short sales: On Valentine's Day...Let Us Show You the Love! - 02/14/13 12:33 PM
 
IT’S VALENTINE’S DAY…LET US SHOW YOU THE LOVE!
Ever think that you’re like the proverbial gerbil in the wheel, running as fast as you can, but always ending up in the same place?  We have a new program designed just for you that will help you run less, focus more on your direct dollar-producing activities, get more done, and put more money in your pocket. Let our STAMP Marketing Program be your “wheel” of fortune—we’ll show you the love as we do all the legwork for you!  
So what’s included with STAMP?  This offer is exclusive for our members: … (0 comments)

short sales: Which Way Should I Go? - 01/30/13 08:44 AM
Which Way Should I Go?
This question is on the minds of millions of people in America.  And we’re not talking about turning right or left at an intersection or which path to take when we’re walking in the woods.  It is a question that, for many, has no safe answer, or, more often than not, has no answer at all.
As real estate professionals, we should be able to provide options that can help distressed property owners have some control over their lives and be able to make a choice, rather than feeling that they’re on a proverbial slippery … (2 comments)

short sales: Will 2013 Be Lucky 13 for Real Estate? - 01/15/13 09:36 AM
Thanks to Harris Real Estate University for their top 12 predictions for lucky 2013!
This month we’ll focus on two of them—first, home price appreciation, which HREU is predicting will return to the real estate industry.  Most housing experts agree that home values hit bottom in 2012, and Zillow predicts that 67 of the 156 markets it covers will realize an increase in values this year of 1.1%.
New buyers, investors and buyers wanting to “move up” will return to the housing marketplace in increasing numbers, with demand outpacing supply in many markets, especially for single-family houses below $729.5K.  This is … (1 comments)

short sales: Bank Told My Client to Miss Payments to do a Short Sale - 08/10/12 07:47 AM
One of my agents is in an awkward predicament with a short sale client. She sent me the following message last night about her client in Michigan trying to move to New Jersey:
"Hi Jonathan,
I have a client here in Michigan who is trying to move to NJ. They have not paid their mortgage for 3 payments. It of course, shows on their credit report. They try to explain that their lender wouldn't look at doing a short sale until they had missed 2 payments. However, the folks they would like to lease from in NJ act like they've never … (4 comments)

short sales: White House Mortgage Plan Shut Down: Your Thoughts? - 08/02/12 03:10 PM
I'll admit that over the past two weeks I have been glued to my television totally addicted to NBC's coverage of the summer olympics. I am an avid basketball fan, so watching the USA team has sort of felt like an extension of the NBA season. Of course, the swimming, diving, and gymnastics have been great too, but I can't wait to see USA basketball go for the gold. 
The olympic coverage has been a distraction to some significant news in the distressed mortgage world. In the middle of this week, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Edward DeMarco, … (8 comments)

short sales: Inspections May Affect Short Sale Outcomes - 07/19/12 01:27 PM
Throughout the course of a conventional real estate transaction, home inspections and appraisals are utilized to help the buyer--and their lender--understand exactly what they are about to get into. Even though most states require homesellers to provide prospective buyers with a property disclosures form, inspections and appraisals help buyers understand property conditions that may not be apparent with the naked, untrained eye. It's hard to believe that most homebuyers in this day and age would even consider getting into a real estate deal without an inspection, but recent studies show that only 84 percent of buyers request an inspection as a … (6 comments)

short sales: Don't Drink the Doom and Gloom Kool-aid - 07/13/12 12:49 PM
On the way into the office this morning I heard a local news report that the number of foreclosures is expected to increase this month significantly. The talk show host then proceeded to explain to her listeners that doom and gloom is on the way and that we are never going to recover from the foreclosure crisis. I sent her a link from my previous blog post about shadow inventory. While I doubt that she will ever read the article, I wonder to what degree the media's negative attention to the real estate market will affect the opinions of consumers. 
I … (2 comments)

short sales: It's Okay To Say "I Don't Know," Not "Beats Me!" - 03/05/12 10:46 AM
Occasionally I receive phone calls from family and close friends asking questions about why they should--or should not--place an offer on a particular home. A similar experience happened this weekend with a family member living near the Pacific coast. He called me while I was in a meeting and left me the following voicemail, "Jonathan, I'm thinking about placing an offer on a Freddie Mac property. What do I need to know about buying a Freddie Mac property?" 
As I listened to the message, I thought "Where is his real estate agent?" It's not that I was mad or irritated with … (0 comments)

short sales: Billions in Relief Funds Will Increase Short Sales - 02/10/12 03:25 PM
The Obama administration announced a $25 billion deal with five of the largest mortgage servicers in the country, including Bank of America and Wells Fargo, that claims to provide financial relief to distressed-mortgage homeowners. This isn't the first time the government has stepped in over the past four years to make an attempt at slowing down the foreclosure crisis and I have a feeling it won't be the last.
While some have benefited from the government's most recent assistance through Making Home Affordable, there's still an overwhelming number of homeowners losing their homes to foreclosure. In fact, the latest statistics say … (1 comments)

short sales: Strategic Defaults: Are they good for the market? Right or Wrong? - 06/20/11 05:53 PM
Recent data suggests it would take banks in New York State 62 years to repossess the 213,000 houses now in default or foreclosure. In New Jersey, another judicial foreclosure state, it would take 49 years. Florida, Massachusetts, and Illinois would take a decade.  
Even though there are so many homes in these states--and in many others nationwide--in line for repossession, foreclosure cases are down nationally by about a third since last fall, according to LPS Applied Analytics. Does it seem like major lenders are strategically delaying the foreclosure process in order to get caught up? 
Perhaps the best explanation for … (0 comments)

short sales: What Percentage of All Home Sales will be Short Sales in the Coming Months? - 06/14/11 03:31 PM
What percentage of all home sales will be short sales in the coming months?
What about in one year? 40%? 50%?
Short sales rose from 17 percent in February to a record-high 19.6 percent in March. This is a chart that was included in the Housing Pulse Survey from Campbell Surveys and Inside Mortgage Finance:

Pay close attention to the sudden decrease in Damaged REO properties (red line) compared to short sales (blue line), which is drastically on the rise.
How would you interpret these results?
Are you prepared to handle the overwhelming demand for short sale expertise in the … (0 comments)

short sales: Listing a Short Sale in 3 Easy Steps - 05/17/11 02:47 PM
Listing a short sale can be broken down into the following three steps: identify, sign, and pursue.

Identify: Most real estate professionals might say that a short sale will occur when the value of a property is lower than the principle loan balance on a mortgage. This is true in most cases. A short sale can also occur when the net payoff to the first mortgage on the sale of a property is less than the total loan payoff amount, however. Let’s explore a few examples: Scenario #1: A potential seller asks an agent to list their property for $200,000. … (0 comments)

short sales: Get your Paperwork to the Bank BEFORE you Receive a Short Sale Offer - 04/26/11 10:37 AM
 
Many agents mistakenly believe that the negotiations process is the most important stage in the short sale process. They think that if they can be persuasive and persistent with the bank negotiator, they will secure a short sale approval more quickly. I would argue that getting your paperwork organized BEFORE you receive an offer is the best way to expedite short sale approvals. By getting your packages sent to the bank the right way the first time, you will spend less time going back and forth with a negotiator and more time preparing the seller and buyer for closing. 
You … (2 comments)

short sales: SSAA Webinar Replay Available: Understanding Delegated Authority - 04/20/11 09:50 AM
Last Thursday's turnout was AMAZING to say the least. Our presenters did a fabulous job and I honestly feel like we all left the webinar more well-rounded, trained agents. I think my favorite part had to be the question and answer session at the end. The webinar itself only lasted about 30 minutes, but we ended up going over our time answering incoming questions...and it was worth every second. 
If you would like to access the REPLAY version of the webinar from April 14th, it's now available via Facebook:
VIEW REPLAY ON FACEBOOK
We're going to do one more live version … (0 comments)

short sales: SSAA Helps Agents Pre-Screen Clients for Short Sales or Loan Modifications - 04/19/11 12:38 PM
 
Freddie Mac reported more than half of all homeowners going through foreclosure do not understand their rights and options. Furthermore, more than half of all homeowners going through foreclosure do not contact their bank(s) to work out a solution because they think it will only make their situation worse.
A recent Harris Interactive poll reveals homeowner's emotions during the foreclosure process:

 
I have developed a one-of-a-kind tool that allows homeowners to find out whether they should do a short sale or a loan modification. The evaluation essentially pre-screens prospective clients so that the agent can formulate the best plan to provide assistance. I … (0 comments)

short sales: SSAA Free Live Webinar: Short Sale Banks' Limits of Delegated Authority - 04/13/11 11:51 AM
Short Sale Association of America (SSAA) is proud to present a free webinar on Thursday, April 14th at 2:00pm EST, called "Understanding Delegated Authority." This presentation is Part 1 of the Short Sales 101 series and will be streamed live April 14th for free.  
REGISTER HERE  
"Understanding Delegated Authority" will help you identify the bank's bottom line before you send them an offer. Every bank answers to an investor who purchased a pool of mortgages from them in the past. The bank services the loan and makes decisions on short sales based on a specific set of permissions granted to them by the investor. We'll teach you how to use this information to get your short sales approved more quickly.
… (0 comments)

short sales: Lead Generation Strategies for Today's Market Demands - 03/08/11 04:23 PM
I read today in an Associated Press article that the number of Americans who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth rose at the end of last year, preventing many people from selling their homes in an already weak housing market. According to Core Logic, 11.1 million households were underwater in the final quarter of 2010; that's up 22.5 percent from the previous quarter. 
Ronn Phipps, President of the National Association of Realtors, was quoted in a previous article saying, "You have to be where the market is, not where it was." My staff here at SSAA is … (1 comments)

short sales: Using Delegated Authority for Quicker Short Sale Approvals - 02/28/11 11:14 AM
The latest from SSAA's resource library is a short sale time-saver called delegated authority. Delegated authority is a specific level of permission granted to banks to approve loss mitigation transactions. Why is that important?
If we back up and discuss the short sale process, you'll see where delegated authority fits in. In a typical short sale process, an offer is faxed to the lender along with the seller's corresponding financials, the lender performs an interior Broker's Price Opinion (BPO) and compares it to the offer amount, the file is sent to the lender's investor for a final review, and the file … (0 comments)

short sales: Proposed Legislation May Increase Short Sale Approvals - 02/24/11 02:13 PM
Has anyone else heard the news about the Obama administration trying to push banks to pay for loan principal reductions? Sources say they're asking for a commitment from loan servicers to reduce loan balances for borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than what their homes are worth.
If the administration squeezes hard enough, and the banks are forced to bear their own losses, the overall decreases in principle amounts could make for some interesting advantages to agents processing short sales. 
At SSAA, we're already beginning to teach our agents how to use this legislation to their clients' advantage. Many of … (5 comments)

short sales: The TELL Pattern will help you earn trust and respect of your potential clients - 02/23/11 02:52 AM
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TELL Pattern
The TELL Pattern is an easy-to-use conversation style that will help you earn the trust and the respect of your potential clients. If done properly, you will eliminate most of the apprehension that would otherwise make it difficult for the homeowner to tell you the full story about their financial situation. The TELL pattern will help you build trust, ease in to difficult topics, explain objectively the facts regarding their situation, and offer real solutions that … (0 comments)

 
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Jonathan Bowman

Louisville, KY

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Short Sale Association of America

Address: Louisville, KY, 40243

Office Phone: 800378SSAA

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