Effective Friday, Oct. 28, agents will see enhancements to the closing process in Equator.

Some task names have changed, and new fields have been added to some of the tasks.

The purpose of these enhancements is to make closings more efficient and reduce the time it takes to go from issuing the approval letter to finalizing the short sale.

Most of the changes are internal, affecting the way we process your files. The biggest improvement you may notice directly is that the closing officer can re-approve a short sale if it has been delegated by the investor or the mortgage insurer. This will alleviate sending the file back to the short sale specialist to be reworked if there are changes during the closing process.

(However, if a transaction falls outside the guidelines for investor or MI approvals, it will still be returned to the negotiator for reconsideration by the investor or mortgage insurer.)

Changes agents will notice:

Equator task name changes:
Supply Settlement Statement will be renamed Upload Preliminary Closing HUD.
Closing Complete will be called Upload Final Certified Docs.
New Equator fields to complete:
When uploading the preliminary closing HUD-1, the agent will be asked if the file is being uploaded more than five days before close of escrow. If yes, an explanation is required.
The Upload the Short Sale Addendum field has been added to the Upload Preliminary Closing HUD task.
In the Upload Final Certified Docs task, the agent will supply a wire confirmation and confirmation number, as well as a promissory note tracking number, if required.
If any last-minute changes occur during closing, such as dealing with unexpected taxes or homeowners association fees, the agent will also be required to upload a revised HUD that reflects the latest information.

RENAISSANCE REALTY IS AN APPROVED BANK OF AMERICA SHORT SALE AGENT - Call us today if you need help.

To start the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program you need to call us to request to sell your home in a short sale.

If you haven’t applied for a Home Affordable Modification prior to requesting a short sale, we’ll check to see if you meet that program’s eligibility requirements first. To do this you’ll need to update your lender  on your financial information.

I have requested a HAFA short sale.

Once you’ve requested a short sale, you’ll have to update us on your current financial situation. As part of the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, we’ll review your information and check your eligibility for a Home Affordable Modification or other home retention programs that would reduce your monthly payments to enable you to stay in your home.

If you do not qualify for a modification or no longer wish to stay in your home, then we begin to work with you on a short sale.

Which lenders are participating  in the GEORGIA HARDEST HIT FUND ? 

ASC (America’s Servicing Company)

Bancorp South Bank

Bank of America

Bank of Dooley

Branch Bank and Trust (BB&T)

Brand Banking Company

Cenlar Mortgage

Chase Mortgage

Citi Mortgage

Delta Community Credit Union

EMC Mortgage

EverHome Bank and Mortgage

Fifth Third Bank

Flagstar Bank

GMAC Mortgage

Habitat for Humanity, Camden County GA

Habitat for Humanity, Coastal Empire

Habitat for Humanity, DeKalb County GA

Habitat for Humanity, Gwinnet County GA

Habitat for Humanity, Sumter County GA

Habitat for Humanity, North Central GA

Habitat for Humanity, Macon GA

Habitat for Humanity, Valdosta-Lowndes

James B. Nutter & Company

JPMorgan Chase Bank

Monroe County Bank

Midland Mortgage

Navy Federal Credit Union

Ocwen Loan Servicing

PNC Bank

RBC Bank Regions Mortgage

Real Estate Mortgage Network

Residential Credit Solutions

Saxon Mortgage

State Home Mortgage

SunTrust Mortgage

United Bank, Griffin GA

USAA

Vericrest Financial

Wachovia

Wells Fargo

Call us today if you hold a loan with any of the above servicers - we can help

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs is partnering with GHFA Affordable Housing, Inc. to deliver a statewide mortgage payment assistance program to prevent foreclosures. HomeSafe Georgia will help by providing "bridge" mortgage assistance to many Georgians who are unemployed or have seen a dramatic decrease in their income due to national economic conditions. Funding for HomeSafe Georgia comes from the US Department of Treasury's Hardest Hit Fund.

Need Help - call our office today - we are here to help

The Georgia Hardest Hit Fund is now HomeSafe Georgia

On August 11, 2010 the U. S. Treasury announced the State of Georgia's inclusion in an expansion of the "Hardest Hit Fund". The purpose of the program is to help Georgia homeowners who have experienced job loss or a substantial decrease in their income with a mortgage payment bridge while they find new or better employment. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) under contract with Georgia Housing and Finance Authority's GHFA Affordable Housing Inc. will administer Georgia's HHF program.

Bank of America completed more short sales than it unloaded previously foreclosed homes every month for the last year and a half.

In May, BofA completed roughly 9,000 short sales compared to 7,000 REO, said David Sunlin, the bank's real estate management executive. With the introduction of the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program in April 2010, lenders received the first guidelines for these transactions.

Since then, banks find it easier to collect necessary documentation and reduce the time it takes to close these transactions. Recent guideline changes to HAFA could push numbers higher in 2011.

BofA completed more than 95,000 short sales in 2010, more than double the prior year, Sunlin said.

"HAFA is dead on. It's a lot easier to qualify now for HAFA than it was in 2010. All I need is a hardship affidavit and one water bill. We're trying to make it as easy as possible," Sunlin said.

Justin Rand, Citigroup (C: 38.40 -0.98%) senior vice president of loss mitigation, said his bank used to take an average 120 days from when the property was listed to when it closed. That since dropped to 83 days.

There remain some setbacks, however. Real estate agents in the audience at HousingWire's REO Expo in Fort Worth, Texas, complained of having an offer from a buyer at what the property listed at, only to lose the deal when the bank's appraisal came in afterward. Sunlin suggested these buyer-side agents send in their own information with the servicer for a better chance of reconciling the appraisal.

"Valuation is an inexact science. The offer may be a full to list, but not to the appraisal. When you submit your own short sale deal, send your own BPO," Sunlin said."If you put your facts out there, you can at least make your case."

Other agents said those working on the other side of the deal do not send in offers or document packages correctly, regardless of any certification. Both Sunlin at BofA and Rand at Citi said their banks are considering recommending agents to the homeowner.

"We would love to get into a system where we're recommending agents for a short sale," Sunlin said. "But (the) homeowner has their rights, they're going to select who they want to select, and that's going to be the biggest constriction."

Seems that each time I turn on the TV or read some real estate blog I hear the numbers are up the numbers are down. The shadow inventory is here no its gone .. well I found the following report at Inman News and they give just the numbers no opinion - Thank you Final I can see the forest through the trees 

By Inman News, Wednesday, June 1, 2011.

Inman News™

Foreclosure starts dipped below the 200,000 mark during April for the first time in years, but the foreclosure pipeline remained bloated by more than 4 million homes whose owners are in foreclosure or delinquent by 90 days or more.

That’s according to the latest numbers from loan data aggregator Lender Processing Services, which show foreclosure starts fell nearly 31 percent from March to April, totaling 187,423 — a 14.7 percent decline from a year ago.

LPS estimated that 2.18 million mortgages were in foreclosure, down nearly 2 percent from a record 2.22 million in March but up 9.5 percent from a year ago.

Another 1.96 million mortgages were delinquent by 90 days or more in April, down about 1.5 percent from the previous month and 29 percent from a year ago.

Home loan applications down 35% - what does it mean for sellers ?

If Cash is King then a fully Qualified Buyer must rule the universe in today's market. Today's Resale Seller need to do anything  and everything possible to get and keep that  buyers attention.

One simple  rule: Sellers don't hedge pricing  in hopes of " leaving room to negotiate " - think about it  the same buyer who will drive 3 miles out of the way to save 2 cents on a gallon of gas is not going to spend a day shopping homes outside their loan limits when the market is flooded with quality homes within their comfort zone.  Also Buyers are not going to pull cash out of a savings safety net to make repairs in a tight economy - so make repairs before listing if possible  -new carpet new paint updated or fully serviced HVAC need to be done before the first buyer walks in the door.

Buyers want to Buy - and Sellers want to Sell  and an experienced agent  will show you how to  find the sweet spot where it is a Win - Win. 

The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index dropped 11.6 percent to 81.9 in April, the lowest since September. Pending home sales lead existing home sales by a month or two.

"There may some temporary factors like bad weather in the South," said Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

"Higher gasoline may be making potential home buyers a bit cautious. It is signaling further weakness in housing, but we do expect housing to turn around later this year. It just hasn't happened yet."

Pending home sales in the South, which was ravaged by tornadoes, dropped 17.2 percent. Sales were also down in the Midwest and the West.

The weak housing market is one the headwinds facing the economy as it make a slow recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s. The economy grew at a 1.8 percent annual rate in the first quarter after expanding at a 3.1 pace in the last three months of 2010.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)