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Short Sales Explained

Jeffrey — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:58:22 +0000

Take a look at this three minute video. It breaks down how a short sale in Arizona works and goes into some of the basics.

If you have any short sale questions, please don’t hesitate to call or email us. As always you are free to browse all of our Short Sale articles on our blog.

Sincerely,

Jeff Buettner

What is a Loan Modification/ Mortgage Modification?

Jeffrey — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:43:01 +0000

We are going to step back from talking about short sale and talk about the loan modification or mortgage modification. If you are looking to keep your home, a loan modification might be a better option than a short sale although they are very difficult to get approved.

Below is a very informative video on mortgage modification.

If you have any questions about Phoenix short sales, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us.

Thanks for continually reading our Arizona short sale blog.

Jeff Buettner

What motivates the lender?

Jeffrey — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:54:19 +0000

There is a flurry of information out there in regard to short sales, foreclosures, and just lenders in general. Before you can truly understand why these lenders do the things they do, you have to understand what motivates them. When you understand what motivates them, it is then, you can provide the correct facts to get your Arizona short sale approved or get a loan modification looked at.

So, what is it you ask? What motivates the banks? That’s right. You guessed it. Money. Money motivates the bank. At the end of the day, for a short sale to get approved or a loan modification to be looked at, all you have to do is show that YOUR OPTION nets the banks even one more penny then OPTION B.

This can be tough in some cases. Why? Because we don’t exactly know what the bank’s expenses are. Yes, we know foreclosure costs them money (maintaining the property, lawyer’s fees, etc…). But how much? We won’t really ever know the exact amount.

So what is our advantage? The bank doesn’t truly know everything about your property, you as a homeowner, or your situation. My rule of thumb is: Tell the bank something they don’t know. Present the numbers and give them a reason to truly look at the file. Maybe it is that your short sale property backs up to a road. Maybe it is the your considering bankruptcy?

These scenarios change the numbers and in some cases, changes the tide.

If you have any Arizona short sale questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Jeff Buettner

Am I Upside Down On My Mortgage?

Jeffrey — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:50:08 +0000

There are a lot of statistics out there in regard to short sales in Arizona and the housing crisis. Some of these statistics will quote “homeowners who are upside down on their mortgage”. One of the qualification of doing an Arizona short sale is being upside on your mortgage.

Here is a great video that talk about the specifics of being upside on your mortgage and how a short sale can help.

If you have any questions, please don’t ever hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Jeff Buettner

What is an Arm’s Length Transaction? How does it affect short sales in Arizona?

Jeffrey — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:37:41 +0000

An Arm’s Length Transaction has to do with the relationships between the parties involved in a particular transaction. More often than not, a short sale lender will require all parties of the short sale to sign an Arm’s Length Addendum.

Embedded below is a very good video about what makes up an Arm’s Length Transaction and how it might affect your Arizona short sale.

Thanks for reading our Arizona short sale blog.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at the “Contact Us” page.

Jeff Buettner

With a short sale in Arizona, is it better to leave your home?

Jeffrey — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:35:23 +0000

With all of the short sales in Arizona that I have handled, one the trickiest questions to answer is about when the homeowner should leave their property. This tends to be a heated debate between short sale experts as there are pros for each side. I will talk about the different perspectives and I suggest you find a balance between each that works best for your family while going through the short sale process.

Pros For Staying In The Home While Doing A Short Sale

An occupied home tends to show and sell better. Buyer’s can visualize themselves in the home. This alone tends to produce higher contracts and more serious buyers.

If you are currently behind on payments, staying in the home while the short sale is negotiated can relieve some of the financial burden.

If the bank find’s out the home is vacant, sometimes they do what is called “winterizing the home”. This might involve boarding up the pool or changing the locks. these are just minor hiccups in the grand scheme of things but might delay the sale.

Pros For Leaving The Home During The Short Sale Process

If you are behind on your mortgage payments, the longer you wait to find a rental the harder it becomes. For this alone, I usually recommend to homeowners to secure a place as quickly as possible.

The amount of time it takes to get an approval on a short sale varies. While normally it is a longer amount of time than expected, every once and awhile an approval can come in sooner than expected. If you are living in the home when an approval is received you usually will have to vacate within 30 days or less. This can be very stressful if you’re not prepared.

Sometimes living in the home while the short sale is being worked is just too stressful for some. The thought of leaving the house you soent so much time to make your home can be difficult.

Like I said in the beginning, this isn’t a one stop answer for everyone. I advise my clients to evaluate the Pros/Cons above and figure out the balance that is best for your family.

If you have any short sale questions, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us.

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Jeff Buettner

What is an Arizona short sale?

Jeffrey — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:32:16 +0000

Embedded below is a very useful video on how a short sale works. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thanks for continually checking up on short sales in Arizona.

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Jeff Buettner

What qualifies someone for a HAFA Short Sale?

Jeffrey — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:46:41 +0000

The HAFA program and HAFA short sales have made some headlines as of late. Some boast this new government program as the end all be all for “difficult” short sales. Let’s take a look and see what it takes to qualify for a HAFA short sale.

For starters, your primary lender has to volunteer to participate in the HAMP program. (Basically, they have to agree to want to participate. )

Beyond that, there are some hoops you, as the homeowner, have to jump through before your HAFA short sale can be approved.

Property is principal residence.

Mortgage originated before Jan. 1, 2009.

Mortgage is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Borrower is delinquent or default is foreseeable.

Homeowner demonstrates hardship.

Borrower’s total monthly housing payment exceeds 31 percent of gross income.

Unpaid principal does not exceed $729,750.

If you have any questions about these qualifications, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Thanks for reading about HAFA short sales!

An Interesting Perspective On Foreclosure / Short Sale

Jeffrey — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:16:14 +0000

Brent T White is a local Arizonan and college professor. He make some very valid and interesting points on the economical and moral debate of short sale, foreclosure, and strategic default.

If you haven’t had a chance to read some of his articles, I reccomend you check our our “Brent T White” section http://realestatewizkid.com/short-sale-information/brent-t-white/

Thanks for reading!

Short Sale Investor: Who really calls the shots?

Jeffrey — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 05:38:16 +0000

This is a big misconception among the general population these days in regard to short sales. A short sale, if you don’t already know, is the selling of a home where you owe more than it is worth. To do this, one must get approval from their lien holders/ the company’s that service their mortgage.

Here is where the misconception comes into play. Yes, when doing a short sale, you must get approval from your mortgage company. Unfortunately, most of the time your mortgage company isn’t making the final call on whether to let the short sale go through or not. The majority of the time while, for example, your mortgage might be through Wells Fargo and Wells Fargo’s logo is on all of your bills, but the loan is actually owned by another company. This other company is called the investor.

If you have ever heard of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, this is what they do. They are the investors on home mortgages. The investors set the guidelines in place and have final say on all approvals of short sales. This is part of the reason one short sale with XYZ bank might take 1 month and another with the same exact bank can take up to 8 months.

If you have any Arizona Short Sale questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Jeff Buettner