About Short Sales

The national real estate and housing scene has been horribly plagued with home values sharply dropping, unemployment rates skyrocketing and foreclosures being somewhat of the norm.

The bitter truths have shown that a meager 4 percent of homeowners on a national basis that faced foreclosure within the last year did receive mortgage assistance.

This has made the Obama administration to look continuously for a solution for the remaining 96 percent of homeowners already in foreclosure. This obviously doesn’t include future foreclosure victims in 2010 and 2011.

Demographics are showing that approximately two million homes and other real estate elements are falling into foreclosure or are bank-owned with more losses coming.

The government overall has been unproductive at saving homes from foreclosure. Sadly, the worse is yet to come according to Citigroup experts. Most financial analysts predict that there will be an increase of 8 million or more foreclosures in 2010 to 2011.

Which brings us to the subject of short sales. There was approximately 500,000 home sales in 2009 that were filed as short sales. The National Association of Realtors said this was close to 10 percent of homes sold for the entire year.

What seems to have caught many by surprise is the about face attitude banks have adopted in that they are now readily accepting short sales in an increasing amount.

Comparative reports show that in the first 6 months of 2009, short sales tripled to 40,000 which were far lower in 2008 as previously discussed by the St. Louis Refinancing Group.

This is later contrasted by the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency reporting 25 foreclosures started or completed for each filed short sale.

“It’s really finally dawning on banks that they’re better off with a short sale,” said Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Mr. Green continues: “I think banks were in denial.”

Most homeowners don’t know this but there are a few benefits in doing a short sale. You remain in control of the sale as like any other home sale. And you can spare yourself the social stigma of having a foreclosure on your credit report.

But what if one wants to purchase another home. Would a short sale derail this future action? If payments were never 30 days late and no pay back was required by the lender, Fannie Mae guidelines may allow you to buy another home immediately or no longer than 3 years.

On the other hand, if your payments are in arrears yet a short sale is granted by your lender, you may qualify to buy another home with a Fannie-Mae backed mortgage within two years, regardless of whether the home is your primary residence.

But what if you were a victim of foreclosure? Do not despair. Even with restrictions in place, you may qualify to by another home within 5 years and if there’s no restrictions in place, within 7 years.

And for those who are investors and do not occupy the home, the wait to buy with a Fannie Mae insured loan is 7 years.

With political pressures escalating from demanding consumers in the mortgage arena, the Obama administration has had no choice but to champion the short sale as a feasible alternative to foreclosure.

In addition, the Treasury Department has recently laid out finalized guidelines for carrying out short sales under the Making Homes Affordable program.

Under the new Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA) program, the administration is urging participating servicers to follow through with short sales as an alternative to foreclosure.

The HAFA program was a vital implementation for current homeowners that did not qualify for loan modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program also known as HAMP.

Looking to find the best deal on a St Louis Home Loan, then visit www.StLouisRefinancingGroup.com to find the best advice on a St Louis Refinance or Mortgage Loan for you.

For the first time in years, the price of a home has decreased, giving more and more people the option of owning their first home. There are a few different programs that offer even more savings, such as low to zero down mortgage loans. These various programs give the first time home owner incentive to take advantage of the low cost of buying a home.

Many different types of programs can be found by getting on line and doing a little research. The following is just a small list of the most popular zero down options given to those searching for their first home.

1. One program that is geared towards those wanting to purchase land used for farming. It has a few restrictions such as it is only for targeted rural areas and some income restrictions. The interest rate on this loan is 3.5%. This loan is to increase the land used for farm and agricultural uses.

2. Crown Financial Solutions has a program that offers the chance for a consumer with low to moderate credit scores. It gives them the chance to own their own home for around 3.5%.

The United States government also has a popular option for first time home owners, known as the FHA. This is targeted towards those with not so good credit to get a loan by just looking at the past few years of payments. There can’t be any bankruptcies over the past two years and credit scores have to be good after the discharge.

Owning a home for the first time is an exciting milestone in most consumers’ lives. There are many programs designed to help, some even zero down mortgage loans. Some of the programs being offered are geared towards those with fair to low credit scores. With home prices getting lower and lower, it is a really good time to take advantage of the deals offered to consumers.

If you are in the market to Buy a Home then check out Rob Kosbergs’ Detailed FREE Guide on Attaining your Dream Home with a Zero Down Mortgage or for up to date Mortgage info visit my Mortgage Blog

National TV and radio stories talk about something called the national real estate market. We are hearing about a market that does not exist.

There are many areas, cities and even whole states that have remained strong during the present real estate crisis. There are cities in hard hit states that have seen their home values remain relatively flat or even increase slightly. And, of course, there are some neighborhoods within cities that have outperformed others. When thinking of the real estate market remember this.

Consider the latest American Housing Survey. It found that there are 124,377,000 homes in America spread across:

The information is collected from all 50 states as well as Incorporated cities numbering more than 30,000 and Innumerable local neighborhoods.

These 124 million homes get bunched together by the media and we hear the analysis of the undifferentiated clump of homes. These national statistics are not “one size fits all.” The market in Pocatello, will be different than the market in Boulder. National statistics are not helpful.

To get real estate analysis that matters, look local instead. And I don’t mean stats from your state — I mean stats from your neighborhood. It’s the only way to know what’s driving home prices on your street.

Unfortunately, finding local data like this isn’t easy; it’s far too narrow to be covered by the press. So, the best place to get local real estate data is from a local real estate agent or from somebody else with access to raw real estate data in and around your neighborhood.

By talking to local professionals that know your backyard, you’ll get a much clearer picture of your local market — good or bad — than the national media could ever provide.

Remember, real estate is unlike a gallon of gas. Gas may be similar from state to state but not real estate. Don’t worry about the stories you hear on national media. Real estate is a local market so your real estate data should be local, too.

If you are in the market to Buy a Home then Visit Rob Kosbergs’ Detailed FREE Guide on Buying your Dream Home with a Zero Down Mortgage or for up to date Mortgage info visit my Mortgage Blog

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