes on the market to meet that demand. The result is that prices are increasing at an incredible rate.

This puts homeowners in an incredible position because you have something that people want! Not only that, but these trends are unlikely to continue at their current pace they for much longer. I want you to have all the details about your situation so that you can make the most informed decision.

If you have been waiting to sell your home, especially if you or someone you know is having difficulty with their mortgage, it is time for you to start exploring your options because your home may be worth significantly more than you realize. The important thing is to know where you stand.

Do you know what your home is worth today? What are homes in the area selling for? These are all questions to which the answers have changed significantly in the last few months, and knowing your specific situation will help you make more informed choices.  I have a report which explains in detail why prices have gone up and why your home might be worth more than you think! The report is entitled “What They Didn’t Say: The Truth About Your Home and What Big Media Hasn’t Told You,” and I believe you’ll be surprised by when you download and read the report. Once you are done, contact me today for a free market analysis.

Rob Sales

Smart Short Sales-Providing Dignified Solutions
CDPE Advance, DPP, REO Specialist, CIAS
912-655-7674

Prudential Southeast Coastal Properties - Savannah, GA
Associate Broker

Prudential Great Smokys Realty - Sylva, NC
Broker

   

I Think You Can, I Think You Can!!!

When the financial crisis hit, the housing market changed dramatically. In less than a year, prices dropped and the equity that homeowners had in their homes disappeared, seemingly overnight. Many people who were ready to sell their homes at that time had to put those plans on hold until the market recovered. No one will tell you that today’s market has fully recovered, but there are positive changes underway, and the changes are happening rapidly. For home-owners who had to wait to sell their homes, today may be the day they were waiting for.

 

You may now have equity in your home

The reason is simple: Prices have increased dramatically. Many homeowners may not realize it, considering how far the real estate market fell when the housing bubble burst, but in the past 12 months, prices have actually rebounded at a fairly remarkable pace In fact, according to the Case-Shiller Home Price Index (a composite of prices in 20 major metropolitan area), prices rose 11.8% year over year in February of 2013. This is the biggest yearly increase in prices since November of 2005, when the market was almost at its peak. The result is that people are lining up to buy homes in today’s market. So, why have prices increased so quickly?  

 

Fewer homeowners are in danger of losing their homes

 

When the housing crisis hit, the result was that mil- lions of people found themselves in danger of losing their home to foreclosure. The struggling economy created financial hardships for homeowners and many needed to sell their home as a result. However, because home values dropped so precipitously, they owed more on their mortgages than the homes were worth.

 

These homeowners are called "distressed" homeowners, and in recent years they’ve numbered in the millions. Today, however, these distressed homeowners may find themselves in a much better position. 

 

According to the National Association of REALTORS, distressed home sales are at their lowest point since 2008, when the foreclosure crisis started. Since most of the distressed properties have been sold off, they are no longer having such an intense effect on prices. This means that non-distressed sellers today find themselves in a much better position than at any point since the housing crisis began.

 

Investors are buying as many homes as they can

 

Investors know that the fundamental rule to successful investing is simple: Buy something for less than what you can sell it for down the road. This is certainly true of real estate investing, and the decline in housing prices at the height of the housing crisis has resulted in investors coming out in droves and buying all the properties they can get their hands on.

And it isn’t just individual investors who are buying one or two properties. Large investment firms and hedge funds are buying up huge swaths of properties to take advantage of an unprecedented opportunity. Their intention is to rent out the properties to generate cash flow for themselves, but the result is that large quantities of these homes have been bought up by these investment firms, taking them off the market in bulk.

There have been fewer homes built in the past 5 years than at any time in the past 50 years

Generally speaking, the real estate market needs about 6 months of inventory in order to keep up with normal supply and demand. This means there should be enough homes for sale that it would take 6 months to sell them all.

In today’s market, there is significantly less inventory than that. In fact, nationally there is about 4.7 months of inventory available. This number doesn’t tell the whole story, however. In some metropolitan areas, there is less than a month’s worth of inventory. There are even some cities that only have a few days of inventory for sale!

At the same time, more people want to buy homes today than at any time in the past 5 or 6 years. Interest rates are at near record lows and a new generation of homeowners is trying to buy their first home.

 

There are fewer homes to sell and more people who want to buy them. Make no mistake about it, today’s market is a seller’s market and people who sell their home today are in the strongest bargaining position in years.

 

Today’s market is a seller’s market

So, with fewer distressed homeowners driving prices down, investors buying as many properties as they can, and homebuilders just now ramping up to build new homes to meet the demand, prices have been increasing. For people who have waited to sell their home, this puts them in the driver’s seat.

Do you know what your home is worth today? Or what are homes in the area selling for? These are all questions to which the answers have changed significantly in the last few months, and knowing what your specific situation is will help you make more informed choices.

As a real estate agent in today’s market, I make it my business to have the most up-to-date information and can help you understand exactly what your current situation is. If you have been underwater, it is entirely possible you are not anymore. If you have been holding off until the market started to recover, that time is now.

Contact me today for a free valuation of your home and let me help you determine your best option. Arm yourself with information and make a more informed choice. It might just end up being an incredibly profitable decision.

 

 

 

Rob Sales, CDPE Advanced, CIAS, DPP

 

Associate Broker, Prudential Southeast Coastal Properties, Savannah, GA

 

Broker, Prudential Great Smokys Realty, Sylva, NC

 

 

5 Most Dangerous Mortgage Relief Scams

Since the beginning of the housing crisis in 2008, millions of homeowners have found themselves owing more on their mortgage than the home is worth. For homeowners in this circumstance, there is a lot to worry about. They not only have to worry about losing their homes, but they are also susceptible to fraud.

Unfortunately, the mortgage crisis has opened the door for fraudsters to take advantage of homeowners in distress. This is more common than most people realize because much of the fraud is well disguised and can seem legitimate.

For people in this situation, the best way to avoid the most common types of Mortgage Relief Fraud is by consulting professionals who are specifically trained to deal with distressed homeowners. If you or some­one you know is in this situation, don’t be the next victim.

From Interthinx Mortgage Fraud Report from Q4 2012:

The top 5 states for mortgage fraud in 2012 were:

NEVADA

ARIZONA

FLORIDA

NEW JERSEY

CALIFORNIA

• The state with the lowest amount of mortgage fraud in 2012 was Kansas
• The metropolitan area with the most mortgage fraud in 2012 was Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL.
• California experienced the greatest decline in mortgage fraud reports in 2012v.
• All 50 states reported some incident of mortgage fraud in 2012

There are 5 common ways that con artists and scammers will try to take advantage of you.

Learn about these so that you will know what to watch out for:

 

#1 CHARGING YOU UPFRONT

One of the most important things that distressed homeowners need to remember is that they should never be asked to pay anything up front. Period. In fact, the only people who should ever ask you to pay any money at all is the lender that owns your mortgage or servicer who collects for the lender. Even a real estate agent will only make money off the commission that comes after a sale is com- plete. If someone asks you to pay them money to help you out of your situation, be very suspicious.

#2  GUARANTEES

No one can guarantee to save you from your mortgage troubles. While there are more solutions today than ever before, avoiding foreclosure is still a difficult process. A qualified agent can give you advice and help you through your options, but if someone guarantees you success, chances are they are trying to take advantage of you.

#3 CHARITY OR GOVERNMENT AFFILIATION

While there are housing relief charities that exist, a common fraud tactic is for the con artist to pre- sent themselves as a non-profit or a representative of the government. They will also use seals and government names to make them seem more legitimate. Be leery of anyone approaches you like this and speak to your lender before you take any action.

 #4 ASKING YOU TO TRANSFER YOUR DEED

Under no circumstances should you transfer the deed to your property to anyone but the bank that owns your mortgage. Some people will ask you to do this under the promise that they will save the property. The problem is that once you sign the deed over, you forfeit all legal rights to the property.

 
#5 ADVISING YOU TO STOP CONTACTING YOUR LENDER

In any circumstance, your lender will ultimately make the decision as to what housing relief options you will be eligible for. When scam artists ask you to stop contacting your lender, they are doing so specifically so that you will be uninformed and forced to rely on them. Never cut off contact with your lender. Not only will you be uninformed, it will actually make it more difficult to come up with any solution at all.

 

It can seem daunting, but despite the fact that there are people who may seek to take advantage of homeowners in this circumstance, the situation isn’t hopeless! The fact is that there have never been more options for distressed homeowners than there are today. The banks and the government have been aggressive in creating alternatives for homeowners in danger of losing their homes.

 

One of the most common options is a short sale. This is when the bank agrees to allow the home to be sold for less than the amount owed on the mortgage. Banks have become increasingly willing to take this option because the amount of money the home sells for is typically greater in a short sale than at a foreclosure auction.

 

For homeowners, a short sale is often the best solu­tion because it can be much better for their credit than a foreclosure and many times they can walk away from the home without the financial burdens that will make it difficult for them to move on.

 

As a Certified Distressed Property Expert, or CDPE, I have been specifically trained to help homeowners learn what the best solution for them is, and I can also help them avoid the common scams above. It is my mission to help as many homeowners as possible.

Rob Sales

Smart Short Sales-Providing Dignified Solutions Prudential Southeast Coastal Properties
Associate Broker, CDPE Advance,
DPP, REO Specialist, CIAS
912-655-7674

 

 

Georgia's Foreclosure Rollercoaster Not Over Yet

Georgia foreclosures have been on a rollercoaster ride over the past two years says Daren Blomquist, Realty Trac Vice President. Recently he presented his analysis supporting this statement at the 2013 Inaugural Meeting of the Georgia Association of Realtors.

He was approached by two realtors from Walton County, which has the highest foreclosure rate in the state. Both told him his analysis was exactly what they had been experiencing.

Below is his presentation outlining Georgia's situation.

Georgia Foreclosure Situation & Outlook from RealtyTrac

Georgia is among the non-judicial foreclosure states — most of which have been less susceptible to being tossed to and fro by the storm waves generated by the robo-signing settlement, however, it has most definitley seen it's "ebbs and flows" directly correlated with the major highlights of the robo-signing settlement case.

Blomquist's Slide 7 above most clearly demonstrates this. After trending higher through most of 2010 and during early months of 2011, Georgia foreclosure activity decreased on an annual basis for 13 straight months starting in March 2011. This trend began just a few months after the robo-signing controversy came to light in October 2011 and after the 49 state attorneys general investigation into foreclosure practices by the nation’s five leading lenders had gotten into full swing.

In April 2012 the settlement was finalized and Georgia foreclosure spiked for three straight months in April, May and June 2012. Starting in July 2012 there have now been six straight months of annual decreases in Georgia foreclosures, which would correlate direclty with a Georgia Court of Appeals ruling in July 2012 that held lenders to a higher standard in providing information about the entity that actually owns the mortgage to homeowners on foreclosure notices.

Blomquist believes this rollercoaster ride over the past two years in Georgia isn't over yet. He states that it actually foreshadows more bumps in the state’s foreclosure trends before its housing market can return to smooth sailing.

The three-month surge in foreclosure notices in mid-2012 — not to mention the 32 percent of Georgia homeowners who are seriously underwater (see slide 16) — indicates there are still many homeowners in danger of foreclosure in the state.

2013 is expected to be an important year in which these idle foreclosures will push through the pipeline, along with the huge foreclosure inventory that already exists in the state (see slide 11) ensures that the lingering foreclosure problem will continue burden Georgia home prices. Georgia's saturated market provides inventory for Realtors to sell and buyers and investors to buy.


Source: David Blomquist, RealtyTrac.com February 14, 2013

Savannah Foreclosure Statistics for December 2012

RealtyTrac, a leading marketplace for foreclosures properties including plentiful data for trending statistics used by real estate professionals and economists, has released figures for December 2012.

The latest trends indicate that 1 in 810 housing units in the U.S. received a foreclosure filing during December 2012. The chart below shows National statistics.





In the Savannah area alone, 1 in 1,718 homes received a foreclosure filing during the last month of 2012. Fifty-six new foreclosures were filed in the following zip codes: 31419/31410/31406/31405/31407/31401/31408. Chatham County reports 82 foreclosures in November 2012, and 73 in December.

Broken down by Savannah zip codes, the below chart shows the number of foreclosures in December 2012:

The average sales price of homes in Savannah area December 2012, accoridng to RealtyTrac,is $234,348.00 and the average price of sold foreclosures was about $150,000 in November 2012, and is projected to remain so for December 2012 as sales decline typically during the holiday season.

Short Sale Incentives

 

 

 

 

Get cash to sell the home you can’t afford

Since the beginning of the housing crisis, millions of homeowners have found themselves pinned in by their financial circumstances and chained to a mortgage on which they owe more than their home is worth. In the past, homeowners enduring these challenges had very few options, and most would be forced to lose their home to foreclosure.

 

Today, however, there are more options. The government and the banks have created a multitude of programs and foreclosure alternatives that can help people in these circumstances find a dignified solution for their problems without crippling their financial future. These options include loan modifications, refinancing, or short sales.

The most amazing development in today’s market, however, is one simple fact: Banks are now willing to give cash to homeowners to sell the home they can’t afford.

 

Please contact me today if you or someone you know could use my help and wants the latest information about current incentives available to distressed homeowners.

Rob Sales

Prudential Southeast Coastal Properties

Associate Broker, CDPE Advance,
DPP, REO Specialist, CIAS
912-655-7674
www.smartshortsales.net