Short Sale Pros successfully completed their 2nd Commercial Short Sale this week!!! We are beginning to see more and more of these deals surface. We will be launching a Commercial Short Sale program to the public shortly. If you have any deals now, we will review them on a case by case basis.
RealtyTrac and Trulia announced last week that 41% of people would consider a “Strategic Default”, or choose to stop paying their mortgage even if they are capable because of negative equity (owing more than your home is worth).
First American Core Logic says there are 130 million homes in the United States. If 20% of them are upside down, or 26 million homes, and 41% walk, then 10.4 million homes would go into default.
The National Association of Realtors says the median home price is $166,100, so if you take 10.4 million homes by $166,100, you have over $1,727,400,000,000 in foreclosures ahead.
Let’s hope strategic defaults reach no where near the 41% level. It is a big problem and Short Sale Pros always advises against it.
If you’re concerned about being involved in “short payoff fraud,” below is a central index of the replays of all three major webinars on the topic.
You’ll also find an “Open Letter to Freddie Mac” written by another well-known attorney.
Anyone who considers him/herself a serious real estate professional (real estate agents, brokers, investors, title, escrow, etc.) should conduct serious study about this issue.
3) Jeff Watson set the entire foundation at: http://topshortsalelawyer.com/listen-to-the-watson-freddie-mac-webinar-here – this one is for those really into legal stuff, he laid out important issues of “privity” and other contractual concepts that other bloggers crying “fraud” need to understand in order to avoid sounding totally ignorant.
Most webinar listeners will be pleased to find these are free webinars that aren’t selling anything. They are content packed. They are publicly presented because we firmly believe that short sale back-to-back investors have been, and are, operating entirely legally. Freddie Mac is welcomed and encouraged to listen — if they haven’t already. We operate and advise in the sunshine, not in the shadows.
RealtyTrac said today that the number of U.S. homes taken over by banks jumped 35 percent in the first quarter from a year ago. In addition, households facing foreclosure grew 16 percent in the same period and 7 percent from the last three months of 2009.
A record number of U.S. homes were lost to foreclosure in the first three months of this year, a sign banks are starting to wade through the backlog of troubled home loans at a faster pace, according to a new report.
More homes were taken over by banks and scheduled for a foreclosure sale than in any quarter going back to at least January 2005, when RealtyTrac began reporting the data.
“We’re right now on pace to see more than 1 million bank repossessions this year,” said Rick Sharga, a RealtyTrac senior vice president.
California accounted for the biggest slice overall of homes facing foreclosure — roughly 23 percent of the nation’s total. One in every 62 properties received a foreclosure filing in the first quarter.
This new measure waives state taxes on mortgage debt that has been forgiven in a foreclosure or short sale. It applies to debt forgiveness in 2009 through 2012, and brings California into conformity with federal debt relief efforts.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the measure, “SB 401″, which permits married partners to exclude canceled mortgage debt up to $500,000 on their primary residence, $250,000 if an individual.
Flipping is becoming more and more accepted by the government and major lending institutions. This is evidenced by Freddie Mac’s recent bulletins, updated credit policies by Wells Fargo to allow for C buyer financing, and revised title bulletins stating that the C purchase price does not need to be revealed to the A lender as long as certain disclosures are made.
Today, the FHA has rescinded its 90 anti-flipping rule and will, for a period of 1 year, allow FHA buyers to obtain loans on properties that have been recently purchased by investors.
The policy change will permit buyers to use FHA-insured financing to purchase HUD-owned properties, bank-owned properties, or properties resold through private sales. This will allow homes to resell as quickly as possible, helping to stabilize real estate prices and to revitalize neighborhoods and communities.
Property flips are legal if done correctly in an open and transparent manner. Legitimate, solid sources have documented their changes recently.
Wells Fargo, one of the most conservative lenders, has acknowledged Legitimate Property Flips and has removed their seasoning restriction as of January 1st, 2010.
Banks are finally catching up with the market and opening up their guidelines to allow more investors to revitalize the economy with legitimate property flipping. The free market system and capitalism will balance supply and demand and bring the economy back into harmony much faster than any government program could ever hope to do.
Changes like this will make 2010 easier to help homeowners avoid foreclosure! That is always something worth writing about.
We applaud your judgment Wells Fargo. We hope the other 3 majors follow suit.
One of the most sought after national experts on Realtor Personal Development, Tammy Burnell, speaks about what all Top Agents do.
Tammy was one of Tom Ferry’s top coaches and trained with Tom for over 5 years before launching her own business.
This is a very special treat for us because Tammy has completed over 9,000 coaching calls! Tammy knows the inside-skinny on what works right here and right now in THIS market!
We were lucky to get Tammy because she is a very ‘hard-to-get lady’. Not only is she busy speaking and training all over the country, she’s also been on Dr. Phil!