The Long Story on Short Sales

Everyone likes a story with a happy ending: Boy meets girl, they fall in love, get married and live happily ever after. The story is a little longer if boy and girl try to buy a short sale house and then live happily ever after. That story is not as simple. Patience is the main ingredient in any story involving a short sale. First of all, a short sale is when the seller owes more than house can be sold for and the lender agrees to accept a loss on the house. President Obama recently announced further measures to help beleaguered homeowners, including encouraging lenders to accept short sales.

The benefit of a short sale is that homeowners avoid foreclosure and the completely ruined credit that goes with it. However, the "short" in short sale refers to the loss to the bank, not the quickness of the sale. Because buyers are dealing with the seller's lender as well as the seller, paperwork does not move quickly. "The problem is it's never clear who in a bank has the authority to approve a short sale," said Howard Glaser, a mortgage industry consultant in Washington and a former HUD official in a recent Associated Press article. Federal standards "would speed the process for buyers and sellers by making it more efficient."

The number of foreclosures continues to accelerate across the country. The AP reported that number of foreclosures was up 32 percent in April compared with the same month last year. Of course, the Austin foreclosure rate is not that high, but Central Texas is facing its fair share of the housing crisis. The number of short sales, pre-foreclosure homes, on the market is likely to increase in the months ahead as the economy continues to be shaky. A short sale may be a good deal for a buyer, as in most cases the owner has stopped making payments and the home is vacant.

It is in the lender's best interest to get the defaulted loan off the books and accept an offer, but that doesn't mean they will jump at any offer. It can't be stressed enough the importance of having a qualified real estate agent, and that is certainly the case when dealing with short sales. If a buyer decides to make an offer on a short sale home, the real estate agent needs to do a little research. First, a title search will indicate how much is owed to the lender, who the lender is and whether there is more than one mortgage on the house. A buyer should know that complications can arise if more than one lender is involved.

Another thing the real estate agent needs to determine for the buyer is comparable recent sales in the same neighborhood. These, more than anything else, will help determine the best offer price for the house. For example, if a home is listed for $200,000, but the last sale in the neighborhood was for a home with the same square footage for $175,000, then the buyer can be confident in making a lower offer. The agent should include comparable sales in the offer package sent to the lender. Although a short sale home is still in the seller/owner's name, everything from the offer to any repair addendum to the final close has to be approved by the lender.

It is crucial that the seller's agent has good lines of communication with a lender representative, usually someone in the loss mitigation department, to move the process along. There can be a happy ending with short sales for both the buyer, who can get a good deal, and the seller, who can be saved from foreclosure. The story on short sales, however, can be a long one.

May your hair, your teeth, your face-lift, your abs, and your stocks not fall.

May your blood pressure, your triglycerides, your cholesterol, your white blood count and your mortgage interest rate not rise.

May you get a clean bill of health from your dentist, your cardiologist, your  gastroenterologist, your urologist, your proctologist, your podiatrist, your  psychiatrist, and your plumber.

May you find a way to travel from anywhere to anywhere during rush hour in less than an hour, and when you get there may you find a parking space.

May you find yourself together with beloved family and cherished friends, ushering in the New Year ahead.

May what you see in the mirror delight you, and what others see in you delight them.

May the telemarketers wait to make their sales calls until you finish dinner, may your checkbook and your budget balance, and may they include generous amounts for charity.

May you remember to say "I love you" at least once a day to your partner, your  child, and your parents.  You can say it to your secretary, your nurse, your  butcher, your photographer, your masseuse, your seamstress, your hairdresser  or your gym instructor, but not with a twinkle in your eye.

May we live as intended, in a world at peace with the awareness of the beauty  in every sunset, every flower's unfolding petals, every baby's smile and every wonderful, astonishing, miraculous part of ourselves.

Bless you with every happiness, great health, peace and much love during this new year and all those that follow.

GBU ALL!

We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.

If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency?  Hence this "ICE" (In Case of Emergency) Campaign

The concept of "ICE" is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations.  As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name "ICE" ( In Case Of Emergency).

The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call.  He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose.  

In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number you have stored as "ICE."  

For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc.  A great idea that will make a difference!
Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our Mobile phones today!  

Please pass this on it really could save your life or a loved ones. 

Although I've got MOM, HOME listed on my cell, it can't hurt to have an ICE #.

ICE will speak for you when you are not able to.

No one believes seniors . . . everyone  thinks they're senile.

   An Elderly couple was celebrating their sixtieth anniversary. The couple had married as childhood sweethearts and  had moved back to their old neighborhood after they retired. 

Holding hands they walked back to their  old school. It was not locked, so they entered, and found the old desk they'd shared, where Andy had carved "I love you, Sally."  

On their way back home, a bag of money fell out of an  armored car, practically landing at their feet Sally quickly picked it up,  but not sure what to do with it, they took it home. There, she counted the  money--fifty-thousand dollars.

Andy said, "We've got to give it back." Sally said, "Finders keepers." She  put the money back in the bag and hid it in their attic.  

The next day, two FBI men were canvassing the neighborhood  looking for the money, and knocked on the door. "Pardon me, but  did either of you find a bag that fell out of an armored car yesterday?" Sally said, "No." Andy said, "She's lying. She  hid it up in the attic." Sally said, "Don't believe him,  he's getting senile."

The agents turn to Andy and began to  question him. One says:  "Tell us the story from the beginning" Andy said, "Well,  when Sally and I were walking home from school yesterday . . " 

The first FBI guy turns to his partner and  says, "We're outta here."  

We can't forget the men and women who sacrificed so that the rest of us may enjoy the rights and freedoms we cherish so dearly!

The oldest known living U.S. veteran of World War I, J. Russell Coffey a retired teacher, one of only three U.S. veterans still alive from the "war to end all wars," died at the ripe old age of 109.

More than 4.7 million Americans joined the military from 1917-1918. The two remaining U.S. veterans are Frank Buckles, 106, of Charles Town, W.Va.; and Harry Richard Landis, 108, of Sun City Center, Fla., according to the Veterans Affairs Department. 

Can you imagine listening to his war stories or just stories about the "good ole days".

May he rest in peace!

As reported today home prices dropped 6.7 % in October for the 10th time in as many months. That's the largest drop since the beginning of '91.

They said that Miami led the list lower with a 12% drop. I don't know what the figures are for Orlando, Fl.

It doesn't look too rosey out there, no matter how some may want to paint the picture. It will probably be another year until we see any significant change in this market.

But as prices drop I think more and more buyers may come out of hiding and start to rekindle buying/selling activity. There are already many investors probing foreclosures.

It's got to get better sooner or later. just hold on and we'll make it through!

The recent collapse of online bank NetBank has left a lot of people nervous. It is the biggest bank failure since the early 1990s. While the cost to taxpayers is unknownr, the FDIC should cover everything. When this type of thing happens the federal regulators walk in, they try to package the bank's assets and get them in somebody else's hands.  The transition from NetBank to ING has generally been smooth for customers. Those who were most at risk of losing money were people with more than $100,000 in their accounts. It's always better to be safe and only invest less than $100,000 in any bank. That way your money is protected.  

Last week the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates for the third straight meeting of the FOMC. What does this mean? Well, if you're looking to capture the best home loan rates, you need to act now. For those with an application already in process, you should probably lock your rate as soon as possible. And, for anyone who has yet to begin a loan application, what are you waiting for?

Despite this latest cut from the Fed, rates for many borrowers could actually increase soon. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have recently announced 2008 Loan Level Price Adjustments (LLPAs) that are already starting to show up on lenders' rate sheets. LLPAs are automatic "penalties" based on credit scores, which tack on costs in the form of points or higher rates for most anyone with a FICO less than 720.

Since September 18th, the Federal Funds Rate has gone down 100 basis points. If you have a loan that is tied to the Prime Rate, this means your rates have been lowered a full point. But, for those seeking to obtain new financing, you must act now to take advantage.

Following each of the last two interest rate cuts by the Fed, home loan rates jumped higher a couple of weeks later. Remember, lower short-term rates are inflationary by nature, and cause consumers to spend more money. Because of this, long-term rates tend to increase as bond holders hate inflation and command higher rates as a result in order to protect their investments.

Because of these pressures and the upcoming Loan Level Price Adjustments, interest rates are most likely going to rise.

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division . .

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), has asked the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans .  Interesting number, what does it mean?

A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you could each get $516,528.

B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.

C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.C .. HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken?

The Federal reserve is jumping into the sub-prime fray with programs that might rival what Pres Bush and congress are working on. 

The Federal Reserve is expected to ban pre-payment penalties, low -doc loans, Alt-A loans and loans that do not collect for the pre-payment of property taxes and insurance premiums as they apply to the sub-prime sector of the market. The new rules would apply to sub-prime loans offered by any lender.

With this action the Fed is exercising the most control it has since Chairman Bernanke started his new post.