Foreclosure Short Sale News & Training - DC Fawcett

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2009-07-14T23:15:00.000-07:00

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How Obama’s Housing Plan Will Affect the Short Sale Business

2009-02-25T22:01:00.000-08:00

Here is what Obama’s plan is all about on the surface

Watch CBS Videos Online

This is what the Video does not tell you:

This is an excerpt from the White House Blog here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/02/18/Help-for-homeowners/

My comments are in blue below:

Questions and Answers for Borrowers about the
Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan

Borrowers Who Are Current on Their Mortgage Are Asking:

What help is available for borrowers who stay current on their mortgage payments but have seen their homes decrease in value?

Under the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, eligible borrowers who stay current on their mortgages but have been unable to refinance to lower their interest rates because their homes have decreased in value, may now have the opportunity to refinance into a 30 or 15 year, fixed rate loan. Through the program, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow the refinancing of mortgage loans that they hold in their portfolios or that they placed in mortgage backed securities.

D.C.: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Loans are not the problem. It’s the subprime loans that are the issue!

I owe more than my property is worth, do I still qualify to refinance under the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan?

Eligible loans will now include those where the new first mortgage (including any refinancing costs) will not exceed 105% of the current market value of the property. For example, if your property is worth $200,000 but you owe $210,000 or less you may qualify. The current value of your property will be determined after you apply to refinance.

D.C.: Most homes that we are working on the homeowners owe 130% or more of the current market value of the home. This plan says that the only homes that qualify are homes that the first mortgage including refi costs will not exceed 10% of the value. This does nothing for our customers so this creates an ever greater need for them to need a SHORT SALE.

How do I know if I am eligible?

Complete eligibility details will be announced on March 4th when the program starts. The criteria for eligibility will include having sufficient income to make the new payment and an acceptable mortgage payment history. The program is limited to loans held or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

D.C.: This only helps people with Fannie and Freddie loans and you need to prove your income to qualify which means you need to have job. This does not help people that just lost their jobs and the homeowners that have subprime loans. These are the folks that REALLY need the help. Why is the government helping people that don’t need the help?

I have both a first and a second mortgage. Do I still qualify to refinance under the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan?

As long as the amount due on the first mortgage is less than 105% of the value of the property, borrowers with more than one mortgage may be eligible to refinance under the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. Your eligibility will depend, in part, on agreement by the lender that has your second mortgage to remain in a second position, and on your ability to meet the new payment terms on the first mortgage.

D.C. : This is a stretch.

Borrowers Who Are at Risk of Foreclosure Are Asking:

What help is available for borrowers who are at risk of foreclosure either because they are behind on their mortgage or are struggling to make the payments?

The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan offers help to borrowers who are already behind on their mortgage payments or who are struggling to keep their loans current. By providing mortgage lenders with financial incentives to modify existing first mortgages, the Treasury hopes to help as many as 3 to 4 million homeowners avoid foreclosure regardless of who owns or services the mortgage.

Do I need to be behind on my mortgage payments to be eligible for a modification?

No. Borrowers who are struggling to stay current on their mortgage payments may be eligible if their income is not sufficient to continue to make their mortgage payments and they are at risk of imminent default. This may be due to several factors, such as a loss of income, a significant increase in expenses, or an interest rate that will reset to an unaffordable level.

D.C. This does not help people that lost their jobs. These people will need a short sale.

How do I know if I qualify for a payment reduction under the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan?

In general, you may qualify for a mortgage modification if (a) you occupy your house as your primary residence; (b) your monthly mortgage payment is greater than 31% of your monthly gross income; and (c) your loan is not large enough to exceed current Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits. Final eligibility will be determined by your mortgage lender based on your financial situation and detailed guidelines that will be available on March 4, 2009.

D.C. This does not help people that lost their jobs. These people will need a short sale.

I do not live in the house that secures the mortgage I’d like to modify. Is this mortgage eligible for the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan?

No. For example, if you own a house that you use as a vacation home or that you rent out to tenants, the mortgage on that house is not eligible. If you used to live in the home but you moved out, the mortgage is not eligible. Only the mortgage on your primary residence is eligible. The mortgage lender will check to see if the dwelling is your primary residence.

D.C.: Only applies to owner occupants so all of the investors that are upside on properties facing foreclosure will need a short sale more that ever.

I have two mortgages. Will the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan reduce the payments on both?

Only the first mortgage is eligible for a modification.

I owe more than my house is worth. Will the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan reduce what I owe?

The primary objective of the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan is to help borrowers avoid foreclosure by modifying troubled loans to achieve a payment the borrower can afford. Lenders are likely to lower payments mainly by reducing loan interest rates. However, the program offers incentives for principal reductions and at your lender’s discretion modifications may include upfront reductions of loan principal.

D.C. They are still going to have negative equity in the home of 30% -40% even if they qualify for the Plan. It has been proven with government statistics that more than 50% of all of the completed loan mods went back into default again.

I heard the government was providing a financial incentive to borrowers. Is that true?

Yes. To encourage borrowers who work hard to retain homeownership, the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan provides incentive payments as a borrower makes timely payments on the modified loan. The incentive will accrue on a monthly basis and will be applied directly to reduce your mortgage debt. Borrowers who pay on time for five years can have up to $5,000 applied to reduce their debt by the end of that period.

D.C. That’s nice of them. What if you are negative $150,000. Are you going to stay in your house 5 years making a bigger payment than you can make down the street to now be $145,000 negative 5 years later. I don’t think so.

I do want to see our millions of homeowners in foreclosure in a better situation. I appreciate the government is doing SOMETHING. It would be nice if they would do something for the people that actually need help. Until, then we are on our own to help as many homeowners as we can.

For most, a short sale is their best option and we are the best solution for them. This Housing Plan proves that our services for short sales are in need more than ever.

Please post your comments or questions below and join the conversation. If you have a question you’d like me to answer, post it below and I will try to get to it as quick as I can.

D.C.

New Legal Clinic Helps Homeowners Fighting Foreclosure

2008-09-05T06:41:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK, NY —A new legal clinic is claiming great success in helping homeowners fight off foreclosure of their homes.

REPORTER: In the case of US Bank v. Deborah Singleton, Deborah Singleton is defending herself.

SINGLETON: I can represent myself, I don't have to pay thousands of dollars to a lawyer who may not help me any better than I can help me.

REPORTER: In July, the Brooklyn businesswoman was sued by her bank after missing payments. Now she's headed to court. Singleton's been trained in foreclosure law by a new nonprofit called Common Law. Co-founder Karen Gargamelli says it's a program born of necessity.

GARGAMELLI: Because there are only a handful of people that even understand the foreclosure laws, people have to represent themselves against the bank.

Foreclosures ensnare low-income renters

2008-09-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

Karen Tapia-Andersen / Los Angeles Times

At a Lake Elsinore housing office, Kelly Porec, left, goes over paperwork with Ruth Cordoba, a 28-year-old mother of three who has brought along 3-year-old Joseph. Cordoba is trying to find another place to live after she and her children were evicted from a Section 8 rental that had fallen into foreclosure.

Tenants subsidized by federal Section 8 funds are finding themselves out of a home when the landlord defaults.

Ruth Cordoba has never owned a home, but she is feeling the effects of the mortgage meltdown acutely.

Cordoba, 28, rented a three-bedroom home in Riverside for six months with the help of so-called Section 8 funds, money provided by the federal government through local housing agencies. In June, when her landlord could no longer make the mortgage payments on the house Cordoba was renting, she and her three children had to move to a hotel.

"I never missed a rent payment," Cordoba said. "Then I hear someone outside one morning, and I go outside and see a sign on my door that says they're auctioning the house."

The collapse of home mortgage lending, which according to U.S. Housing Secretary Steve Preston may lead to 2.5 million foreclosure filings nationwide this year, sent shock waves up the income strata -- from home buyers who took out subprime loans they couldn't pay, through banks that couldn't cover their losses on those loans, and onto high-end investors who had bought the banks' bad loans.

Now the mortgage crisis is radiating downward and cracking the already fragile finances of people like Cordoba. There are more than 300,000 households getting Section 8 assistance in California, and their median income is $14,428, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Read more news...

Florida foreclosures crushing property values

2008-09-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

Florida is still the No. 2 state in the nation, behind only California, for the number of foreclosures. And the Sunshine State's undesirable national ranking is not about to improve anytime soon.

Bradenton led all Sun Coast cities with 372 foreclosures in May, the most recent month for which data is available from RealtyTrac. Port Charlotte was No. 2 at 348 and North Port was close behind at No. 3 with 328 foreclosures.

The foreclosure pain is most acute in Florida and California because house flippers, dreaming of quick fortunes made from buying and selling homes fast, spent the past five years overinflating a property value balloon now burst by foreclosures, said Arthur Broslat, Re/Max Palm Realty land and investment property specialist.

"There are so many investor-owned properties working their way through the system," Broslat said. "So what's getting sold is the foreclosures. Banks are very aggressive about pricing those."

House flippers kept artificially inflating home values through rapid sales coupled with the expectation of ever-increasing home values, he said.

"In North Port, for example, there was a lot of speculative activity, people buying and holding homes with no intention of living in them," Broslat said. "They were going to flip them and become immensely wealthy."

Builders, offering nothing-down schemes, built about 500 houses in North Port, he said. An estimated 300 homes under construction in North Port were abandoned unfinished, said Carol Kozabo, property standards division manager in the North Port Building Department.

"CCI, a construction company that went bankrupt, was into that scheme," Broslat said. "Several companies were actively promoting that for little or nothing down, we'll build you a house."

North Port was hit with a perfect storm of easy home ownership terms colliding with an enviable location, he said.

"People in the construction business on the West Coast of Florida saw North Port was a convenient place to live," Broslat said. "You could get anywhere from Naples to Tampa in less than an hour in their pickup truck. Now they've gotten in their pickup truck and are someplace else."

Floridians and Californians are not alone in the foreclosure mess. Nearly three-quarters of a billion U.S. properties faced some sort of foreclosure action in the second quarter, according to the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report by RealtyTrac.com.

"Forty-eight of 50 states and 95 out of the nation's 100 largest metro areas experienced year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity in the second quarter," said RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio.

Still, Florida and California are at the epicenter of the foreclosure shakeup. Cape Coral-Fort Myers was the hardest-hit metro area in the nation with one foreclosure filing for every 64 households, more than seven times the national average.

Florida's bank repossessions rose almost eightfold in July. Foreclosure filings in the Sunshine State rose 14 percent from June and 139 percent from July 2007. It's been more than two years since the number of U.S. foreclosures dropped from one quarter to the next.

Foreclosures are adding adding yet another downward pressure on home prices in addition to bloated inventory and reduced demand from an economy with a rising jobless rate.

The median price for a single-family home in the United States dropped 7.6 percent in the second quarter, the National Association of Realtors reported. The median sale price was $206,500, down from $223,500 a year ago, according to Chicago-based NAR.

Sales of single-family houses and condominiums fell 16 percent to 4.913 million -- a 10-year low.

Foreclosures and "short sales," where lenders lose money by letting a borrower sell for less than the mortgage balance, accounted for one-third of all U.S. housing sales in the quarter. Property values for people who live near a home repossessed by a lender will drop an average of $5,000, according to the Center for Responsible Lending in Durham, N.C.

There are signs of a turnaround in at least one formerly troubled state. Colorado, where the foreclosure rate ranked No. 1 among all states in 2006, set up a foreclosure hotline to help people. Colorado also gave homeowners more time to stop foreclosures.

Colorado's foreclosure rate is down to No. 5 in the second quarter after a 15 percent decrease in activity from the previous quarter.

"Foreclosure sales didn't really take off until early this year," Broslat said. "Now it's taking off like crazy. It's a big part of everybody's sales."

TOP 5 FORECLOSURE STATES

Rank State Foreclosures

1 - California 587,157

2 - Florida 273,857

3 - Ohio 121,487

4 - Texas 88,732

5 - Arizona 88,148

Jail, foreclosures occupy Richland sheriff

2008-08-31T13:07:00.000-07:00

MANSFIELD -- Radios, Tasers, ping pong tables and inmate uniforms were all on the $93,650 list of needs the sheriff's department presented to commissioners Tuesday.

"We're kind of getting nickled and dimed to death," Sheriff Steve Sheldon said of the list compiled by Maj. Roger Paxton. "We've burned up a lot of our resources."

Sheldon said he hired four women last week and has plans to hire 10 more people. He is authorized to have 72 people on a staff that is now at 56.

The sheriff, accompanied by Paxton and Chief Deputy Rick Reeves, met with the board about some of the ongoing issues at the $21.5 million facility that houses both city and county inmates. Commissioners asked Sheldon to break down the list of needs to items that will be used for 20 years or more so they can decide where funding might come from.

Commissioner Ed Olson commended Paxton for doing an excellent job in running the 260-bed jail, but said it has numerous technology problems. The county is withholding about $200,000 in payments until vendors make things right, he said, citing the telephone system. Olson also said the county is spending less money on overtime at the jail than it will when the facility is fully staffed.

"We are in budget, if not slightly below budget," Olson said.

Paxton said the sheriff's department moved everything it could from the old jail rather than buying new. The jail population was listed at 265 Tuesday.

Sheldon, civil division deputy sheriff Kathy West and Clerk of Courts Lin Frary also discussed House Bill 138, which requires sheriffs to file deeds for foreclosure sales. The law that goes into effect Sept. 11 was designed to help properties from being in limbo if deeds aren't filed. It gives local governments more tools to get control of vacant tax-delinquent parcels.

Read more...

Unlocking your home equity

2008-08-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

(Fortune Magazine) -- The housing rescue package that Congress scrambled to pass in July was aimed primarily at stemming foreclosures and shoring up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But it also contains provisions that make reverse mortgages a better deal for older homeowners who want to turn their equity into cash.

Lawmakers are paying attention to reverse mortgages because these once-marginal products have exploded over the past decade, thanks to low interest rates and rising home values. The federal government, which backs more than 90% of all such loans through the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program, guaranteed 107,400 reverse mortgages last year, up from 7,900 in 1998. What's more, an industry group estimates that even after the drop in housing prices, seniors' equity in their homes was worth $4.2 trillion at the end of 2007. With slimmer savings and pensions than their parents had, more boomers will probably be turning to reverse mortgages when they retire. But these products are much more complicated than your garden-variety loan, so before you rush to download an application, you have to do some homework.
Here are the basics

Reverse mortgages are like home-equity loans, with a few key differences. First, they're available only to people age 62 and older. The amount you can borrow depends on your age, the value of your home, and interest rates (check out AARP's calculator at rmaarp.com for an estimate). You can choose to receive your money in a lump sum, monthly installments, or a line of credit. There are no monthly payments to make - and therefore you don't have to meet an income requirement to qualify.

In fact, you needn't repay the loan until you move out of your house, sell it, or die: The debt is settled with the proceeds from the sale of your home. If there's money left over, it goes to you or your heirs. But what if your house sells for less than what you owe? (That's not an idle question in a time of plunging home prices.) Don't worry. The federal government covers any shortfall for HECM loans, and for others the mortgage holder simply eats the loss.

Read more....

Foreclosures May Distort Housing Data

2008-08-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

As if the housing market wasn't scary enough, the record-setting surge in foreclosures could be distorting some of the closely watched housing data used to gauge the market's health.

The foreclosure glut is making listings of homes for sale a less reliable indicator, because much of the distressed inventory might be left out. In addition, fire-sale prices for such properties may also be skewing volume figures.

Some real estate analysts say this may indicate that housing conditions are worse than they now look, dampening hopes that the troubled market could soon be bottoming out.

The combination of weak housing sales, falling home values, tighter credit conditions and a slowing economy have left financially strapped homeowners in a tough spot — some borrowers have no other choice but to foreclose if they can't find a buyer for their home or pay or refinance their loans.
Nationwide, more than 272,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice in July, up 55 percent from about 175,000 in the same month last year and up 8 percent from June, RealtyTrac Inc. said.

Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac monitors default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. More than 77,000 properties, or 28 percent, were repossessed by lenders nationwide in July, up from 16 percent a year ago, the company said.

"The wave of foreclosures is unprecedented, making it difficult to analyze, difficult to gauge how large it will get or how bad it will make things," Deutsche Bank analyst Nishu Sood said in an interview.
Read more...

I-Team: New Wave of Foreclosures May Hit Las Vegas

2008-08-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

Home prices may be off nearly 30-percent in Las Vegas, prompting many to predict the worst of the housing crisis may be over. But some Realtors know another round of foreclosures may happen in the next few months, flooding the valley with vacant homes. And people have two things to blame: liars and ninjas.

They may be new terms for a lot of us, but liar loans and ninja loans helped push the housing market to the brink of collapse. Now the rates are changing again in September and the scars from those liars and ninjas run deep.

Many consider them the villains in the housing crisis, and Realtor Cynthia Glickman says their reputation has been tarnished, "Oh yeah, look at these people, you know. They're liars. They're getting what they deserve."

The term liar loan comes from a lending practice allowing potential homebuyers to fib on their yearly income. Tell a white lie based on your green and you get a bigger house and avoid banking scrutiny.

"Okay, I'll pay the extra half-a-percent interest rate so that I don't have to provide you with mountains of paperwork," said Glickman.

It's the same situation for the stealthy ninja loans. Ninja means No Income, No Job, No Assets -- essentially handing out loans to people who had no right, or money, to afford a home.

"They assumed the values of the homes were going to go up. So they figured, what's the worst that could happen?" said Glickman.

The lenders were caught up partly in greed, partly in speculation, hoping the sky-high housing market would keep rising.

"It's a win-win situation. We either get the interest on the loan or we get the property and we get the money," said Glickman.
Read more news...

Official seeks foreclosure moratorium

2008-08-27T05:19:00.000-07:00

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre will ask the City Council to declare a moratorium on home foreclosures, he told Legal Newsline on Tuesday.

Aguirre said he will formally make his request to councilors during their Sept. 9 meeting. On Tuesday, Aguirre's office submitted a draft resolution seeking the crisis designation, Legal Newsline reported.

"According to the latest reports," Aguirre said, "foreclosures in the city are up 213 percent, the highest number in the history of the city."

Aguirre's draft resolution states: "The City of San Diego is experiencing a crisis in the real estate market fueled by an unprecedented number of foreclosures in the wake of lending institutions' predatory lending practice and widespread use of sub-prime loans."

Read more...

Foreclosures Mean Crises for H.I.V. Positive Renters

2008-08-27T04:57:00.000-07:00

Andrew Henderson/The New York Times

Sabrina Wilson with her son Kevin Harris. She says she has been turned down many times in her search for new housing.

Mrs. Wilson, whose H.I.V. was diagnosed 18 years ago, had always dreaded the thought of having to find another landlord who would accept her rental subsidy from the city. But this time, because her current landlord faced foreclosure, the sense of urgency landed her in the hospital.

“I got sick because of the stress,” said Mrs. Wilson, who is 51 but moves at the pace of an octogenarian. “I cried day in and day out. Where am I going to stay? Where am I going?”

At least 50 H.I.V.-positive renters have complained to city housing organizations in the past months of being forced out or threatened with eviction because of foreclosures. The agencies say they do not know the exact number of families in housing trouble because there is no centralized system for tracking them, but all say that H.I.V.-positive renters are in a particular squeeze.

High rental rates, combined with insufficient public benefits and ineffective antidiscrimination laws, can extend their housing search to a year or more. Unless the landlord is forthcoming, or the bank is diligent in notifying them, tenants may not learn of a foreclosure until they have just a few months to move, putting them in a crisis situation.

How to Find a Licensed Contractor to Give you estimates for your Short Sale Packages and BPO Packages

2008-08-23T03:17:00.000-07:00

Its pretty easy to find contractors to give you estimates these days because they aren’t very busy and they need work $$$.

First, you need to go and look in the places these guys would advertise to get new clients.

The obvious places are:

The yellow pages

The Newspaper

Your Free Weekly newspaper (Pennysaver, Thrifty Nickel, The Flyer, etc)

The not so obvious place to look is Craiglist.org

Go to Craiglslist and click on

Your State

And

Your City

Then click on Services

Here is an example of where this page is in my area.

http://tampa.craigslist.org/bbb/

(this is also a great place to find people to help you with your deals ie: House cleaners, painters, handymen, sign hangers for your for sale signs, etc)

You will see many services here and you’ll find contractors advertising for new clients.

You are their next New Client.

Pick a few ads you like and call them to setup an appointment to give you an estimate.

Make sure you tell them you want to update the house to make it look like it’s in “like new” condition. Tell them to find anything they can that’s wrong with the house and make a big deal out of it.

There are 2 ways to handle paying a contractor for the estimate.

Option A

You can be cheap and try to get the estimate for free pretending that you are actually going to use them to do that work. (you are not). This will result in a very short relationship and you will be looking for a new contractor soon.

A Contractor is not going to continue to give you free estimates without ever be awarding any of the jobs.

Option B

Or you can establish a long term relationship with the Contractor, tell them exactly why you need the estimate and that you want it to come in on the high side and Negotiate a flat fee for providing the estimate every time you need one. This will make your life so much easier by having a contractor on your team you can rely on to get these done for you when you need them done quickly.

I recommend you go with Option B

The licensed contractor estimate is a critical part of your short sale package and your BPO package.

Just get it done and you will be happen with the results of your short sales.

Committed to Your Extreme Success,

D.C. Fawcett

The Business Building Coach to the Foreclosure Industry

How to Close Short Sale Deals without any of your own Cash or Credit in Today’s Market

2008-08-14T01:45:00.000-07:00

Because the short sale biz has been so good to me and I know how critical it is for you to have The Short Sale Strategy in your toolbox in today’s market, I’ve decided to give back by giving you this free training to help you with your short sale deals. There are so many short sales out there right now and they’re so easy to get, it’d be foolish for you to ignore them.

Most of my new students don’t understand why the banks allow us to sell the property for more than they’re agreeing to accept for the short sale. It’s all in how you structure the deal. It needs to be structured with 2 transactions. We always provide full disclosure in our contracts that we send to the lenders. They are fully aware of what we’re doing and it’s 100% legal.

Banks do this all day long when they sell their mortgages and bulk REO Properties to investors. They know that the investors that buy their mortgages are going to turn around and immediately sell them. We are doing the same thing.

Here is a Free Training Lesson for you on How to Structure and Close Short Sale Deals without using any of your own Cash or Credit in Today’s Market.

Download the Free Report Here:

How to Close Short Sale Deals with none of your own Cash or Credit

Get the Audio Here:

How to Close Short Sales with None of Your Cash or Credit

Dedicated to Multiplying Your Income,

D.C. Fawcett

The Business Building Coach to the Foreclosure Industry

P.S.

Make sure you block the time out on your Calender to attend my Online Seminar Thursday night at 9:00 pm EST.

I will be revealing advanced strategies for short sale investing that are working extremely well in Today’s market.

You’ll also find out how you can do 1 deal to pay for a Luxury Car like my $85,000 Mercedes E55 AMG. 469HP! (One deal paid for my car!)

P. P.S. If you have any questions, comments or would just like to thank me for providing this valuable free information, please post your comment below.

Craig, Merlin, bulls and bears, oh my

2008-08-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

The latest Real Estate Connect, a conference that brings together real estate professionals and technology, engaged the industry in a range of discussions: Riding out the roller-coaster housing market, taking blogging to the next level, figuring out the foreclosure market, gauging the future of multiple listing services, navigating the many online real estate sites, and managing Internet communications were among the hot topics.

Connect attendees heard insight from Craig Newmark, founder of the global network of craigslist community sites, and from Merlin Mann, a new media personality who shared tips on managing your time and whittling down the multitude of messages in your e-mail inbox. Attendees also heard a variety of views on the state of the housing market and economy, and had an opportunity to witness the launch of a national brokerage franchise network.

The following is a comprehensive list of Inman News articles that focus on events during the Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco, held July 23-25, 2008, at the historic Palace Hotel:

In "MLS stakeholders take on syndication, public sites," panelists addressed pressing issues facing multiple listing services, such as the debate over public-facing MLS Web sites and syndication of property listings data.

Construction inches up as foreclosures dip from last month

2008-08-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

The Colorado Springs housing market got a bit of good news Friday as housing construction rebounded slightly in July from June's weak performance, while mortgage foreclosures fell from the previous month for the second time in the past three months.

Single-family home building permits in El Paso County totaled 108 in July, down 37.6 percent from a year earlier but up 11.3 percent from June's dismal total, according to a report issued Friday by the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department. The increase from the previous month was the first time housing construction numbers have risen from June to July in six years.

"I think we have hit bottom (in June) and the pace is picking up a little bit," said Mike Fenton, vice president of operations for the Colorado Springs division of Century Communities LLC. "For the first half of the year we and other builders were selling more homes than we were permitting because we were selling off our unfinished inventory. Now that we have worked off that inventory, we and others will be pulling more permits in the second half of the year."

Lee County foreclosures up 3 percent in July

2008-08-02T17:47:00.000-07:00

Foreclosures in Lee County were up slightly in July from the previous month, continuing the housing market's downward trend.

There were 2,467 foreclosures last month, up 3 percent from the 2,390 foreclosures in June. In July 2007, there were 1,045 foreclosures.

"The trend continues, it hasn't abated," said Jeff Tumbarello, director of the Southwest Florida Real Estate Investors Association, which released the numbers today.

Tumarello said he expects the number of foreclosures to drop soon, it won't stay bad forever.

"Foreclosures are doing what they're doing, but the good news is that people are buying foreclosures, so at least there is a demand for these," Tumbarello said.

Read more Article...

Lee County foreclosures at 2,467 record high

2008-08-02T05:47:00.000-07:00

July was another month of record foreclosures in Lee County and very little new construction of single-family homes.

There were 2,467 foreclosures last month, up 3 percent from the 2,390 foreclosures in June, while permits for new single-family homes could best be described as a mixed bag - up in Cape Coral, down almost everywhere else, according to numbers released Friday.

Not all is bad. People are taking advantage of bargains in the real estate market, giving hope Southwest Florida could soon stabilize itself, housing leaders said.

"Foreclosures are doing what they're doing, but the good news is that people are buying foreclosures, so at least there is a demand for these," said Jeff Tumbarello, director of the Southwest Florida Real Estate Investors Association, which tracks foreclosures.

"For every two deeds they take back, they've been selling one," Tumbarello said.

Still, the numbers paint an ugly picture even for the biggest optimist. In July 2007 there were 1,045 foreclosures. Last month's record figure was the fourth consecutive month foreclosures topped 2,000.

The gluttony of existing and foreclosed homes on the market isn't doing the construction industry any favors.

Community development administrators from Bonita Springs and county government - which includes Lehigh Acres, Estero, south Fort Myers and North Fort Myers - reported drops in the number of permits issued for new single-family homes in July.

Only Cape Coral had a bit of good news, reporting 22 permits for new single-family homes were issued in July. That's the third highest monthly total this fiscal year, which began in October.

IndyMac Bank Joins Roster of Banks to Fold its Mortgage “Tent.”

2008-07-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

I knew this bank was going to go down soon. They are the only lender to require a $300 fee to consider a short sale offer. What a stupid procedure! The only outcome will be more bank foreclosures now. I guess they don’t care too much anymore.

D.C. Fawcett

www.RealEstateForeclosuresInvesting.com

Here are the Details:

IndyMac has announced that, effective yesterday, it is closing both its wholesale and retail production channel and will no longer accept any new mortgage loan submission or rate locks. It will also reduce its workforce to around 3,200 from the current level of 7,400. The bank will also, apparently, continue its other retail banking operations.

IndyMac Bankcorp, Inc is the holding company for IndyMac Bank, the 7th largest savings and loan and the 2nd largest independent mortgage lender in the nation. It claims to have financed the construction of over 70,000 new homes over the last five years but has consistently been listed among those financial institutions in serious trouble over the mortgage crises.

The stock had reached $.71 cents Monday after trading as high as 31.32 in the last year and was delisted from NASDAQ. There were no announcementS or news items on the Yahoo IndyMac website on Monday, but the company’s own website made the following statement:

“Given the continued downward trend in home prices and a resulting increase in our forecasted credit losses and the related downward trend in the pricing of all mortgage related assets in the capital markets, especially mortgage-backed securities where we have experienced significant rating agency downgrades this quarter, we expect our loss for the second quarter to be larger than Q108, but it is difficult at this time to be more precise given the significant uncertainty surrounding accounting estimates, fair value accounting and other accounting matters.

“… We have been working closely with our federal banking regulators with respect to the actions that they and we must take to meet our mutual goal of keeping Indymac safe and sound through this crisis period. In that respect, based on information we have provided to our regulators, they have advised us that we are no longer “well capitalized”, which we stated on May 12 was a possible scenario. Our regulators have also asked us to submit to them a new business plan for their review and approval, something on which we have been working with them for some time. We have agreed on the basic elements of the plan, and the regulators have directed us to begin executing on it. An important element of our plan is to improve our capital ratios. Without an external capital raise, the traditional way to improve safety and soundness is to sell assets and shrink the balance sheet, which in normal times generally has the effect of improving capital ratios and bolstering liquidity. Yet in this environment, where either there are no bids for most of IMB’s mortgage loans and securities or the bid/ask spreads are abnormally wide, “fire-selling” assets would actually deplete capital further. As a result, the most realistic and cost-effective way to shrink both our balance sheet and our servicing rights asset (which, as discussed in previous communications, is up against the regulatory cap limit), is to curtail most new activity.

“As a result of the above, we have made the difficult decision, effective July 7, 2008, that we will no longer accept any new loan submissions or rate locks in our retail and wholesale forward mortgage lending channels, except for our servicing retention channel. We plan to honor all of our existing rate-locked loans and will continue to fund these loans in the coming weeks. While the managers and employees in these units have worked incredibly hard, these units are not currently profitable due to the continuing erosion of the housing and mortgage markets. At the same time, these operations take up significant balance sheet capacity and “feed” growth in the servicing asset, an asset we need to shrink given its size relative to our existing capital.”

Unfortunately, the above actions will necessitate the reduction in our present workforce from approximately 7,200 to roughly 3,400 or so over the next couple of months, which should reduce our operating expenses by roughly 60%. We will retain about 1,100 employees in loan servicing in Kalamazoo and Austin; 350 in our servicing retention group in Irvine and Kansas City; 800 at Financial Freedom, primarily in Irvine, Sacramento, and Atlanta; 400 in our Southern California retail and web bank; 500 in portfolio management and administration, largely in Pasadena; and 250 in discontinued businesses. In building Indymac up from 4 employees in 1993 to its present size, we have had to retrench and then rebuild several times over the past 15 years, but clearly these are the largest and most difficult staff reductions we have ever had to make. If we had another alternative, we clearly would have chosen it, as we understand how painful these workforce reductions can be for the affected employees and their families. Given Indymac’s current financial position and these significant layoffs, I strongly believe it is appropriate that I further materially reduce my own compensation. As a result, I have requested of Indymac’s Board of Directors that they reduce my base salary by 50%.

The memo was signed by Michael W. Perry, CEO.”

Could foreclosures help the Valley's housing market?

2008-07-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

As the number of foreclosures increase in the Valley, some believe it may help the ailing housing market by attracting buyers looking for a good deal.

"The market is still sinking, but it's exciting, the banks are about to become the major player in the Valley," said real estate agent Stanley Fosha.

The banks will become critical because of the number of foreclosures and more and more people will be dealing banks rather than a seller when buying a home.

"Organic sales will decrease significantly, private party to private party are going to be the minority of transactions that happen in the Valley," Fosha said.

Fosha expects many more foreclosures to pop up within the next few months.

"There are 24,000 homes in foreclosure right now, 15,000 have been taken back, that's 38 to 39,000 homes right there that could be on the market in the next 90-days," Fosha said.

The John Hall & Associates agent points to an area north of Paradise Valley in Phoenix as an example of foreclosures fueling buyers.

Foreclosures: Worst still to come, experts say

2008-07-26T01:48:00.000-07:00

Phoenix had a staggering 534 percent increase in foreclosures in the first half of 2008, and it appears the worst may be yet to come.

The percentage gain represents an increase of about 5,000 homes foreclosed from year to year, according to data provided by Information Market.

"This is not surprising," said Phoenix City Councilman Claude Mattox, who represents the hardest-hit areas of the city. "We're well aware of the problem, and we are doing all we can to mitigate it."

The real tidal wave may be yet to come.

Phoenix had 12,573 foreclosure notices for the first half of the year, and experts say more than half of them are likely to become foreclosures.

The hardest-hit parts of town were the west and southwest sides, where increases of 700 percent or more were common. Only one other area, the eastern portion of northeast Phoenix's Desert Ridge, had a similar increase, but it had far fewer foreclosures.

US home foreclosures jump 14% in 2nd quarter: survey

2008-07-25T05:45:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US home foreclosures leapt nearly 14 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter, research group RealtyTrac said Friday in a sign of deepening housing woes.

On an annual basis, home foreclosure filings soared 121 percent from the same period in 2007, RealtyTrac said in releasing a survey of the country's 100 largest metropolitan areas.

Foreclosures have spiked in the worst housing slump in decades and a related credit crisis that have brought the economy to a crawl.

With home prices falling and unemployment and inflation rising, homeowners are increasingly hard-pressed to make their home loan payments.

RealtyTrac said that foreclosure filings were reported on 739,714 US properties during the second quarter.

The California-based company said that one in every 171 US households had received a foreclosure filing and the distress was nationwide.

According to the survey, 48 of the 50 states and 95 of the 100 major city regions had experienced year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity.

"Although much of the fallout from foreclosures is being driven by rampant activity in a few states, such as Nevada, California, Florida, Ohio, Arizona and Michigan, most areas of the country are seeing at least some increase in foreclosure activity," said RealtyTrac chief executive James Saccacio said in a statement.

Nevada, California, Arizona and Florida, where home prices had boomed for several years before the collapse of the US housing market in 2006, led the country in foreclosures.

Foreclosures shutter Sorrento Springs homes

2008-07-22T03:04:00.000-07:00

Sheila Ruest (left) and her daughter, Shelby, walk along Terragona Drive in Sorrento Springs. (ROBERTO GONZALEZ, ORLANDO SENTINEL / July 16, 2008)

It was once a young couple's dream house -- a four-bedroom piece of paradise overlooking a golf course.

Now it is a financial albatross.

A phone book, soggy from weeks of afternoon rain, lies in a puddle by the doorstep. A family of wasps nests in the once-grand entryway. Weeds sprout between the brick pavers of the driveway. The place sits empty -- just like the house next door and the one across the street and a half-dozen more down the block.

This is Terragona Drive in Sorrento Springs, an upscale development amid the lush, rolling pastureland of rural Lake County. It has an 18-hole golf course, a resortlike clubhouse, tennis courts, walking trails and neat rows of two-story, earth-toned homes with architectural flourishes.

But like dozens of developments throughout Central Florida, Sorrento Springs blossomed circa 2005, just as the housing market began to wither. Now it is rife with foreclosures.

There are investors who gambled on ever-rising housing prices -- and lost. There are families whose breadwinners lost their jobs -- and now face losing their homes. There are kids who have lost friends; moms who've lost support networks; renters who have been booted out because the banks are foreclosing on their landlords.
Read more Article....

Shelters get more animals due to foreclosures

2008-07-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX - People who face foreclosure and have to get rid of pets are contributing to an increase in the number of animals at shelters across metropolitan Phoenix.

Some distressed homeowners often find themselves in smaller rental homes or apartments after losing their home, and many of those rentals don't allow pets.

Many owners take their animals to shelters, hoping their pets will find new homes. Others simply move without their pets, leaving them behind in the backyard or abandoning them on the side of the road.

The Arizona Humane Society has received more than 1,000 abandonment calls this year, nearly double the number at this time last year. Other shelters and rescues also have reported significant increases because of foreclosures.
Read more Article...

Metro foreclosures drop

2008-07-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

Finally, some good news on foreclosures: Filings in the seven-county Denver area in the second quarter fell by 7.5 percent from the first quarter.

There were 6,992 foreclosure filings in the metro area in the second quarter, compared with 7,565 filings in the first quarter.

In the first half of the year, however, foreclosures are still up 15.6 percent from the same period in 2007.

Foreclosures remain on a record pace with 14,600 filings received in the first six months by public trustee offices in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties, compared with 12,626 in the same period last year. But experts are encouraged that the pace of foreclosures is slowing.

In the first half of 2007, foreclosures rose by 25 percent from the same period in 2006, for example.

Adams County saw a 48 percent increase in foreclosures in the first six months of 2007 compared with the same period in 2006, while this year foreclosures are up 12 percent compared with the first half of 2007.

"I'm hoping that this foreclosure tsunami that has wiped out so many homes is starting to roll back," said Ed Jalowsky, principal of Hottest Homes Realty. "But I still think it is going to take six to 12 months for it all to work itself out."
Read more Article..

Help for Foreclosures in Region 8

2008-07-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

JONESBORO, AR (KAIT) -- In the past two years the number of foreclosures has doubled nationwide and we're starting to see the impact here in Region 8. While there are a lot of people in Region 8 that haven't been touched by the mortgage crisis, that doesn't mean there aren't those out there that are struggling with it right now.

A recent grant from West Tennessee Legal Services is helping legal aid of Arkansas help residents try to save their homes from foreclosure.

"It's called housing counseling. Someone will come in and they're a few months behind on their mortgage and we'll look at their budget and look at what caused them to get behind," said Legal Aid of Arkansas attorney Brian Miles.

Attorney Brian Miles said in a lot of cases you can save your home and they are here to help you try to do it.

"Maybe they've had medical problems. Maybe their interest rate's gone up. They had an adjustable rate mortgage, but now it's gone up to where they can't make the payments. We find out what they can pay and then we make proposals to the lenders to try to save their home," said Miles.
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Foreclosures Affect Pets, Too

2008-07-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

ROGERS — People aren’t the only ones affected by recent foreclosures in Northwest Arkansas — so is Fido.

Animal shelters are seeing an increase in abandoned animals related to the economic downturn. Higher costs to maintain homes and put food on the table also affect what money is available to feed the family pet.

The Bella Vista Animal Shelter receives an average of two to three calls a day from people needing to surrender their pets, said Donna Miles, the shelter’s manager.

Calls include those who say “I can’t keep my pet” to a couple getting a divorce who want to surrender the family pet, Miles said.

During the month of May, Benton County filings for foreclosure totaled 286, up 127 from the same month last year, according to Realtytrac.com In the first five months of this year, foreclosures have more than doubled — 1,286 filings this year, compared with 540 in 2007.

Washington County’s foreclosure rate in May was up 78 percent — 186 filings compared with 104 a year ago. In the first five months of 2008, foreclosures also increased 78 percent — 769 filings compared with 432 filings in the same period in 2007.
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Will Foreclosures Affect Voting Rolls?

2008-07-13T14:29:00.000-07:00

(AP) Election officials worry that the state's home foreclosure problem will pose a problem this November for voters still registered at their former address, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Voters in pivotal Ohio with outdated addresses face possible pre-election challenges and trips to multiple polling places. They also are more likely to cast provisional ballots that might not be counted.

"It's a real issue," said Daniel Tokaji, an Ohio State University law professor who specializes in elections. He wonders whether foreclosures might explain the increasing percentages of provisional votes cast between 2004 and Ohio's latest election, the presidential primary in March.

Ohio provided President Bush with an 118,000-vote victory in 2004, giving him the electoral votes he needed to win the election.

Nearly 3,700 people are registered to vote at Columbus addresses the city lists as vacant, according to records maintained by the city's code-enforcement office and the Franklin County Board of Elections, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

The number of voters on the move is higher than that. The Franklin County Board of Elections sent notices in January to about 27,000 residents who had filled out change-of-address forms but failed to update their voter registrations.

Only about 10,000 had responded through the end of May, but deputy elections director Matthew Damschroder said that partly accounted for a 25 percent increase in new registrations and address changes compared with 2004.
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More Foreclosures, More Home Fires

2008-07-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

The biggest surge of mortgage defaults in seven decades coincides with an increase in blazes in foreclosed properties led by states with the most repossessed homes, according to fire safety officials in Nevada, Massachusetts and Ohio...

"Home arsons follow foreclosure trends, with a lag," [Coalition Against Insurance Fraud spokesman James] Quiggle said, pointing to an increase after the last housing slump when the number of blazes reached 116,600 in 1992 from 111,900 in 1990. "We're facing a potential spike in arson like we've never seen before."

A National Fire Protection Association official says that nearly two thirds of all blazes in "unsecured vacant buildings" have been set intentionally, Bloomberg reported.

Making matters even worse, fires in vacant structures—such as those that have been foreclosed upon—present a more dangerous scenario for firefighters.
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Foreclosures to rise, whomever wins White House

2008-07-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

Home foreclosures will keep rising next year no matter who is elected president in November.Even the optimism that surrounds a new president taking office cannot resurrect home values overnight, and presidents have no direct ability to reduce rising mortgage rates. Nevertheless, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain both promise help for homeowners facing foreclosure.

Obama supports a broader role for government than does McCain. Both envision the Federal Housing Administration providing new, cheaper mortgages to distressed homeowners who otherwise would have difficulty refinancing into more secure government-insured loans with lower monthly payments.For the plans to work, lenders would have to be willing to take a substantial loss by reducing the amount owed on the loan. But some would have a powerful incentive to do so.

A refinancing deal could allow them to recover far more money than they would get from the costly process of foreclosing on the property and trying to resell it.

Obama supports legislation along these lines by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., that would help about 400,000 homeowners. People would not have to have good credit to qualify as long as they could show they can afford the new payments.

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Foreclosures expected to rise despite rescue plans

2008-07-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — Home foreclosures will keep rising next year no matter who is elected president in November.

Even the optimism that surrounds a new president cannot resurrect home values overnight, and presidents have no direct ability to reduce rising mortgage rates. Nevertheless, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain both promise help for homeowners facing foreclosure.

Obama supports a broader role for government than does McCain. Both envision the Federal Housing Administration providing new, cheaper mortgages to distressed homeowners who otherwise would have difficulty refinancing into more secure government-insured loans with lower monthly payments.

For the plans to work, lenders would have to be willing to take a substantial loss by reducing the amount owed on the loan. But some would have a powerful incentive to do so. A refinancing deal could allow them to recover far more money than they would get from the costly process of foreclosing on the property and trying to resell it.

Read more Article...

Pending home sales fall 4.7 percent

2008-07-10T03:46:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON -- A measurement of pending home sales fell to the third-lowest reading on record in May as the housing market's recovery continued to prove elusive.

The National Association of Realtors' seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes fell 4.7 percent to 84.7 from an upwardly revised April reading of 88.9. The index was 14 percent below year-ago levels.

"The overall decline in contract signings suggests we are not out of the woods by any means," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.

Home sales are considered pending when the seller has accepted an offer, but the deal has not yet closed. Typically there is a one- to two-month lag before a sale is completed.

Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR had predicted the index would come in at 87. The index, which sunk to a record low of 83 in March, stood at 98.5 in May 2007. A reading of 100 is equal to the average level of sales activity in 2001, when the index started.

Pending sales fell around the U.S., sinking the most - 7.1 percent - in the South, and the least - 1.3 percent - in the West.

Sales of existing homes edged up in May, indicating that buyers were taking advantage of deeply discounted prices. But many economists believe prices must drop further before the housing industry can mount a sustained recovery.

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Foreclosure filings rise

2008-07-10T03:41:00.000-07:00

Foreclosure filings rose in Whatcom County last month, but are still below the state and national rate.

There were 59 foreclosure filings in June, up from 40 in May, according to RealtyTrac, a company that tracks foreclosure filings across the country. A foreclosure filing includes default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.

The number of filings in June means there was one filing for every 1,446 homes in Whatcom County. The state rate was one filing for every 984 homes, while the national rate was one filing for every 501 homes.

The June filing total also is higher than June 2007, when there were 33 filings.

Across the country, filings decreased 3 percent in June compared to May, but were still up 53 percent year-overyear. Nevada, California and Arizona continue to have the highest foreclosure rates, with Washington ranking 22nd in the U.S.

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Foreclosures more likely than getting loan modifications

2008-07-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

Struggling homeowners in California are more likely to end up losing their homes to foreclosure than receiving a loan modification or other payment work-arounds from lenders, according to a survey released Wednesday.The California Reinvestment Coalition surveyed 42 out of about 80 independent counseling agencies about home-loan servicers, who collect payments on loans.The agencies, which served 11,062 borrowers in April, said they had noticed a modest rise in loan modifications involving reworked interest rates or other moves to lower payments.About 68 percent of respondents said the most common outcome for their clients was losing their homes to foreclosure, while less than one-quarter of the respondents reported that loan modifications were very common.Respondents also reported that mortgage modifications covered periods of just one or two years. About 33 percent of survey respondents said short sales were the most common outcome behind foreclosure. Such sales involve selling a home for less than the amount owed on the mortgage, which can leave the owner without equity and bring a tax hit.Read more Aricle...

$1.1 trillion county: Total assessed value of properties up again in L.A. area

2008-07-08T02:03:00.000-07:00

Despite a surge in home foreclosures in the region, the total assessed value of properties across Los Angeles County has increased for yet another year, to more than $1 trillion, county officials are expected to announce today.

The 7 percent increase pushes the county assessment rolls to $1.1 trillion and marks the second year assessments have topped that pricey milestone, Assessor Rick Auerbach said.

The rise also marks more than a decade of consecutive increases in assessed values of county residential and commercial properties, although the rate of increase is down from 9.3 percent the prior year.

While the slumping housing market has taken its toll on home values, Auerbach said voter-approved Proposition 13 - which imposes a 2 percent annual cap on the amount of increase in the assessed values of homes and other properties - has had a stabilizing effect on assessed values.

Officials said many homes bought in the past are not assessed anywhere near their market value, which has plunged recently. That means total assessments keep rising, even though some homes are dropping in value.

"In a rising market, because of the 2 percent increase cap included in Prop. 13, assessed values do not keep pace with market values," Auerbach said. "On the other hand, in a market such as we now have, the cap keeps us from experiencing a dramatic decrease in assessed value.

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Home sales up, prices down 35%

2008-07-05T01:07:00.000-07:00

Home sales in California jumped 18percent in May compared with a year earlier, while the median price plummeted a record 35percent as a wave of foreclosures continued to roil the real-estate market, a report released Wednesday said.

The California Association of Realtors reported that 423,700 existing homes closed escrow in May, compared with 358,640 recorded a year earlier. Last month's total was the first time since early 2007 that resales topped 400,000.

"While this is a welcome sign for the market, it was due in part to the large share of distressed homes for sale in many parts of the state," said William E. Brown, president of the statewide association. "Sales also rose above their year-ago levels for the second month in a row after 30 consecutive months of year-to-year decreases. The lower prices associated with distressed sales along with favorable interest rates both contributed to higher sales levels."

At the same time, the median price of an existing single-family home plunged to $384,840, a whopping 35.3percent below the median price of $594,530 for May 2007, the trade group reported. Last month's median price was nearly 5percent below April's median of $403,870.

Condominium prices took a similar hit, dropping from $446,070 in May 2007 to $357,970 last month, according to the statewide report.

The 35 percent drop in single-family home prices was a record for year-to-year comparisons and reflects the effect of large

Foreclosures more likely than getting loan modifications

2008-07-03T05:13:00.000-07:00

Struggling homeowners in California are more likely to end up losing their homes to foreclosure than receiving a loan modification or other payment work-arounds from lenders, according to a survey released Wednesday.

The California Reinvestment Coalition surveyed 42 out of about 80 independent counseling agencies about home-loan servicers, who collect payments on loans.

The agencies, which served 11,062 borrowers in April, said they had noticed a modest rise in loan modifications involving reworked interest rates or other moves to lower payments.

About 68 percent of respondents said the most common outcome for their clients was losing their homes to foreclosure, while less than one-quarter of the respondents reported that loan modifications were very common.

Respondents also reported that mortgage modifications covered periods of just one or two years.

About 33 percent of survey respondents said short sales were the most common outcome behind foreclosure.

Such sales involve selling a home for less than the amount owed on the mortgage, which can leave the owner without equity and bring a tax hit.
Read more Article...

San Fernando Valley foreclosures soar 242%

2008-07-03T05:07:00.000-07:00

Foreclosures skyrocketed 242 percent across the San Fernando Valley during May amid continued weak sales, factors that pushed prices down to levels not seen in four years, according to two reports released Thursday.

And while the numbers remain grim, some experts suggest that better days are ahead.

Foreclosures totaled 673 last month, compared with 202 a year ago and 608 in April, said the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge.

With a glut of homes on the market, the median price of a single-family house dropped 27 percent - from $660,000 in May 2007 to $485,000 last month. The April median was $505,000.

Center Director Daniel Blake said the Northeast Valley was hit especially hard, with a 35 percent slide, to $345,000. The Central Valley plunged nearly 30 percent, to $390,000, while the Northwest Valley dropped 29 percent, to $467,000.

The Burbank and Glendale areas fared the best, with a 20 percent year-to-year decline taking the median to $619,500.

Sales of existing homes edged up from 960 in April to 1,047.

"Clearly, each month more and more mortgages have been funded," Blake said. "That sort of suggests some relief in that area," he said. "That's good news."

Still, he noted last month's sales were some 27 percent below the 1,434 transactions recorded in May 2007 and the lowest for any May since sales tracking began in 1988.
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Mortgage Officer Training vs Short Sale Training

2008-06-26T02:05:00.000-07:00

A career in the short sale mortgage industry these days has a very high demand in the market. You can take a mortgage officer training course and add some weight to your resume, especially if you’re in finance. This may help you to stand out while applying for jobs in the mortgage industry. Now-a-days, short sales is the best way to do mortgage business. The old way is cumbersome and limiting. Therefore, people must look for a training course that can offer them expertise on short sales as well as foreclosure and defaulting mortgages.

"Jason Medley, a mortgage broker in Tampa, FL just made $38,901.00 on his first short sale deal by
D.C. Fawcett's System!"

To get a Free Online Mortgage Officer Training Course in Short Sales:

Go Here Mortgage Officer Training in Short Sales

Many financial and mortgage training institutes offer these mortgage officer training courses which are available in a new pattern. The old pattern followed was considered inefficient by the experts and thus, theses days new and revised pattern of teaching is followed which includes imparting practical knowledge instead of theoretical knowledge. This is managed by showing the students video clips which helps them make their ideas clear about all the things and get to know the actions that they should take at precise conditions. Such video clips give a student the first hand experience of handling various situations. Thus, the revised pattern of these mortgage officer training courses is extremely efficient and to the point.

The mortgage officer training course involves subjects like loan origination, mortgage products, underwritings and appraisals and many such important subjects from the point of view of the mortgage industry. The course also allows the trainees to pick up values like time management, getting and retaining customers, solving problems efficiently and avoiding mistakes. These values are extremely important from the point of view of a mortgage industry career.
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Texas Real Estate Slump Gives Mexicans a Chance to Take It Back

2008-06-25T05:16:00.000-07:00

June 25 (Bloomberg) -- More than a century and a half after Mexico lost Texas to the U.S., Virgilio Garza wants a piece of it back.

A ``Texas for Sale'' sign and cowgirls in boots and white hats greeted Garza at the Convex center in Monterrey, Mexico, earlier this month. A Monterrey developer and investor, Garza was in search of foreclosed U.S. property to buy.

``Texas is like our home,'' said Garza, 45, who joined hundreds of Mexicans poring over lists of Texas properties at the four-day event. Garza, who owns manufacturing sites and other land in Mexico, said he and five partners may invest as much as $8 million in Texas. ``We believe there can be some opportunities,'' he said.

A rising peso and an economy growing faster than the U.S. have given some Mexicans the buying power to take advantage of the housing slump in Texas, which became part of the U.S. under an 1848 treaty that ended a three-year war between the two countries.

The peso has gained 3.2 percent against the dollar since the beginning of the year. The economy, which rose 2.6 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, is expected to grow 2.6 percent this year, according to a central bank survey of 31 economists in May. The U.S. economy is forecast to grow 1.4 percent in 2008, according to a Bloomberg survey of 57 economists.

Marco Ramirez of McAllen, Texas, is among those trying to sell foreclosed Texas homes to Mexicans. Ramirez's company, called Now! Co., has bought 32 Texas properties and has options on 88 more. His best prospects are Mexican buyers, especially in Monterrey, 150 miles from the Texas border, he said.

`Great Time to Buy'

``Many of these people have children who are studying in the U.S.,'' Ramirez said. ``They've been renting or leasing and now it's a great time to buy.''

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U.S., States Probe Real-Estate Loan Broker

2008-06-25T05:13:00.000-07:00

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and securities regulators in California and Pennsylvania are probing a Philadelphia-based loan broker over allegations that more than 100 prospective borrowers lost millions of dollars through a practice in which the firm collected upfront fees for real-estate development but didn't find any funding.

Authorities say they are trying to determine whether Remington Financial Group Inc. and a related firm, BlueStone Real Estate Capital, accepted fees without seriously trying to obtain financing for clients.

"We have been made aware of the allegations and we are looking into the matter," says Special Agent Jerri Williams in the FBI's Philadelphia division.

California's Department of Corporations is investigating Remington and BlueStone, and also is looking into LandBridge Equity LLC, a land-investment company based in Washington, D.C., according to a person familiar with the matter. Jack Kemp, the former U.S. Housing and Urban Development secretary and vice-presidential candidate, is a senior adviser and director of LandBridge.

Remington is named as a defendant in six civil lawsuits filed in California's Superior Court that allege the company conducted an "advance fee scheme" by collecting nonrefundable fees from would-be borrowers with "no intention of providing the financing." The company has denied the plaintiffs' allegations.

Former San Diego Acting Mayor Ed Struiksma says he paid Remington $25,000 in fees, and received no financing from the company for land he wanted to buy for a housing development. A Toronto developer, Greg Heller, says he paid Remington $20,000 and didn't secure financing for a hotel project in Egypt. Both men say the soured deals cost them much more in penalties and delays.

Andrew Bogdanoff, Remington's founder and chairman, says he isn't familiar with either deal, but that dissatisfied clients could seek arbitration under their agreements with the company.

Real Estate Foreclosure Guide by DC Fawcett

2008-06-23T05:59:00.000-07:00

The Journey of my Success

Shortly after I finished high school, I was enrolled in a small college in Massachusetts where I grew up. Needless to say, I made a couple of questionable decisions and was “encouraged” to leave school just five days after arriving on campus.

I returned home with my tail between my legs and was expecting the riot act from my parents. Sure, they were disappointed and so was I. But my father said something to me then that I will never forget. He said, “Son, someday you are going to be very successful in business because you are not afraid to take risks. You just need the right direction to channel your energy.”

What my father said to me that night was very encouraging and that set me out on a path to find a place to channel my entrepreneurial energy. This was right smack dab in the middle of the dot com boom. I didn't have any money so I thought I had to find a job.

I went to work for this dot com company selling websites door to door to local businesses. That lasted for a few months until they told me that they could no longer pay me my salary. It did give me some good experience in direct sales which I am grateful for. After that I went to work at a drycleaners. I was there for about a year and wasn't happy. I wasn't going anywhere and I knew that if I was gonna get wealthy I needed to get out of the employee role and needed to start my own business. I Realized

“I wasn’t going to become wealthy working for someone else!”

I knew that most of the wealth in this country is controlled by business owners and most of that wealth was created through real estate. I didn't have any experience in real estate, I didn't have any money and I didn't have any credit so I wasn't sure how I was gonna get started as a real estate investor.

Then one night while I was watching TV, I saw a commercial for a free workshop on how to do real estate without money, credit or experience. That was attractive to me because I didn’t have any of those. So I went to the workshop and they explained what it was all about and they were also offering a seminar for $5000 to teach the whole process of how to do the business.

This was a defining moment in my life. I had to make the decision of whether to walk out of that room and go look for another job or to invest money that I didn't have to go to the seminar. I ended up putting the seminar on a credit card and I haven't looked back since. I will never be employed by anyone except for myself for the rest of my life.

I learned a lot at that seminar and I am the type of person that takes massive action. The Secret and the Law of Attraction are all well and good but the truth of the matter is; you are not going to change your life unless you take massive action. When I know what I want, I go after it. I went home and started implementing all of the strategies that I learned. I started buying a lot of houses and was very scattered. I was using all types of strategies and was all over the place.

I was doing rehabbing, subject-to's, wholesales, vacant houses, REO's. My cash flow was terrible and because I owned all these houses, I had either taken over the payments or I went out and got hard money loans to buy the properties. So I had to make payments on all of them.

I ended up maxing out my credit cards, my credit score took a huge dive and I was almost out of business before I started. It wasn't until I figured out that by working the foreclosure market, you don't have to make payments on houses and you don't have to fix them up.

I stuck it out. I ended up selling the houses I had loans on and I paid off my credit cards and from that point on, I only do short sale deals Now. It took me 2 years to get to a point where I was financially free. If I could do it all over again, I would start right with foreclosures and skip all of the other stuff.

I created all of the automation systems in my business and now the business runs without me. I spend about an hour a week meeting with my team and we close an average of 3 -4 short sales a month at an average profit of $38,000. Its an average of $38,000 because we do some wholesale deals that range from the $10,000-$20,000 range and we do some luxury homes that are in the $80,000 to $170,000 range.

Now, after years of investing in real estate, I’ve confirmed that there’s no better way to take control of your money (especially controlling it to make BIG profits and returns than by including preforeclosure investing in your real estate investment arsenal.

I live life on my terms now. I work when I want. I play when I want. I live in Florida on the gulf and every night I sit and watch the fish jump behind my house. I’m not saying this to brag. I am saying this because I pictured myself living in this house 5 years ago. I had never seen the house except for in my mind.

I am no different than you. I just figured it out the system. I kept the picture of my future in my head every day until I reached my goal and didn’t give up. Now I have new goals that I’m reaching for and one of them is giving back.

The way that I’m giving back is teaching as many people as I can how to take advantage of the current opportunity in the real estate market and make an absolute fortune with foreclosures while helping out a ton of homeowners at the same time.

I’m only 29 years old and there are so many great things happening in my life right now, I couldn’t be happier. My students are cashing huge checks in their foreclosure businesses, I Finally found the love of my life and I got engaged last month, and I am living the life I designed for myself. I believe we can create our own destiny and I believe anyone can create their own destiny.

Its all about living the lifestyle you want. To have the freedom to do what you want, when you want, and not have to answer to anyone like your boss. Of course its a lot easier to do when you have the money to do it. That’s what I’m on a mission to do.

I want you to never have to worry about paying bills ever again. I want you to have as much money as you could ever need so you never have to say you can’t do something ever again because you can’t afford it. And To be able to provide an exceptional life for their families

That’s what I’m all about. I know my family appreciates the exceptional life I provide for them.

Dedicated to Multiplying Your Income,

D.C. Fawcett

The Business Building Coach to the Foreclosure Industry

“If you hang out with me, You are going to be Rich” D.C. Fawcett

Foreclosure Machine Thrives on Woes

2008-06-19T01:58:00.000-07:00

NOBODY wins when a home enters foreclosure — neither the borrower, who is evicted, nor the lender, who takes a loss when the home is resold. That’s the conventional wisdom, anyway.

James and Tracy Edwards, with their children, Jennifer and Ryan, say they have had problems with fees charged by Countrywide.

The reality is very different. Behind the scenes in these dramas, a small army of law firms and default servicing companies, who represent mortgage lenders, have been raking in mounting profits. These little-known firms assess legal fees and a host of other charges, calculate what the borrowers owe and draw up the documents required to remove them from their homes.

As the subprime mortgage crisis has spread, the volume of the business has soared, and firms that handle loan defaults have been the primary beneficiaries. Law firms, paid by the number of motions filed in foreclosure cases, have sometimes issued a flurry of claims without regard for the requirements of bankruptcy law, several judges say.

Much as Wall Street’s mortgage securitization machinery helped to fuel questionable lending across the United States, default, or foreclosure, servicing operations have been compounding the woes of troubled borrowers. Court documents say that some of the largest firms in the industry have repeatedly submitted erroneous affidavits when moving to seize homes and levied improper fees that make it harder for homeowners to get back on track with payments. Consumer lawyers call these operations “foreclosure mills.”

“They get paid by the volume and speed with which they process these foreclosures,” said Mal Maynard, director of the Financial Protection Law Center, a nonprofit firm in Wilmington, N.C.

John and Robin Atchley of Waleska, Ga., have experienced dubious foreclosure practices at first hand. Twice during a four-month period in 2006, the Atchleys were almost forced from their home when Countrywide Home Loans, part of Countrywide Financial, and the law firm representing it said they were delinquent on their mortgage. Countrywide’s lawyers withdrew their motions to seize the Atchleys’ home only after the couple proved them wrong in court.

Read more Article...

Foreclosure Filings Jump, and Fall Is Forecast as Peak

2008-06-19T01:53:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — The number of homeowners swept up in the housing crisis rose last month, with foreclosure filings up nearly 50 percent compared with a year earlier, a foreclosure listing company said Friday.

Nationwide, 261,255 homes received at least one foreclosure-related filing in May, up 48 percent, from 176,137, in the same month a year ago and up 7 percent from April, the listing company, RealtyTrac, said.

One in every 483 households received a foreclosure filing in May, the highest number since RealtyTrac started the report in 2005 and the second-consecutive monthly record.

Foreclosure filings increased from a year earlier in all but 10 states, with Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada having the highest statewide foreclosure rates.

Metropolitan areas in California and Florida accounted for 9 of the top 10 areas with the highest rate of foreclosure. That list was led by Stockton, Calif., and the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area in Florida.

RealtyTrac monitors default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. Nearly 74,000 properties were repossessed by lenders nationwide in May, while more than 58,000 received default notices, the company said.

In Nevada, one in every 118 households received a foreclosure-related notice last month, more than four times the national rate. In California, one in every 183 households faced foreclosure.

The combination of weak housing sales, falling home values, tighter mortgage lending criteria and a slowing economy has left distressed homeowners with few options to avoid foreclosure.

Read more Article...

REO Properties- Some of Real Estate’s Finest Gems for Investors

2008-06-06T05:09:00.000-07:00

When real estate investors evaluate their options for what types of properties to invest in, some of the first things that come to mind are preforeclosure, short sales, and other types of foreclosure properties. This tendency is a natural one. After all, sellers facing foreclosures are naturally going to be more motivated and that is what most investors are looking for.

Where do most investors turn to when they seek preforeclosure opportunities? Sure, they take a look at free foreclosure listings or even sources of foreclosure listings that they pay for. While these sources may lead to productive and profitable deals, they also require extensive marketing and business promotion in order for an investor to tap into these preforeclosure opportunities.

To Get a Free Foreclosure and short sale Course including how to buy REO Properties, Go here Reo Properties

What other options do investors have? Well, in today’s market, more and more realtors are marketing properties as short sales in the MLS. While these do represent preforeclosure opportunities, I also think that this can be risky for the investor because many real estate agents are pretty new to the foreclosure world (and thus may just be learning what is a short sale) and you are taking a chance that the agent in charge of the deal actually knows what they are doing. Plus, you still have the emotional aspect of the sale, a natural by-product of foreclosures that can complicate deals in some cases.

A significant but often overlooked option available to investors concerns bank foreclosures. This umbrella term includes REO properties and HUD homes but it all ties in with the REO process, the phase of foreclosure that follows the auction and where a lender must then sell the foreclosures in their inventory.

Many investors shy away from REO properties or HUD homes because they feel they have less negotiating power or simply lack the capital to make aggressive offers and play along with the rules that REO lenders stipulate. While I favor preforeclosure and short sales myself, I also have a system in place that allows the machine to run on autopilot, a system that I can also teach you.

My efforts here are to assure you that there are indeed deals to be found within the realm of REO properties. The offer process in many ways is less complicated, there is little to no emotion on the part of the seller (the REO lender), and deals can be completed much more quickly. If that appeals to you, and capital is your primary limitation, then you owe it to yourself to check out my Preforeclosure Cash Flow System and the module within it that covers how to obtain unlimited amounts of capital for your foreclosure business.

In closing, the entirety of the foreclosure process is ripe with deals that are there for the picking. As rigid as REO properties or HUD homes may seem, the REO process is as much as part of foreclosures as the preforeclosure side of the business. Don’t limit your scope, learn from what I have to offer you, and I wish you the very best in success in real estate investing.

To Get a Free Foreclosure and short sale Course including how to buy REO Properties, Go here REO Properties

Dedicated to Multiplying Your Income,

D.C. Fawcett

The Business Building Coach to the Foreclosure Industry

www.realestateforeclosuresinvesting.com

Loss Mitigation Training- An Essential Part of Any Preforeclosure Business

2008-05-23T06:12:00.000-07:00

When real estate investors envision what it means to invest in foreclosures, they usually fall into one of two camps. One camp contains investors who primarily focus on the REO process, and they typically purchase REO properties or HUD homes to build their portfolios or generate profits. The REO camp usually requires access to a little more capital to be consistently active so this may offer limitations to many investors, particularly those new to real estate.

The other camp, and the one that I have built my own real estate business around, focuses on preforeclosure properties and short sales. There is also fantastic money to be made here (if there wasn’t, I wouldn’t personally be doing it) and it offers more opportunities for the novice investor. It is primarily for this camp that I have created my landmark Preforeclosure Cash Flow System.

To get a free Foreclosure investing and short sale course,

Go to: Loss Mitigation Training

Working the preforeclosure side of the foreclosure business is a natural draw for many investors interested in foreclosures because there is an abundant source of motivated sellers. That is only the tip of the iceberg, though. No matter how motivated a seller may be, real estate investors need to be well trained to be at their best. At the core of this need for training lies loss mitigation training.

What is loss mitigation? It is a general term that refers to working with a lender, whether you are helping a seller negotiate a payment arrangement or if you are working short sales. Lenders have their procedures they follow when processing foreclosures and so too should you have a process for working with loss mitigation.

Today’s preforeclosure business is more than just looking for free foreclosure listings on the Internet or taking the plunge and investing in foreclosure listings that carry a monthly or annual fee. Anybody can do this and what will set you apart as a foreclosure real estate investor and as a preforeclosure specialist is the type of loss mitigation training you have.

I’ve been in this business of foreclosures for a long time now and I’ve seen a lot of experts come and go whose best approach was simply to tell you about all the money there was to be had in preforeclosure and short sales. Where these others fell short was their inability to effectively train their clients in loss mitigation.

My business approach is a little different. Sure, I’m going to be honest with you and tell you that there is indeed a lot of money to be made in short sales and most any aspect of the preforeclosure business. I also back that up by providing the type of loss mitigation training that I have proven successful with my own business.

Friends, loss mitigation and short sales are incredible opportunities but it can also be a jungle out there if you lack the loss mitigation training you need to be at the top of your game. You owe it to yourself to check out my Preforeclosure Cash Flow System and the detailed, cutting edge approach to loss mitigation that is contained within it. I wish you the greatest success in real estate investing.

To get a free Foreclosure investing and short sale course,

Go to: Loss Mitigation Training

Dedicated to Multiplying Your Income,

D.C. Fawcett

The Business Building Coach to the Foreclosure Industry

www.realestateforeclosuresinvesting.com

Massive Foreclosure Auction Hits Florida

2008-05-14T03:24:00.000-07:00

This is the same thing that happenned in the late 80’s with the foreclosure boom. The economists are saying the current foreclosure boom is going to be bigger because of the subprime mortgage crisis. Thi is just the tip of the iceberg. You must know what you’re doing at these foreclosure auctions. The buyer or the lender can lose big time.

D.C.

MIAMI, March 28, 2008 /Over 500 Homes throughout State Auctioned April 7-13 by Hudson & Marshall

Surging foreclosures in Florida are sending home prices south and luring buyers back into the market. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the rate of foreclosure starts in Florida more than tripled between the fourth quarter of 2006 and the fourth quarter of 2007. As home prices keep diving, more buyers are flocking to foreclosed real estate auctions to find great values on homes.

On April 7-13, America’s largest foreclosure auction firm, Hudson & Marshall will auction over 500 foreclosed or bank-owned homes throughout cities in Florida. About 200 homes will be auctioned in Miami alone. Nearly a hundred will be auctioned in Orlando and about 80 in Tampa. Valued from $34,000 to over $700,000, all homes come with guaranteed title insurance paid for by the sellers.

“Over-building and the disproportionate number of foreclosures in Florida compared to other states has severely weakened Florida’s real estate market,” remarked Dave Webb, principal, Hudson & Marshall. “But for buyers who were priced out of the market during the boom years, foreclosed homes are a great deal because banks don’t want to continue holding these bad mortgages on their balance sheets and are willing to sell them at discounts,” added Webb.

The Standard & Poor’s Case-Schiller Home Price Indices found in January 2008 home prices of single family homes in the US continued their downward trend. According to the data, of the 20 metro areas tracked, Las Vegas and Miami reported declines of 19.3%, the steepest decline among metro areas nationwide.

Hudson & Marshall will auction over 500 homes throughout Florida on the following dates: April 7th in Destin; April 8th in Fort Myers and Jacksonville; April 9th in Daytona and Port Charlotte; April 10th in Port St. Lucie, Melbourne and Tampa; April 12th in Miami/Fort Lauderdale; and April 13th in Orlando. All homes are sold “as-is” and prospective buyers should preview all properties prior to placing bids.

There will be an open house for all properties April 5th and 6th from 1:00pm-3:00pm. Buyers may also contact listing agents to schedule appointments to inspect properties. Complete auction details and property listings may be found at www.hudsonandmarshall.com or by calling 866-539-4172.

Winning bidders will be required to make a cash or check deposit of $2500 or 5% of the total sales price, whichever is greater. Prior to the auction, buyers can purchase property online by visiting www.hudsonandmarshall.com and clicking on the Bid Now icon. Sellers usually respond to offers within 24 hours. This is a reserve auction, which means the sellers have the right to accept or reject any bid; however, in past auctions conducted by Hudson & Marshall, the majority of offers have been accepted.

About Hudson & Marshall of Texas Inc.

H&M is America’s Premier Auction Authority. Our 40-year history combined with our continued process enhancements have allowed us to become one of the largest and most respected real estate auction firms in the United States. H&M has set the standard as a full service auction company and continues to consistently raise the bar for our industry. Our number one priority is to provide top-quality service to our customers. Buyers know they can count on H&M to provide value and service from the initial property offering through the closing process. This same approach provides sellers with a one stop single solution to the disposition of real estate assets. Sellers particularly appreciate H&M’s streamlined approach that handles their assets from marketing through closing and funding. The H&M process allows the seller to minimize expenses and maximize return. H&M has assisted clients ranging from individuals to large, medium, and small corporations, government agencies, and financial institutions. Recently, H&M has sold and closed over 40,000 homes throughout the country. See more about H&M at www.hudsonandmarshall.com.

Contact: Crystal Wright

Public Relations Strategist
202/829-0848

SOURCE Hudson & Marshall of Texas Inc.

http://www.hudsonandmarshall.com

Fannie Moves to Facilitate Short Sales of Homes

2008-05-14T03:19:00.000-07:00

Fannie Mae plans to roll out a new program in the next few months to encourage short sales of delinquent borrowers’ homes, a move that shows mortgage investors may be willing to make further concessions as housing prices fall and the inventory of foreclosed properties continues to grow.

As the holder of credit risk, Fannie take losses on homes that sell for less than what is owed on the mortgage, but generally the loss is not as big as it would be if the home went into foreclosure.

Many loan servicers and some brokers of “real estate owned” — properties that have been repossessed by a lender — say the number of short sales has increased significantly in the past few months, largely because more foreclosed homes have flooded the market.

Jason Allnut, a vice president for credit loss management in Fannie’s Dallas office, said the government-sponsored enterprise is looking at ways to persuade servicers and REO brokers to do short sales while streamlining the process. “We want to incentivize the borrower with a program of preapproved short sales,” Mr. Allnut said Monday at a conference in Indian Wells, Calif., sponsored by REOMAC, a trade group. That statement drew applause from the audience of about 1,700 default servicing professionals.

Many REO brokers complained that servicers typically cut the broker commissions on short sales, compared with a 4% to 5% fee on foreclosure sales. But Mr. Allnut said: “Fannie is telling servicers not to cut broker commissions.”

Kevin Kanouff, the president of the fixed-income services unit of Clayton Holdings Inc., a Shelton, Conn., due diligence, surveillance, and loan servicing company, said short sales used to be an “afterthought” for banks but are increasingly seen as a practical alternative to foreclosure.

Clayton has noticed “a significant increase in the number of short-sale liquidations in the past year” by clients, because servicers are getting more borrower requests to effect such sales, he said. Second liens that have negative equity positions are typically getting $1,000 to $3,000 from short sales after the senior liens are paid off, he said.

Servicers must reconcile the discrepancy between the original appraised value of a home and the updated “interior” value to determine the short-sale price, Mr. Kanouff said. “You calculate what you think you would lose on the sale price and what you would lose on a foreclosure, and weigh that against what a borrower can get refinanced at,” he said.

Mr. Tene said his company is seeing a 20% to 30% increase in the number of borrowers who want to sell their homes in a short sale. He found that banks are penalizing borrowers who may be current on their mortgage but want a short sale and can prove some form of hardship. One-third of I Short Sale’s 1,800 short-sale requests are from borrowers who have never stopped making their mortgage payments, Mr. Tene said.

A nationwide survey of real estate agents conducted last month by Campbell Communications Inc. of Washington found that 20% of all completed home sales in the fourth quarter were short sales or preforeclosure sales. The survey, which was published this month in the newsletter Inside Mortgage Finance, found that about two-thirds of pre-foreclosure and short sales are initiated by homeowners, the rest by servicers. In all, the real estate agents surveyed said about one-third of borrowers signed short and pre-foreclosure sale deals that fell through; the most common reasons were home inspections and property damage, a refusal by sellers to sign “deficiency notes,” and sellers’ inability to pay closing costs.

In February, Freddie Mac expanded a short-sale program to include more loans with a higher likelihood of loss, said Brad German, a spokesman for the GSE. The program lets servicers submit short sales with few documents from the borrower. Late last year, Freddie authorized its Tier One servicers — those that have shown “superior performance” — to accept short sales at bigger discounts and to pay out more to junior lien holders, Mr. German said. As a result of these changes, short-sale approvals nearly doubled last quarter from the previous quarter, and closings of such sales increased by more than half, he said.

Originally published in American Banker.

Who’s to blame for the foreclosure crisis?

2008-05-09T23:13:00.000-07:00

In today’s mortgage and real estate environment, people are looking for a scapegoat to blame for the Subprime Mortgage Crisis. Some believe it’s the lenders fault for offering aggressive mortgage products to homeowners.

The truth of the matter is: Its not the lenders fault.

Homeowners and Home buyers need to take responsibility for their actions.

It’s not the lenders fault that the homebuyers didn’t make their mortgage payments.

It’s not the government role or responsibility to bail out these homeowners.

In this time of the market you need to be focusing on no Risk Strategies for your real estate investing business.

Several of these strategies are:

Options

An option controls a home and gives you an equitable interest in the home giving you the right to sell the home for any price you want creating as much profit as you want.

However it does not obligate you to buy the home so there is no risk. An option agreement can be secured with a $10 or $100 deposit. This is No Risk Deal because you have no money invested and it doesn’t require the use of your credit. These work on all types of properties, single family, commercial, land , large, small, Ugly, Pretty, low end and high end luxury.

Short Sales

Short Sales are a strategy that only applies to homes that are in foreclosure, behind on payments or about to behind on payments. Short Sales Work Awesome in this market because there are so many of them out there right now. They’re very easy to find right now and you have nothing at risk. All Short Sales are no money down and do not require the use of your credit.

Performance Subject-To/Lease Options

This is a deal where you offer to help a homeowner sell their home for them by taking over their mortgage payments only if you can find a lease option buyer for the home. One thing you do not want to promise to a “Subject-to” seller is that you will guarantee to make their payments on a home when you don’t know you can sell it on a lease option.

Guaranteeing to make someone’s payments and then not doing what you promised will make an unethical investor that doesn’t operate with integrity. Sometimes this is beyond your control because you don’t have the cash flow to make the payments. If you don’t promise to make their payments in the first place, you can’t get in trouble. Make sure you get this in writing because sellers always only hear what they want to hear.

What Not to do:

You should not be using your credit to buy houses on marginal deals. You should only use your credit if you have to or if the deal is grand slam deal or a commercial deal. Never put any money down on a “subject-to deal” unless you know you’ve got it sold.

Remember You have nothing at Risk if you:

Don’t use your own credit to buy houses,

Don’t write any checks to acquire homes,

Don’t make guarantees to sellers you can’t support
I’m sure these tips will help you sleep better at night

I will be teaching a section on no risk strategies to use for today’s market at my seminar on May 8th in Tampa. Seats are filling up Fast.

How you can get started investing in bank foreclosures

2008-05-08T05:42:00.000-07:00

Tampa, FL - There has been a lot of talk in the media about the real estate investing market and the increasing number of bank foreclosures. The media is showing a negative outlook on the real estate market because they are saying that home sales are slow.

The general public believes this because during a downturn it takes longer to sell homes because there are more homes on the market. There are a lot of bank foreclosures and reo properties on the market which has added to the inventory. Smart foreclosure investors know this is all BS because they know that a home can sell just as fast if it has more exposure in the marketplace. The reason why homes don’t have as much exposure in a slow market than in a hot market is because the homes have more competition. The fact of the matter is; Now is the best time to get started in real estate foreclosure investing because the opportunities to create huge profits and wealth is endless.

To get a FREE Foreclosure Training course,

Go here right now Bank Foreclosures

More millionaires have been made in a down real estate market by buying investment properties than any other market. Anyone can make huge profits in a down real estate market if they take some time to go to real estate investing classes. The hottest class to attend right now is on short sale training.

A foreclosure short sale is when a lender accepts less than what’s owed on the mortgage. It’s a critical part of any real estate foreclosure investing strategy in today’s market because 95% of all homes entering foreclosure have equity in them. Short Sale training can separate the men from the boys when it comes to making it big in today’s real estate foreclosure investing market.

It always important to have a mentor when buying investment properties or when you are a real estate investing beginner. Getting advice on real estate investing can make or break your new entrepreneurial venture because you have to understand you make money on a property when you buy it and you realize it when you sell it. If you buy properties the wrong way or overpay for an investment property, you are putting yourself in a risky position.

Foreclosure loss mitigation business opportunities are all around us. Most people don’t know this industry exists. Or they hear negative things in the media about how foreclosure investors rip off homeowners by stealing their houses. Well that’s what the media’s job is.

They need to spin the stories to make it more interesting for the people watching their shows so they don’t go to another channel. If they go to another channel, they will get lower rates and less money from their advertisers. So take everything with a grain of salt. You need to treat everyone you help with a foreclosure listing with respect and not take advantage of them. This is why the media has so much to say about bank foreclosures.

To get a FREE Foreclosure Training course,

Go here right now Bank Foreclosures

Loss Mitigation is the department at the mortgage company that negotiates the defaulted loan or loan in foreclosure with homeowners. The Loss mitigation department negotiates real estate short sales for their bank or their investor. Negotiating with mortgage companies gets into advanced foreclosure training because if the loss mitigation specialist working at the bank finds out that you are a real estate investing beginner, they will take advantage of you.

Real estate investing beginners can also invest in a foreclosure course if they can’t dedicate the time out of their schedule to attend a foreclosure class or other real estate investing classes. The best investment for a real estate investing beginner is to get a foreclosure investing short sale course. This is the best advice on real estate investing you can get for today’s rapidly exploding foreclosures market. Short sale training is sometimes referred to as loss mitigation training.

There are resources on the internet for free foreclosure listings, however you have to remember; “You get what you pay for.” Usually these free foreclosure listings are not accurate because they compile these free foreclosure listings from old information from public sources. The best way to find quality foreclosure listings is from your local courthouse. In some areas, there are companies that go to the courthouse for you and will sell the foreclosure leads to you. The most important thing is that you get the foreclosure listings on a daily basis.

We are in the greatest real estate market you may see in your lifetime. You can start your own foreclosure investing business right now. You don’t need good credit, a ton of cash, or any experience to get started because all Foreclosure deals are down with no money down when you that the right foreclosure training.

Are you going to let this once in a lifetime opportunity to help distressed homeowners and make a ton of cash along the way pass you by?

Why You Should Focus on the Home Foreclosures In Your Real Estate Investing Business

2008-05-07T06:19:00.000-07:00

The opportunities that exist in the foreclosure niche are huge right now and they are continuing to grow at a rapid pace. This is spurred by the increase in foreclosures across the country being led by California and Florida. Focusing on home foreclosures allows you to work on Luxury Homes without the traditional Risk you would normally assume by qualifying and signing for a mortgage. A far better strategy than investing in hud homes.

To get a Free Foreclosure Course, click this link right now: Home Foreclosures

In the Foreclosure Niche, you take control of a property by “getting the deed” and selling the home to an investor or owner occupant depending on the price range, neighborhood and condition of the house. By Focusing on Luxury and Higher end Home foreclosures, you can make more profit per house with the same amount of work. When you combine this with the ability to short sale Jumbo Mortgages, You’ve got yourself the golden ticket.

Lenders are extremely flexible on negotiating high dollar mortgages and jumbo loans because they definitely don’t want these houses back. Would you rather make 10% on a 150 thousand dollar home or 10% of a 1.5 million dollar home? The Mortgage Marketplace has created such a large number of home foreclosures that it has created unlimited opportunities to do these types of transactions.

This is because of the very aggressive sub prime products they put out in the market place and their loosened guidelines for allowing weak borrowers to buy properties they normally wouldn’t have been able to buy. They did this because of competition needed to get their money out in the market place. The Foreclosure Niche is the Best Niche in The Real Estate Investing Business because:

-- The ability to control High Dollar and High Profit Potential Homes with no Risk.

-- You don’t have to have Good Credit because you don’t have to qualify for mortgages in your own name.

-- You don’t need a lot of money to get started. This business has very low barriers of entry.

-- You don’t need any experience because if you follow my system, it will show you how to create the huge checks by following the step by step system.

-- You can purchase a foreclosure quickly because you have a motivated, cooperative seller.

There are not enough investors in the marketplace right now to handle the volume of homes going into foreclosure. We need more investors and I’m on a mission to create very successful investors that want to get extremely wealthy over the next two to three years.

This situation won’t last forever. Just 3 years ago it was very difficult to find these types of deals. Its so easy now, its pathetic! Take advantage of it while its here.

What is a Short Sale ?

2008-05-06T04:55:00.000-07:00

Let’s first cover what the definition of a short sale is.

A Short Sale is when the bank agrees to accept less than what’s owed on a mortgage foreclosure that is secured by real estate.

To get a Free Foreclosure Investing Course, Go Here What is a short sale

Benefits to the Seller of the property

The seller wins by avoiding foreclosure by selling their home before the foreclosure auction even if they owe more than its worth.

If sellers were to sell their home foreclosures the traditional real estate transaction with a realtor without a short sale, typically they would have to bring tens of thousands of dollars to the closing to sell their own home. This is not an option for them because they are in foreclosure and don’t have any money.

Sometimes they are able to get some moving money out of the deal where they would get nothing if they lost the home back as a bank foreclosure. A bank foreclosure is also known as an reo.

Benefits to the Lender

The Lender wins because they are getting some of their bad debt paid off and are decreasing the amount of foreclosures and reo properties they have.

You see, when a lender has delinquent loans on their books, it affects how much money they can lend out in new loans because they are regulated by the FDIC. So the more bad loans they can get rid of, the more good loans they can then go ahead and acquire. This is why they have the Loss Mitigation department to help the bank liquidate their foreclosure listings.

Also by taking a home to auction, the lender will lose 35-50 thousand dollars.

So it’s a huge cost savings to them to do short sales before the auction occurs.

Benefits to you the Investor

The investor wins because we get to make a great profit on a home while offering free foreclosure listings to our buyers, most of the time in the area of 25-200 thousand dollars, that we have invested little money in, have not had to put our credit at risk and we don’t have to rehab the property.

Most of the time we are able to get these properties at 60 cents on the dollar and they are in great condition. I have acquired foreclosures through short sales in bad condition for as low as 28 cents on the dollar. That means I was able to acquire a home for 28 cents on the dollar by doing a short sale with the lender. You can’t buy hud homes for that much of a discount.

The information of how to short sale a home benefits everyone:

It benefits Realtors because in today’s market Realtors are getting tons of listings with no equity and they can turn these dead leads into strong commission checks that they wouldn’t get without knowing how to help their sellers out with a short sale.

It benefits investors because they are getting a lot of leads now from sellers that owe more than their house is worth. The only option for them is to do a short sale.

And the short sale business for investors is awesome in this market because you don’t have to make payments on the house, you don’t have to make repairs to the home, you don’t have to put your credit on the line to do the deal and you make a huge profit just for structuring the whole deal. The best part is you can control large luxury style homes while generating exponentially more profit than starter homes without any risk. You make ten times more profit on a luxury home than a starter home and its that same amount of work and still no risk.

Home Foreclosures are at an all time high and it is your time to get in the game and help out some needful homeowners while make a boatload of cash along the way. Short Sales need to be a part of every investor’s real estate investment strategy in today’s mortgage and housing market.

What are the causes of the high rate of foreclosures?

2008-05-05T00:13:00.000-07:00

In the first half of 2007, subprime loans made up 54 percent of the loans starting foreclosure. In the last half, subprime loans will make up 60 percent of the foreclosure starts. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, subprime loans only represent 14 percent of all loans outstanding.

Most of the subprime loans are on the east and west coast, particularly south Florida and and southern California, but also New England and Texas. Most of the delinquenicies are happening in the Midwest. So what does this tell us?

Foreclosures are everywhere and are easy to find and profit from.

Historically the reason for default has not been loan type or because mortgage companies have made bad loans over the past few years.

The number one reason for default is from Job Loss or Loss on Income. This accounts for 36% of defaults.

The number 2 reason which accounts for 21% is due to illness in the family.

The number 3 reason is because people have taken on too much debt and is the one that all of the newspapers are talking about.

The 1st and 2nd reasons have always been there and will not go away. The additional of the mortgage problem is what has created the increase in the foreclosures we are seeing.

These top 3 reasons account for 70% of the mortgage defaults.

Another precursor to foreclosure is divorce and quite often someone that is going through foreclosure is filing bankruptcy to stop their foreclosure actions.

Lesson to learn from this.

If you want to get ahead of your competition, you should be targeting not only the the foreclosure list for your marketing efforts but also:

A list of homeowners in your farm area that are 60 days behind on their mortgage.
A Divorce List
A list of people that have filed bankruptcy and are failing out of their Chapter 13 plan.

By targeting these three targeted lists as well as the foreclosure list, you will crush your competition by getting the deals before they even know about them. You will be the only person contacting these homeowners and you will be the only game in town for their problem with their house payments.

Discover why investing in hud homes can bankrupt you before you even start your foreclosure investing career

2008-05-03T01:06:00.000-07:00

I get asked all the time by new real estate investors if investing in hud homes is a good strategy. I will be recap in this article what I tell them….

Hud homes as an investment is not a good strategy because when new investors think about buying bank foreclosures, they first place they think of is hud homes. This creates a lot of competition for these hud homes which creates more demand for the home foreclosures.

The increased demand drives up the price and new investors tend to get any and will buy based on emotion instead of logic because they “just want to get their first deal”. If you pay too much for a property, you will lose your shirt on the deal. That’s why it important to not overpay for the property because you make your money on a property on the day you buy, not the day you sell.

This is why it’s important to have the right real estate investing training so you know how to spot the good deals from the bad and not overpay for a property. Your first deal can bankrupt if you don’t structure it the right way. I see this all the time in my real estate investment club. The guys that don’t take the time to invest in their education are soon out of business because they try and figure it out on their own and fail.

Short Sales are a great way to guarantee that you won’t overpay for properties. If you are wondering “ what is a short sale “ or are wondering what the “ definition of a short sale is“ here you go. A Short Sale is when the lender accepts less than what is owed on a mortgage on home foreclosures.

All of The deals are no money down.

We don’t give the sellers any money when we get the deed to their house.

The only thing you have to pay when you get a deal is the cost of the notary and recording fee when you record your deed. That’s a maximum of $100. Now my acquisitions manager is a notary so I don’t pay any notary fees. If you don’t put any money down on the house, you aren’t putting any money at risk.

You don’t need good credit to do short sale deals.

You don’t need to go get a mortgage when you do short sales deals. If you don’t need to use your credit, you aren’t putting your credit at risk. You fund the deal the way you structure the transaction. You fund the deal by either:

The ability to own houses without having to make monthly mortgage payments.

There are no monthly payments to make for short sale deals. The houses are either

in foreclosure or about to be in foreclosure. You don’t need to make any payments therefore you aren’t putting any money at risking making monthly payments.

Preforeclosures and Short Sales are extremely easy to find right now.

There aren’t enough investors out there to handle all of the deals in the market. That’s why I’m on a mission to equip you with all of the resources you need so you can go out there and help all of these struggling homeowners and make a lot of money while doing it.

You may here some real estate speakers say to stay away from foreclosures because there is too much competition. Well that was then and this is now. They are teaching old information because they are not currently practicing what they preach. I am actively buying and selling foreclosures in my own backyard and I know what works and what doesn’t work. And I have to tell you there is no competition for preforeclosure and short sales now because there are so many of them.

Short Sales are easy to get because it doesn’t require you to do a lot of negotiating with the seller because they know they don’t have any equity and they’re just looking for a way out. You are their solution! I love working with short sale sellers because they are the most motivated sellers out there.

Short Sales are the most profitable quick turn deals to do in residential real estate because you’re making all of your profit on the discount with the lender

One of the biggest benefits of the short sale business is that it works even better on Luxury Homes. The banks are more flexible and more negotiable on larger mortgages. Banks don’t want to take houses back and they definitely don’t want to take back Luxury homes.

It takes the same amount of work to do a deal on a luxury home than it does to do a starter home. The difference is A Luxury home pays 10 times as much profit. Its like doing 10 deals in one and when you combine the short sale strategy with luxury homes, you’ve got the golden ticket.

You See, Banks are in the money business. They’re not in the Real Estate business. They don’t want to own any properties. Their only interest is making interest on their money. Foreclosing on homes is a hassle they have to deal with because it’s a cost of doing business for them. The sooner you understand this the sooner you will realize how huge this opportunity is for you right now.

When banks lend out money – they have to keep a multiple of 5 times the amount of money they lend out in reserves. When a loan goes bad, it’s now considered a non-performing asset and that limits the amount of money they can lend out.

It costs a bank a minimum of $30,000 to foreclose on a home. They would rather take a discount on the mortgage and get that bad debt off their books so they can lend out more money.

You are the solution for them. Banks need you to help them liquidate their houses so they can get rid of their bad debt. You are doing them a great service.

Why You Should Focus on the Foreclosure Niche In Your Real Estate Investing Business

2008-05-02T02:35:00.000-07:00

The opportunities that exist in the foreclosure niche are huge right now and they are continuing to grow at a rapid pace. This is spurred by the increase in foreclosure rates across the country being led by California and Florida. Focusing on foreclosure transactions allows you to work on Luxury Homes without the traditional Risk you would normally assume by qualifying and signing for a mortgage.

In the Foreclosure Niche, you take control of a property by “getting the deed” and selling the home to an investor or owner occupant depending on the price range, neighborhood and condition of the house. By Focusing on Luxury and Higher end Home, you can make more profit per house with the same amount of work. When you combine this with the ability to short sale Jumbo Mortgages, You’ve got your golden ticket.

Lenders are extremely flexible on negotiating high dollar mortgages and jumbo loans because they definitely don’t want these houses back. Would you rather make 10% of a 150 thousand dollar home or 10% of a 1.5 million dollar home? The Mortgage Marketplace has created such a large number of defaulted mortgages that it has created unlimited opportunities to do these types of transactions.

This is because of the very aggressive subprime products they put out in the market place and their loosened guidelines for allowing weak borrowers to buy properties they normally wouldn’t have been able to buy. They did this because of competition needed to get their money out in the market place. The Foreclosure Niche is the Best Niche in The Real Estate Investing Business because:

1. The ability to control High Dollar and High Profit Potential Homes with no Risk.

2. You don’t have to have Good Credit because you don’t have to qualify for mortgages in your own name.

3. You don’t need a lot of money to get started. This business has very low barriers of entry.

4. You don’t need any experience because if you follow my system, it will show you how to create the huge checks by following the step by step system.

5. You can purchase a foreclosure quickly because you have a motivated, cooperative seller.

This situation won’t last forever. Just 3 years ago it was very difficult to find these types of deals. Its so easy now, its pathetic! Take advantage of it while its here.

Why Would a Lender Do a Short Sale?

2008-05-02T02:16:00.000-07:00

There are many ways to lose a home but signing away ownership in a manner that destroys credit, embarrasses the family and strips an owner of dignity is one of the hardest. For owners who can no longer afford to keep mortgage payments current, there are alternatives to bankruptcy or foreclosure proceedings. One of those options is called a "short sale ."

When lenders agree to do a short sale in real estate , it means the lender is accepting less than the total amount due. Not all lenders will accept short sales or discounted payoffs, especially if it would make more financial sense to foreclose; moreover, not all sellers nor all properties qualify for short sales.

If you are considering buying a short sale, there could be drawbacks. For your protection, I suggest that all borrowers:

Obtain legal advice from a competent real estate lawyer
Call an accountant to discuss short sale tax ramifications

As a real estate agent, I am not licensed as a lawyer nor a CPA and cannot advise on those consequences. Except for certain conditions pursuant to the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, be aware the I.R.S. will consider debt forgiveness as income, and there is no guarantee that a lender who accepts a short sale will not legally pursue a borrower for the difference between the amount owed and the amount paid. In some states, this amount is known as a deficiency. A lawyer can determine whether your loan qualifies for a deficiency judgment or claim.

Although all lenders have varying requirements and may demand that a borrower submit a wide array of documentation, the following steps will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.

Call the Lender
You may need to make a half dozen phone calls before you find the person responsible for handling short sales. You do not want to talk to the "real estate short sale" or "work out" department, you want the supervisor's name, the name of the individual capable of making a decision.
Submit Letter of Authorization
Lenders typically do not want to disclose any of your personal information without written authorization to do so. If you are working with a real estate agent, closing agent, title company or lawyer, you will receive better cooperation if you write a letter to the lender giving the lender permission to talk with those specific interested parties about your loan. The letter should include the following:

Property Address
Loan Reference Number
Your Name
The Date
Your Agent's Name & Contact Information

Preliminary Net Sheet
This is an estimated closing statement that shows the sales price you expect to receive and all the costs of sale, unpaid loan balances, outstanding payments due and late fees, including real estate commissions, if any. Your closing agent or lawyer should be able to prepare this for you, if you do not know how to calculate any of these fees. If the bottom line shows cash to the seller, you will probably not need a short sale.
Hardship Letter
The sadder, the better. This statement of facts describes how you got into this financial bind and makes a plea to the lender to accept less than full payment. Lenders are not inhumane and can understand if you lost your job, were hospitalized or a truck ran over your entire family, but lenders are not particularly empathetic to situations involving dishonesty or criminal behavior.
Proof of Income and Assets
It is best to be truthful and honest about your financial situation and disclose assets. Lenders will want to know if you have savings accounts, money market accounts, stocks or bonds, negotiable instruments, cash or other real estate or anything of tangible value. Lenders are not in the charity business and often require assurance that the debtor cannot pay back any of the debt that it is forgiving.
Copies of Bank Statements
If your bank statements reflect unaccountable deposits, large cash withdrawals or an unusual number of checks, it's probably a good idea to explain each of those line items to the lender. In addition, the lender might want you to account for each and every deposit so it can determine whether deposits will continue.
Comparative Market Analysis
Sometimes markets decline and property values fall. If this is part of the reason that you cannot sell your home for enough to pay off the lender, this fact should be substantiated for the lender through a comparative market analysis (CMA). Your real estate agent can prepare a CMA for you, which will show prices of similar homes:

Active on the market
Pending sales
Solds from the past six months.

Purchase Agreement & Listing Agreement
When you reach an agreement to sell with a prospective purchaser, the lender will want a copy of the offer, along with a copy of your listing agreement. Be prepared for the lender to renegotiate commissions and to refuse to allow payment of certain items such as home protection plans or termite inspections.