At least $10 billion will go to principal reduction in loan modifications and $7 billion is earmarked for refinancing loans for borrowers interested in keeping their home.  Up to $7 billion will go towards other assistance, which includes short sales.

What does all that mean for us?  Good news actually.  First of all, the banks are going to be a little slower and more cautious about foreclosing.  They are experiencing the real cost of foreclosure in terms of money, time and public relations. Short sales, on the other hand, are up this past year because the banks halted much of their foreclosure operations and finally added staff to the loss mitigation departments. They have had success in closing large numbers of short sales and probably see this as a better alternative than foreclosure.  Foreclosures can bite back in many ways.  Add to that some of the $7 billion that will go to short sales and we are poised for a record year in short sales.

As we have discussed in an earlier newsletter, the bank, the seller and the housing market are all better off with a short sale and we have years of inventory to work through. Many sellers, agents and buyers have finally figured out what short sales are and are becoming more comfortable with them.  Short sales are creeping into our dinner conversations and vernacular.  Short sales are here in a big way…and growing.

How does that help the agent?  The housing market gets stabilized quicker with a higher average sales price.  For agents involved in short sales, this means more closings. For those agents who still don’t want to touch them, at least there are fewer foreclosures in the neighborhood.

An important point not to be overlooked is how all of this affects the homeowner.  A foreclosure can be a financially and emotionally debilitating event in their lives.  A short sale, by comparison, can be a difficult and frustrating process but the results are usually a speed bump instead of a  crash.  The homeowner being foreclosed on may NEVER enter the housing market again while the short sale recipient will probably be back…..cautiously and better prepared, but back.

With all things considered the settlement looks like good news.

Let’s look at the present situation:  Millions of properties are in the foreclosure pipeline and millions more are poised on the brink.  Properties are underwater to the tune of 20% to 40% and more.  Almost a million foreclosed properties (REOs) are on the market and still more being held back in inventory awaiting the completion of the Presidential election and a more favorable market.  On the bright side, the economy is moving in the right direction, interest rates are at an all-time low, buyers are out looking for bargains and investors are starting to get back in the market.  Add to the mix a 25 billion dollar settlement with the “Big 5″ banks and we have ourselves a real rodeo.

Now these Big 5 banks were just put through the public relations wringer and a big dip into their rather deep pockets because they screwed up on how they were handling the foreclosure process for mortgages.  The funny thing is that they did not even own most of these mortgages……they were just the Servicer on most of these files.  With their most recent experience I know that these banks now have even more incentive to take short sales.  Why?  1) Short sales are a much faster solution than a foreclosure; 2) banks/lienholders recoup substantially more of their investment in a short sale than in a foreclosure; 3) The banks avoid the public stigma of the “foreclosure bullies”; and 4) The banks avoid the growing nightmare and expense of taking title to the properties and the accompanying title issues.  Short sales by comparison are quick, clean, more lucrative and quiet.

What does that mean for real estate agents and the market in general…?

…Homes in better condition, higher prices and shorter time (in years) to the housing market recovery.  The huge and often overlooked bonus is that today’s seller is in much better condition financially, emotionally and credit wise with a short sale than a foreclosure.  It is a speed bump in their lives rather than a possibly life altering financial and emotional event.  I believe it is also important to point out that today’s seller, if properly helped, is tomorrow’s buyer.  A mistreated and disrespected seller (insert FORECLOSURE here) will be out of the market longer…..if not forever.

Wow, maybe we should all reconsider our yellow capes.

2^nd noteholder strategy: It certainly seems that the 10% strategy pays off for the 2nds, even if less short sales close because of their higher requirements.  In the example below we see that asking for more money will increase their bottom line even if fewer short sales close.

10 approvals at $3,000.  If 8 actually close that will net the bank $24,000.

10 approvals at $15,000.  If 2 actually close that will net the bank $30,000.

In reality, I think that the numbers come out in favor of the bank more dramatically than this example, but you get my point.

What about releasing deficiencies:  We find that the large banks/servicers will take the 10% and release the deficiencies.  The regional and smaller banks often will approve the short sale but want extra cash from the Seller to release the deficiencies.  The required extra amount can be as much as 40% of the amount owed on the 2^nd mortgage.

Submit both packages at the same time:  I also don’t recommend waiting to send in a short sale package to the 2^nd until you receive the approval from the 1^st.  Send them in at the same time.  Sometimes the 1^st will approve ahead of the 2^nd and sometimes it is the other way around.  Either way we will use the approval in hand to gently push the other to complete their review and approve the short sale.

The lienholder is not a party to the Offer to Purchase and Contract. The Short Sale Addendum
specifically gives the lienholder the right to accept any offer, regardless of its Effective Date. The
lienholder is taking a loss on this short sale and rightfully has the ability to mitigate its loss by
accepting a higher or stronger offer even if it was signed much later in time than the first or primary
offer.

NORTH CAROLINA REAL ESTATE COMMISSION REQUIREMENTS. The North Carolina Real Estate
Commission requires that the real estate agent or the attorney handling the short sale inform the
bank of the existence of another offer, even if it is lower. Further, the North Carolina Real Estate
Commission has stated that, even if the Seller does not accept another offer as a back-up offer, the
bank should be informed of the unsigned offer as they have a monetary interest at stake.

BANK POLICY. Most banks have a policy that they will only review one offer at a time. These
banks often will not want the real estate agent to forward additional offers to the Bank unless the
primary offer is terminated by the Buyer or rejected by the bank. Some banks, usually smaller
local or regional bank, want to see all offers and will choose the one they feel is the best.

RECOMMENDATION. The Real Estate Commission is the governing body for the real estate agent.
Even if an attorney is handling the short sale, it is the real estate agent’s responsibility to follow
the requirements of the Real Estate Commission. I recommended that the real estate agent make
sure that the attorney handling the short sale inform the bank of any additional offers, even if the
bank has a policy to review one offer at a time and does not want the real estate agent or attorney
to forward any back-up offers. That way the requirements of the Real Estate Commission are
followed.

A simple email to the bank’s negotiator informing them of another offer should suffice. I don’t
recommend that you necessarily have to forward the actual offer to the bank unless they request
all offers as this may confuse the negotiator. (The bank negotiator may think that you are
terminating the first offer and want to submit the new offer for consideration.)

In Blog #9 we talked about Flopping and how withholding information from the bank regarding
a higher offer could be viewed as mortgage fraud. Because of this, I would recommend that,
regardless of what state you are in, you consider informing the bank of all offers as suggested
above.

There is a misconception on the part of many Buyers as well as many agents that this is an easy and quick process. They think that you just have to present an offer to the bank and the bank gratefully takes the offer and considers it with thought and logic in a timely fashion and approves it. This is not the case. You would be surprised how many listing agents have this same belief. We have heard time and again from bank negotiators that agents send in an offer with no short sale package or an incomplete one, refuse to send in requested documents, and then yell at the negotiators when the offer is not getting any response. This is not a formula for success.

A short sale is a process that the offer (and the parties) must be go through in order to get an outcome…..any outcome…..even a rejection. I have heard from banks that their statistics tell them that less than 50% of approved short sales close. With that kind of a track record I can understand why they don’t do back flips when an offer is presented. In their eyes, the odds are against ever closing.
So if the odds are against you at the outset wouldn’t it be prudent for a Buyer to do everything they can to improve their chances of getting an approval if they truly want this property at their price…. sometime in their lifetime? One way to improve the odds is to have someone handle the short sale that knows what they are doing. As previously discussed, there are at least eight necessary steps to handle completely and professionally in order to obtain a short sale approval from a bank. There are certainly real estate agents, attorneys and third party negotiators who understand what many of these steps are. Of those I am sure that a few are performing every step (including the difficult negotiations required) necessary to get an approval at the best terms. If you are with one of them, then you are good to go. (In North Carolina and several other states this is considered the practice of law and an attorney is required to negotiate with the bank so check with your state’s Real Estate Commission and State Bar)

If, however, your short sale is being handled by someone that does not do this regularly, professionally and thoroughly, then your odds are well below 50%. If your short sale is being handled by someone who handles a short sale occasionally but is conscientious and determined then you are probably approaching 40% to 50%. If you are with someone with the requisite experience, focus and time, then your approval rate just doubled.

It’s the Seller’s short sale, so why should a Buyer get involved in who handles the short sale process? As discussed above, if a Buyer wants this deal, then the Buyer has a stake to protect and should have a desire to increase the odds of success. Additionally, the short sale may technically be the Seller’s. However, the deal is the Buyer’s, the property will be the Buyer’s, time spent negotiating a short sale (or wasting it on a rejection) is the Buyer’s and the eventual price approved by the bank is the Buyer’s.

Lastly, The Buyer’s Agent should also consider who is handling the short sale because it is their relationship with a potential buyer that is at stake. If an agent brings a buyer to a short sale and they wait for months on end because the agent on the other side doesn’t know what they are doing and they end up with less than satisfactory results, they may lose that Buyer forever. That Buyer is expecting their agent to help them through this arduous and confusing minefield we call short sales.

No Foreclosures Over the Holidays

Source: CNNMoney, Les Christie (12/03/2010)

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are freezing all foreclosure evictions on the mortgage loans they own or back from Dec. 20 through Jan. 3.

“If the property is occupied, our foreclosure attorneys will suspend the eviction to provide a greater measure of certainty to families during the holidays,” says Anthony Renzi, executive vice president of single family portfolio management at Freddie Mac.

Most of the large banks, including Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, already observe a moratorium through the New Year, unless the foreclosure involves an investor who chooses not to observe the holiday policy.

Carlsbad Residents, don’t wait until this is what you worry about during the Holidays

You have enough to worry about during the holidays, parties, friends, gathering, gifts. Don’t make getting evicted one of them. If you or someone you know is starting to have problems with the mortgage you need to call me right away.

Don’t Wait any longer

Michael-Edward Cruz
Solutions Real Estate
Broker Associate 01758933
www.mikerebroker.com
1-800-374-9110 Ext.1

What is a short sale?

When can you do a Short Sale?

What is a good hardship?

Are you in foreclosure? Do you want to know your options but don’t want swim with the sharks?

This website may have the information you need to help you save your home. FANNIE MAY WEBSITE

If keeping your home is not an option and you need to short sale, then call us. We are certified with two major short sale designations ( CDPE and PSC ) and have invested a lot of time and money in our education in order to help you get your short sale approved.

Call now to see if you qualify for a short sale. 800-374-9110 Ext 1

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Supplemental Directive 09-09 November 30, 2009

Introduction of Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives – Short Sale and Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY

Michael-Edward Cruz
California Real Estate Broker
01758933

Many Americans are Hoping for a Loan Modification

HOPE!

wikipedia defines hope as:

“A belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life. Hope is a feeling that something desired may happen, when the outlook may or may not warrant it.”

When I traded stocks I was taught that four letter words hurt you as a trader more than they helped you. The main bad words were FEAR and HOPE.

FEAR kept you from fully maximizing on your trades and HOPE kept you in them long enough to pay the hefty price.

Now as a Real Estate Broker I meet people who are in danger of losing their home to foreclosure. Like stocks, the real estate market has its ups and downs. And like stocks the same emotions play out. Fear and Hope are prevalent. Of those I think HOPE is worse,  its hurting people more than just having a foreclosure.

EXAMPLE

We will call this person Tom,

Tom was behind on his mortgage three months and $14,000 in back payments not including fines and looming legal fees. Based on public record I knew he was in need of my services and offered to do a short sale on his property. He told me that he was working on getting a loan modification. It made sense, he was working but went thru a divorce and this hurt his ability to stay current. He just had to prove to the lender that since the property had lost 50% of its value it would be in their best interest to work with him.  So he had his buddy refer him to an attorney who was going to work on the loan  mod. The attorney charged him $4,000 to work on his file and off they went.

Five months later the banks responded… DENIED! Tom thinking that his attorney didn’t know what he was doing  fired his loan modification company and hired another one he heard on the radio, they charged him $4,500.

One month later after the loan mod company didn’t return any phone calls or emails he decides to visit the location only to find out that the business had gone bankrupt, Ouch!  (people still think radio and tv add credibility!)

But he was still hopeful so he paid a third company $3,000 to help him. This company did work on it like the first had and three months later he got his answer. DENIED! What!! how could this happen, it doesn’t make sense. The government said that programs exist and that banks had to help people!! Arrrrgh!! How could this happen you say, it doesn’t make sense, banks took tarp money!!!!

Well what happened is the investor sold the note the moment that Tom’s loan went into default. Huh? what does that mean you say? That means that the servicer or bank as most people know them (Bank of America, Chase, Citi) don’t own the loans. Investors do,banks hold a small number of loans but not many. So the many investors who do own these loans sell them to other investors who buy bad debt. Sometimes the same attorney who helped your on the loan mod is buying bad debt to resell. (yes it happens, I have had bank reps tell me that attorneys are there best note buyers, especially on second loans.) Don’t act surprised, these are the waters you enter when in these situations.

Most investors don’t know the homeowner and yes they don’t care. All they know is that they lent money for the purpose of collecting a profit, short or long term the word is PROFIT. Like your 401k at work, you save to be able to retire and live off the interest. Some of these loans were actually purchased with other peoples retirement money but that is a whole other topic for another day.

So again, without the homeowner even knowing, the investor sold that $380,000 note for $90,000 (property worth 180,000) The new investor has purchased the note for ONE REASON, LIQUIDATION. The old investor probably did it for tax breaks , or maybe his buddy buys it to resell, who knows, the point is money is moving. and Toms house is the prize!

Not FAIR right, well there’s another four letter word for you. Maybe they have LUCK, and Tom needs real HELP, see a pattern here?

We spoke with an exec at Bank of America who admitted that only 10% of loan mods have been made permanent. Of those 10% they did, 80% re defaulted.  So why are the banks pushing them if they really don’t help??? Well like we said earlier, gov programs! They have to try and help even though many people will be denied, its called Public Relations!

But back to Tom…

So after Tom paid $11,500 of hope money he was told SORRY. We are foreclosing next week!  So again hopeful Tom sues the bank which delayed the foreclosure for a week.  And then the day came, FORECLOSURE! No stopping the train, this was done and done. Right?

Well hope reared its ugly head again, this time he hoped that he could reverse the foreclosure and hope that the bank could not make him leave his home. After a couple of misfiled court documents and other delay tactics he was eventually evicted.

So hope won him

$11,500 in fees, foreclosure and finally eviction, all in his credit record for him to keep for 10 years. From here on he can HOPE to get cell phone or lease on apartment in the near future.

This is a real scenario by the way.  I have been in situations where the banks have screwed up and this was the only tactic left. But this was not Tom’s case at all.

Tom should have short sold the home. He owed about $400,000 for a home that was worth $180,000. What if he was successful with the loan mod? What did he actually accomplish? He would really be renting his home without a landlord. It would be a temporary fix at best.  He would be responsible for repairs, insurance, and taxes only to have issues with the loan in 2 to 5 years. He could have rented a MUCH, MUCH NICER HOME while his credit improved.

The WORST PART OF THIS STORY is he would be ready to buy right about NOW because this happened 2 years ago. He would have been eligible to buy again. And those 11k would have been perfect for a down payment.

I guess when it comes to business, hope and money don’t mix!

Michael-Edward Cruz
California Real Estate Broker 01758933
760-689-BANK (2265)

http://www.mikerebroker.com

http://facebook.com/mikerebroker

They may never modify the loan. Even though they make you think they will. So instead, why not short sale your home and rent a nicer home?

For the same price your could be living here

Your loan is $399,000 the home is worth #130,000

Obviously if your not paying your mortgage their is a good reason. The point I am trying to make is you have to be smart and know that you can recover from situations like this and sometimes it does not make sense to get lured into ideas that will not work. I have met many homeowners who have been told they might qualify for a modification. Only to find out they were just acting like they wanted to help.

When you ready to get back to happiness, call us and we will help you short sale your property.

Michael-Edward Cruz
01758933
760-689-BANK

See below

If you need a Real Estate Team that understands the market, give us a call.

Michael-Edward Cruz
Broker Lic 01758933
951-572-2789
760-689-BANK (2265)

by Michael-Edward Cruz – California Real Estate Broker 951-572-2789

I found a promising article detailing how some lenders are beginning to shift their focus from foreclosure to short sales. Unfortunately I could not link to it on my blog due to copyright laws.

Some Lenders are now considering short sales as a real solution. AFTER the mass foreclosures in 2007 – 2008, AFTER the disaster in modifications in 2009, they might finally be listening to us.

I can’t really complain though.  Before I worked for this team lead by Troy Huerta, 2 out 3 of my deals foreclosed!  I was a typical agent throwing darts in the dark and having the closing figures to show for it.  My success rate was less than 33%.  Since teaming up with Troy, my success rate is an admirable 100%, so far.  This year alone our team has already closed 20 transactions!!!

A big part of my difficulty stemmed from my lack of planning to deal with lenders rather than the lenders not actually listening.  Lenders will always find ways to make more and more money no matter what.  Otherwise, how will their CEO’s be able to remodel their offices for less than $2 million?  When dealing with our pre-foreclosure transactions, we focus our job on showing them that a short sale is better than a foreclosure.  Most of the time a short sale is better, unfortunately it is not always easy to get the lender to understand. That is why I have teamed up with Troy Huerta from the Real Estate Insight Team at Keller Williams.

Troy Huerta has been featured by Smart Money magazine (a Wall Street Journal

publication) as a Power Broker. The impressive part of Mr. Huerta’s success is his fundamental understanding of the short sale process and his ability to turn nearly every transaction into a win-win-win situation for lenders, sellers, agents (and buyers).  Armed with a strong lending background, Troy foresaw the market turn and did everything he could (including purchasing a local and well-established real estate office) to position himself one step ahead of the rest.  The first year (June 2007 – June 2008) he had successfully closed 50+ short sales at a time when offices were folding like houses of cards and agents were being driven from their once thriving (and easy paced) careers.  His understanding of how lenders work has made him the “go to guy” on short sale transactions. He has held DRE credit courses on short sales and currently designates certificate courses for agents looking to break into this market. His success has been truly amazing. He has a great team that I am lucky to be a part of.

After my first experience as an REO agent, I knew that this was not the answer for me in this market.  The whole experience was not worth the money I made when the sale was finalized. I went into this business to help people realize their dreams of homeownership, not contribute to the nightmare of foreclosure.

I am happy with my choice to be persistent and find a way to become successful with the short sales. Most agents ran from this (sooner or later). Most of the agents I have talked to have said “It’s too much work”, ” I hate dealing with lenders” and my favorite, “they take forever to close”. I agree that they should not work on short sales.  You have to love it and “get it” like we do.  A comprehensive list of negotiators you’ve closed with in the past doesn’t hurt either.

While our primary focus is on listings and homeowner assistance, we offer professional negotiation services to agents who can’t or don’t want to handle the negotiation portion of their transactions.  Our system of short sale closings enable us to continue our success as things get “easier”.

WITH LENDERS WORKING WITH US + OUR SUCCESS WHEN THEY WERE NOT = THE ABILITY TO HELP AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE IN 2010

Are you late on your mortgage?  Do you have an NOD and are in danger of foreclosure?  Do you know someone who is struggling to make ends meet?  Is the loan modification game getting you tired and at greater risk of foreclosure?  CALL THE NUMBERS BELOW, LEAVE A MESSAGE WITH YOUR SITUATION AND A SPECIALIST WILL CALL YOU TO DISCUSS YOUR OPTIONS

800-374-911-0

You would think that they would at least stick to foreclosing on homes they owned.

The story below shows the power and arrogance that is Wall Street Bankers.

Bank of America Forecloses on the Wrong house AGAIN

If you or someone you know is in danger of losing your home to foreclosure, don’t deal with them on your own. Get expert help, call us today.

Michael-Edward Cruz
California Real Estate Broker
800-374-9110 Ext 1
www.mikerebroker.com
www.shortsalemc.com
Follow me on Twitter
Become a fan on Facebook

Parent workshop to be held in Temecula

The Press-Enterprise

The Temecula Valley Council PTA will sponsor a free, two-part, workshop on creating school-family-community partnerships from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday and Feb. 23.

The workshop will include information on parent information resource centers, ways parents can get involved in schools and other topics.

The workshop is open to parents from any Temecula Valley Unified School District campus, but seating is limited and reservations are required. The sessions will be in the community room at the Temecula Public Library, 30600 Pauba Road.

Information: council President Jeannie Hardy, 951-694-5655, orinfo@tvcpta.org.

If you or someone you know is in danger of losing their home to foreclosure call:

For North San Diego County – TROY HUERTA 760-420-5498
For South Riverside & South Orange County – MICHAEL-EDWARD CRUZ 951-572-2789 & 949-630-9743

They are working the short sale market and giving homeowners options to avoid foreclosure. They do not charge any ridiculous “fees” to get your process started. With a high success rate, they are looking for sales that can be completed. To find out if you qualify send a request on the home page by clicking the link www.shortsalemc.com

Here is an article from the California Association of Realtors with some news on Real Estate Financing for 2010. To subscribe see the links above under POST for the link.

Conforming loan limits extended through 2010

For release:
Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

Extension of conforming loan limits through 2010 earns praise from C.A.R.

LOS ANGELES (Oct. 30) –The U.S. Congress late yesterday passed a congressional resolution extending through 2010 the current conforming loan limits of $417,000 for most areas in the U.S. and $729,750 for high-cost areas, including many in California. President Obama is expected to sign the resolution today or tomorrow as part of a broader piece of budgetary legislation that will prevent a government shutdown.

The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) and the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) have long advocated making permanent higher conforming loan limits. As a result of C.A.R.’s and NAR’s efforts, a provision of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 included temporarily raising the conforming loan limits from $625,500 in high-cost areas to $729,750 and extending the limits through 2009. Yesterday’s actions effectively extend the higher conforming loan limits for Fannie, Freddie, and FHA loans through 2010.

“There is no doubt that higher loan limits and the federal tax credit for first-time home buyers have helped stabilize California’s housing market over the last year,” said C.A.R. President James Liptak. “C.A.R. applauds our congressional representatives for their actions to extend the higher loan limits through 2010. They now should focus on making higher loan limits permanent.”

The conforming loan limit determines the maximum size of a mortgage that Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy or “guarantee.” Non-conforming or “jumbo loans” typically carry higher mortgage interest rates than conforming loans, increasing monthly payments and hampering the ability of families in California to purchase homes by making them less affordable.

Leading the way…® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with nearly 163,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles

Have you heard? The government is trying to motivate lenders to avoid foreclosure.

According to statistics the sister program HAMP has been able to help about 9% of homeowners in trouble. Yes I said 9%, I think the average Realtor has been able to short sale about 20% without the extra help.
We have been able to close about 95% of our short sales because we understand the process. And in my case 95% was never a number I thought was even possible. It took hard work and perseverance but I made it.

I believe short sales have been an issue for two main reasons.

1. The staffing departments in loss mitigation departments exploded and this caused a huge learning curve and lack of adequate systems.

2. The mentality of these departments was that of a collections agent. Not actually mitigating loss but gambling to see how much they could get. I traded stocks for many years and some people said I was gambling, but my level of trading risk was nothing compared to these departments. They hang there risk on another agents appraisal-which many are unqualified to give, they lack any knowledge in real estate. Those talented and qualified loss mitigation agents are buried by thousand of request.

These departments have been filled with loan officers that went broke when the housing bubble bust. They had not been in business long enough to learn the fundamentals of selling homes and negotiating selling terms. They went from making an insane amount of money to broke. Now they are just looking for a steady paycheck.

I lost count of how many times lenders have foreclosed on a home which they would have made more on a short sale. Either because of price, commission, closing cost, basically the normal cost to sell a home, AND THEN sell it one to two months later for 20 to 30% less.

It’s not surprising that some Realtors refuse to touch short sales. Not to mention buyers who don’t want to wait for what seems like forever.

So do I think this HAFA program will work? I sure hope so but I am not going to hold my breath.

To me this will just serve to confuse more people and waste tax payer money. But if it works then great, because both Realtors and Homeowners need the help.

So is it all bad? THE ANSWER IS NO

There are many variables involved. All properties cannot be short sold but we need to go back to basics. Homes are held as collateral for money that is owed. With that you can begin to change the way you think about short sales.

It is all about education and negotiation, the Realtor is key to this part of the process. You need to work with an agent that can educate lenders as to the process, make it easy for them.

Yes make it easy, they have thousands of files, the agent needs to keep it simple. Then they need to negotiate intelligently, don’t sumbit offers with huge discounts, while this might work once in a blue moon. You will just cause the file to get tossed.

And you the seller is the second key. When looking to short sale your home you need to ask yourself a few things.

1- Can I repair my credit after a short sale?
2 – Is my loan a recourse or non-recourse loan?
3 – Do I have a Realtor that understands the short sale negotiation process?
4 – Do I have a valid hardship?
5 – Am I commited to settling these debts?

When you prepare this questions ahead of time, you can ensure a smoother short sale process.

Why waste your time trying to get a loan mod or a short sale that is never going to happen.

Why start with a process you are not committed to.

There is life at the end of this and yes your credit and your stability will return to normal.

We have helped many people reduce there housing expense by over 2/3. Our services are free to you as we are compensated by the lenders and or buyers. And because time is of the essence we encourage you get informed asap!

We look forward to helping the governments efforts to help people in foreclosure. While we are unsure of HAFA’s success, we are still committed to the process.

If you or someone you know is in danger of foreclosure call our short sale experts right away.

Michael-Edward Cruz 951-572-2789
Troy Huerta 760-420-5498

If there is no answer leave a message, if they are not on the phone with a lender they are helping clients.

“At the start of the foreclosure crisis, she says, banks accepted about one in every 10 offerings on short sales. But as the crisis worsened, the number of short sale homes closing in escrow has improved to one in every five homes.”

“Banks realize they typically are better off to close a short transaction than go through foreclosure,”

Michael-Edward Cruz and Troy Huerta have been working on short sales transactions since day one and they have been able to work with lenders even back when it wasn’t popular for lenders to help. “We have been able to consistently show lenders the benefit to a short sale.”  said Michael-Edward Cruz

If you or someone you know needs a free short sale consultation then please have them call one our experts right away.

Michael-Edward Cruz
US Bureau of Recovery Inc
Short Sale Expert
951-572-2789 – RIVERSIDE OFFICE
949-630-9743 – OC OFFICE
EMAIL ME

Troy Huerta
Lender Help Inc.
Short Sale Expert
760-420-5498 RIVERSIDE AND SAN DIEGO COUNTIES
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Fannie Mae, which facilitates the lending of almost one in four U.S. residential mortgages, says the recent 11% jump in home sales is proof-positive that the three-year housing slump may end in 2010.

The reality is that we have a ton of excess inventory to burn off before any meaningful recovery can commence.

But here’s a good start…

Rather than further embrace the loser’s game of foreclosure, banks are increasingly entering into short sales, where they accept a sale for less than the balance owed on a property…

“It’s finally dawning on the banks that they’re better off with a short sale,” said Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California. (Foreclosed homes can sit vacant for months. And they’re easy targets for vandals.)

Short sales tripled to 40,000 in the first six months of 2009. Yet, for each short sale there were still 25 foreclosures.

What’s holding the number of such sales down, however (and you’ll love this), is that bank employees have no short-sale training. I mean, who ever heard of a bank losing money on a mortgage?

Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JP Morgan (JPM: 41.635, -0.295) Chase are all adapting to the new reality by hiring more staff with proper short-sales training. The fact that banks are willing to accept these sales should limit the housing market’s downside in the year ahead.

by Robert Williams, Publisher

If you or anyone you know is facing foreclosure, needs to sell but has no equity or would simply like to know about the short sale process, then call our experts today.

Michael-Edward Cruz
US Bureau of Recovery Inc
Short Sale Expert
951-572-2789 – RIVERSIDE OFFICE
949-630-9743 – OC OFFICE
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Troy Huerta
Lender Help Inc.
Short Sale Expert
760-420-5498 RIVERSIDE AND SAN DIEGO COUNTIES
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See an actual example of of a lender actually looking at the reality of the situation and realize that a short sale was better for there bottom line. (link below)