About Short Sales

for everything you need to know about short sales, REO and bank owned properties.

Posts Tagged ‘Short Sales’

The Aftermath Of A Deficiency Judgment On A Foreclosure Or Short Sale

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

You probably already know what a deficiency judgment is. Generally, it’s a lawsuit to collect unpaid debts, and in our business, it’s a lawsuit to collect the balance due on a mortgage after a foreclosure. Not all states allow lenders to do this, but many of them do.

When you have to sell your home through foreclosure or short sale, is there any way to prevent a deficiency judgment from being awarded? What happens in those situations?

Most of the time, the only way you can avoid a deficiency judgment is by negotiating with the lender during the pre-foreclosure process. They know how expensive it is to maintain their REO properties. The lender may consent to waive their right to collect the rest of the debt if they see that it will cost them less money in the long run to allow a short sale and simply let the debt go.

When that isn’t possible, depending on state law, the homeowner may have a deficiency judgment on their hands, whether the short sale was approved or the foreclosure went through. At that point, the debt only goes away through payoff or bankruptcy.

What will be the amount of the deficiency judgment? In the case of a foreclosure, the judge will take the balance due on the mortgage and subtract the greater of the high bid at the auction or the appraised value of the home. When the house is sold in a short sale, the amount the bank received from the sale is subtracted from the mortgage balance.

So, the former homeowner now has a court order which says he has to pay the rest of that mortgage debt to the bank. If there were two or more mortgages or liens, that homeowner may even have two or more deficiency judgments against him.

Immediately after the judge signs the order, the deficiency judgment begins earning interest. If the lender adds its REO expenses to the balance, the interest just keeps climbing higher. There is an interest rate of 11 percent per year on deficiency judgments in Florida. What’s the rate in your state?

The debt is usually sold afterward for 5 to 10 cents on the dollar. Banks don’t see much point in trying to collect those debts themselves, especially since most homeowners with that kind of debt are broke. They would rather take the 10 percent now than hope for a larger payment later while keeping the debt on the books.

Besides the deficiency judgment, the former homeowner also has a wounded credit report and a lower FICO score. Having a foreclosure on record is one thing, but a deficiency judgment or a low FICO score could influence a critical decision by others on whether to give that person a job, a loan, or a rental home.

With the number of foreclosures increasing faster than ever, the number of deficiency judgments are increasing right along with them. As the government re-evaluates how foreclosures are done in various scenarios, they may also reconsider how deficiency judgments are handled as well. On the other hand, they may not.

In the meantime, if you are about to lose your home, your best bet is to try talking with the lender. You or your agent may be able to help their loss mitigation department see how cost-effective it is for them to tell the credit bureaus that your mortgage is “paid in full as agreed.” If you don’t take the time to negotiate now, you could be paying for it later.

Need to learn more about foreclosures? Visit the Strategic Real Estate Coach website. You’ll be able to register for weekly updates on the latest developments in the mortgage industry and more!

Steps To Take In Buying A Home After Foreclosure

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

Do you want to buy a home following a recent property foreclosure? A foreclosure can make you experience the pain of leaving your home and needing to make a brand new start. It truly is even more stressful in the event you lost your home as a result of medical issues, a loss of the job, or various other situations beyond your control.

You can again become a home owner even right after a foreclosure. It isn’t at all as difficult as you may possibly think. Lots of men and women don’t even apply for a home loan. They assume that due to the fact they have a bad credit rating no financial institution will lend them the money.

A great consumer credit score is quite crucial if you need to approach a financial institution within the market. But in fact you’ll find still many loan companies who are ready to lend cash to the individuals having a bad consumer credit rating, though it has turned out to be a lot more challenging in the existing economy. So you are able to dream about proudly owning a home even after a foreclosure.

As soon as you’ll be able to right after a foreclosure, try to re-establish your credit score. When you are able to have a mortgage loan attempt to maintain a consistency with the repayments. This will improve your credit score within a year. When you are attempting to finally get reduced rate financing then you must work hard on strengthening your score.

Keep making an application for new credit accounts. This will certainly assist you to bring up your credit rating more rapidly. Try to get an unsecured or secured credit card. A department store card will additionally help you out. When you continue to keep paying the balances of the credit cards every single month, your credit score improves faster. If you are attempting to reestablish your scores you have to constantly keep an eye on your credit score.

Just simply taking care of your balances just isn’t enough, though. You will have to take into account the loan provider also. The loan company who is financing your new house is equally crucial. Supplementary cash options need to also be explored. Subprime loan providers and mortgage brokers are good alternatives to look at, though it can be more complicated in the existing economic climate.

One factor for sure is that if your past credit history is bad, the established financial institutions will not offer you very good rates even if they decide to take you on. Most loan companies select the best applicants. The customer who has a poor credit score is charged greater interest and extra fees simply because the odds of defaulting are high with these kinds of customers.

The most effective way is to start out with an internet mortgage broker. These individuals will aid you to select the ideal package. The entire procedure is very quick and uncomplicated. Evaluate the estimates of various loan providers proposed by the broker. Examine the report very carefully. Give it some thought and then select the loan company who best suits your requirements.

You’ll need to submit your credit details, your workplace and job history, and income to the loan broker. After that the negotiator will suggest to you a list of achievable deals. You can then try to work with the best loan company to acquire a loan.

Are you looking for Palm Coast short sales? If so, please visit my site to learn more about available Palm Coast foreclosures that are available to invest in.

Finding An Arizona Foreclosure: The Steps Involved

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Arizona, thriving just a few years at the height of the housing and building boom, has suffered immensely as a result of the current economic and real estate crisis in the United States; many an Arizona foreclosure exists as a result. In fact, on a site listing the top 25 worst markets for housing in the US, Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona both made the list. Given this dynamic, it is helpful for people to know where they can find listings of foreclosures in Arizona. These sources include foreclosure listing sites that contain bank-owned properties, government agencies that own foreclosed properties, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the United States Marshal Service, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

On a starting note, thousands of foreclosed properties can be located for no fee on foreclosure listing sites. In fact, such websites are among the most comprehensive ways by which to locate foreclosures. Millions of such websites come up when the phrase foreclosed properties is typed into popular search engines. It is of critical importance to make clear that the banks which list foreclosures on these websites have a financial incentive to sell them quickly, as the properties are not assets to their bottom lines. The properties cost money to maintain, and costs are also associated with depreciation. Given this aspect, potential buyers of foreclosures need to be careful to make sure that the property they wish to buy from the bank, which has all of the motivation possible to want to make a quick sale, does not turn out to be a costly investment and headache years down the road.

In addition to bank listings on foreclosure sites, foreclosed properties in Arizona can be found on the websites of the US Department of Housing (HUD), Home steps, and Fannie Mae, all government-affiliated organizations that list many foreclosed properties on a daily basis. It is helpful to look at each one of these sources in depth.

For someone wishing to purchase a foreclosed home in Arizona, HUD lists what are called HUD properties. A person wishing to purchase a foreclosure that is a HUD property must be prepared to also be an occupant of the house, as HUD foreclosed properties in the initial stages are only made available as owner-occupiers. They are in time made available to the general public only when it becomes near impossible to get them off the market.

Yet another top resource where foreclosures in Arizona can be located is Homesteps. This organization is affiliated with the US government, and it is a division of Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac is a money lender that is sponsored by the government. Homesteps has an easy to use website that has many foreclosure listings which can be found effortlessly based on the desired attributes typed in by the potential buyer.

Another money lender sponsored by the government in addition to Freddie Mac is Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae’s site has a search engine that is of top quality just like the one on Homesteps. Someone can specify the exact part of Arizona in which they would like to live, as well as other specifics like number of rooms, etc.

Interestingly enough, and not known to many people, it is not only the mortgage-oriented arms of the United States government that have foreclosed properties available for sale in the state of Arizona. The United States of Agriculture (USDA), the US Marshall Service, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) websites also list many homes that have a foreclosure status. To begin, the USDA is responsible for a lot more than just formulating and dictating government policies on food, trade, farming, and agriculture in the United States. The agency also lists many foreclosed properties on its website, mainly farms and businesses but also homes and additional seized agricultural properties.

The United States Marshall Service executes the United States government’s Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Program. Properties that are seized by law enforcement agencies in the effort to combat and address crime are listed on the US Marshall Service website. In fact, efforts to combat crime are funded by the revenues generated by the sales of foreclosed properties on the US Marshall website. Properties seized by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and US Attorney General office can all be located through the US Marshall Service.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website lists properties that were seized due to unpaid taxes. Many of the homes on the website are offered for quick sale by auction. The IRS website is very detailed, and it contains many listings in Arizona.

Someone looking to purchase a foreclosed home in Arizona has no shortage of areas where they can conduct research. These sources include foreclosure listing sites; government-affiliated sites such as Homesteps, Fannie Mae, and the US Department of Housing (HUD); the US Department of Agriculture; the US Marshall website; and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website.

To receive your list of Arizona foreclosure or general information about Az foreclosures, you want to get the right web page or company. Many companies can give you advice for foreclosures or even give you a list of homes that has been foreclosed.