I have a rental in Boise Idaho that is infested with carpenter ants.  I have been through 2 exterminators who have put stuff in my crawl space, put stuff in my walls, put stuff in the house and outside the house.  My handyman found 6 nests and destroyed them and yet the keep coming back.  I am a wits end.  My tennant is about to move out and I don't blame her.  Carpenter ants are  something that must be disclosed when a house is sold and the market it terrible anyway.  I can't move another tennant in until the ants are gone.  I am also running out of money to deal with this problem or an empty rental.  How do I get rid of these pests?  Have they destroyed my house? 

I have a listing that was foreclosed upon in February.  There was a first at 187K and a second at 71 K.  I had a great offer but the banks wouldn't negotiate and the market fell further.  Today my client called.  The second wanted their money.  I know the banks do not have to forgive the debt but my client doesn't have it. We discussed this possibility from the beginning and I think my client will have to declare bankrupcy.  I will call First Tennessee in the morning and see what can be done.  Does anyone have any ideas?

Well I ran for Congress and lost. 

I had a bilateral mastectomy and am on the mend.

Now I need to attend to my business. 

I used to be a justlisted agent with market leader.  I found it sort of ok.  Now they have a new product called growth leader.  I am thinking about trying it out but it will cost $505 until July 1 for 60 prospects a month.  These are just hits on a website.  Anybody use them or chose not to.  I am looking for opinions.  I sort of need to do something to start prospecting again.

Well I am trying jump start my business after taking time off to run for Congress.  I didn't win.  Any ideas on how to make a run for Congress useful for a real estate career.   By the way I am a Democrat.

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Here is my press release:

I am cautiously optimistic.  This whole crisis could have been prevented with proper oversight and regulation.  Last year the government could have stepped in while the cancer on the economy was contained to the subprime market.  The Republicans, including my opponent Mike Simpson, voted against foreclosure relief both for banks and homeowners.  Now that the cancer has metastasized throughout are whole economy (both national and global) we need to act.  I think the proposal might work but I want to know the detail on buying the bad loans.  I would hope that the government, like any other investor, would be obtaining them at a steep discount.  Otherwise we all stand to lose since the loans are not worth near face value.  I also worry that banks may be less willing to settle short sales if they think the government will bail them out.  I also wonder if this will let the bottom feeders of the market buy property from the government at discount prices.  This would be unfortunate since the bottom feeders helped start the crisis. 

On the up side I would hope that the government might be able to renegotiate some of the loans so that the homeowners could keep their homes.  Unlike a bank the government might not be motivated by greed.   Properly managed this could be a win for the homeowners, banks and government.  Improperly managed this could be a win for the banks and a big loss for everybody else.    In the future, crises should be solved before they are started.  The cost of not acting is clearly a world-wide economic meltdown.

To see my campaign site click here

namI have been working on a short sale with Wells Fargo and First Tenn.   The first mortgage is at $187K with Wells Fargo, the second is $68K with First Tenn....  My client is now 4 months behind in payments.  We had a good offer at $185 K.  The Wells Fargo appraisal came back at $198K and the BPO from First Tenn. came back a month later at $190K. 

Wells Fargo took 2 months to deal with the short sale and first rejected it because they felt that they were entitled to 100% of value in a declining market.  The negotiator never talked to me or returned any phone calls.  I wrote back a fax saying why I thought they should accept the short sale (letter below).  Later without responding to any points of my letter they cancelled the short sale because of the second.  They said they would give 3% but the second wanted 10%. I tried to contact my short sale negotiator but was told I didn't have one any more.  They couldn't answer any questions until I had another offer.....  Grrrr....  My client would like this to end so I tried to talk to them about deed in lieu of foreclosure.  They said they couldn't use anything the in the short sale package, and he would have to resubmit.  They told him to contact the second but the second has told him Wells Fargo needs to make the offer.  We are still at least 4 months from foreclosure (no notice).   Everytime they call him he gets a different story (sort of like me)....

My questions are how do I come up with the $4800 difference from what the second wants and the first is willing to give?  Can I write the real estate contract that spells out what is going to happen?  What do you do when there is trouble between the banks.  Wells Fargo's investor is Fanny Mae.  Tomorrow I'll find out what the second's investor is.

copy of letter

                                                                                    Deborah Holmes

                                                                                    Gold Key Real Estate

                                                                                    915 N. Cole Rd.

                                                                                    Boise, ID  83704

                                                                                    (208)761-2551

                                                                                    D5holmes@msn.com

June 11, 2008

name cut

Short Sale Negotiator

Wells Fargo Loss Mitigation

Subject  WF#0148798267, Jeffrey and Cher Czartoryski, 3632 Bottle Brush Ave., Boise, ID 83713

Good Day,

My buyer will raise her offer to $185,400.  Not a penny more!  This is 94% of the appraised value.  There are many reasons your investors should accept this offer.

• The Boise market is declining, houses are not selling at Market Value
• Your investor only has to pay a 3% commission since I have both sides of the deal, saving your investor $5000.
• My buyer did not ask for help with closing costs.  Your investor is willing to pay up to 3%.  That is another $5000.
• Short sales do not sell for market value in any market these days.
• Your investor is losing almost $1400/month in lost payments.
• Your investor has a bad loan on their books that could be fixed quickly.
• I already had one buyer walk when I couldn’t promise a quick sale.
• My seller is maintaining the property at the moment (those helping hold the value).
• I will probably cannot get an offer at $198,000 until the market improves (which it shows no signs of improving.

There are also humanitarian reasons to settle this deal.

• You have made the buyer and seller wait almost 2 months.
• My seller is a fine upstanding member of society, he is a school teacher who has fallen on hard times.  He is the divorced father of two daughters.  Without the second income from his ex-wife , he cannot pay the $1900/month between the  two mortgages.  He called me when he ran out of savings and realized he couldn’t make the next payment. 
• My client needs to move on with his life.
• The delay caused by the slow negotiation is ruining my clients credit.

Please  reconsider our offer .  It is a good offer and could be settled

Sincerely,

Deborah Holmes

Well today I withdrew the listing until the banks come to terms.  I also have the papers signed to send back the buyers earnest money.  And get this the negotiator still hasn't called.  I am very sad about this.  I did every thing I could. Does anyone know of a class action against the Wells Fargo loss mitiagation department?  This is the first time I ever had to return earnest money  after I had a signed contract.  For more details go to

http://activerain.com/blogsview/465002/I-think-I-hate.

For anyone who has been wondering...  I WON!  Now I have to gear up to beat Mike Simpson (or at least try hard) in the fall.  My political website is www.debbieholmesforcongress.org.  From there you contribute via ActBlue.

Debbie Holmes  68%

David Sneddon  32%

It is very odd trying to run a Federal campaign while still working.  I have cut down on my work until the primary.  I am serving those customers I have but I am prospecting for votes not clients.  I actually showed my Caldwell Idaho listing several times.   I feel its important to serve my clients.   It is strange on May 28 th I will either be gearing up for the November as a candidate for federal office or I will be back to selling houses in a declining market.  This is a strange and wondrous time for me.  Until I entered this race I never saw myself doing anything extraordinary. This is one of the many things that makes America great, " ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things".

Check out my political website