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The reality is.....If we don't who will?

Last week Treasury Sec. and other members of the Bush Administration visited Oakland, CA. They were there due to the fact that CA has an abnormally high foreclosure rate. (who doesn't!)

The Administration's current attempt to battle the foreclosure epidemic is to educate home owners who are loosing their homes to the programs out there that can help.

Those of you who have read my blogs on this subject know that i'm a bit skeptical when it comes to the feeble attempts that are being made to correct such a mass nationwide problem. While i will always applaud any attempt made to assist helpless home owners, I must say that this one cut's the cake.

This surely comes off as a masked attempt to put a band aid on an amputation!? The programs out there "Hope (Bail out) and lifeline don't help but approximate 3% of Americans loosing their homes.

Instead why doesn't someone develop programs that can educate home owners on the perils of real estate before they sign on the dotted line. There are almost no programs out there to teach citizens how to be smart shoppers of new homes, re-financing programs and investment opportunities.

In my home town i'm hosting seminars and workshops bi-weekly speaking about basic real estate information. Subjects like how to read HUDS, when is it best to re-fi, what loan programs are too good to be true are discussed in open forums and lectures. It's our responsibility as real estate professionals to teach our communities the do's and don'ts. The reality is.....If we don't who will?

Posted by Clark Garrison, "LOAN MODIFICATIONS" on 03/10/2008 01:14 AM

Comments (16)

short sales, home owners, preforeclosure, foreclosure, reo, agents, lenders, banks, loss mitigation, hope foundaton lifeline

16 Comments on The reality is.....If we don't who will?

MAR

2008

Klarque, I think the reality of it all is we are only about in the middle of the foreclosure problem. Things are going to get a little worst before they get better. Don't have the solution but hope they find one soon.

Klarque, education is the key. I'm working with a couple buying their first home and they didn't understand financing or the home buying process. It's a shame passing a course isn't required prior to obtaining the mortgage.

That's a great idea Debbie! With that much money being loaned it should be mandatory...

that's the very reason why our country, states and communities have to find a way to offset these losses. Great point Thomas

A community agency here used to hold home-buyer classes, free to the public, that included topics such as budgetting, types of loans available, how to finda good agent, how to negotiate, etc, all the way through projected costs for maintenance, increasing taxes, etc. They were great classes. They wouldhave lenders pre-qualify the students who completed the course, or offer credit counseling to help them get into a good buying position over time, and in turn the students would get a slightly lower interest rate for completing the course. They were absolutely great classes! But due to very little participation, there hasn't been one in about 3 years. It's a shame- everyone I know who finsihed theclasses and followed the advice, is still in their home. Some who dropped out and got lousy loans on their own have already lost the homes.

Education is the key! But how do we get people to realize that they need to be educated when they already think they know it all? THAT is the question for me!

MAR

2008

Hello Mr. Short Sale!

We have a number of our recent radio programs focused on short sales and foreclosure related issues. I've posted a summary of the recorded radio programs here: http://activerain.com/blogsview/417028/Short-Sales-and-Foreclosures.

It sounds like you have a lot of experience with short sales on the buyer/investor side? Would you be interested in appearing on our radio program discussing short sale investments?

Amber, I know what you mean when you say most buyer think they know what they're doing. One can only hope that due to this current decline that they'd be open to education now...

Yes, Bill I'd be honored!

Klarque,

I agree with you !!!!

IT is a shame that a big percentage of these borrowers had no idea what they were getting into. I would explain every single detail from signing the contract, to contingency dates, to mortgage payments, tax payments (and future tax payments). I have to say I lost some deals, but I knew those borrowers could not afford that certain payment/loan terms.

Classes would be a good idea for borrowers. Another thing that surely would help would be loan documents that are understandable by the average person.

Yoana, i'm sure you're client thank you for your due diligence!

Great Point Diane, i'm amazed by how little loan documents have changed over the years. The only thing that has is more junk to sign!!!

MAR

2008

Karque & Diane - The reason the loan documents are undecipherable to the general public is the fact that most borrowers have a standard high school education. The documents are to protect the lender. Borrower goes to lender for money, lender needs to be protected. When I first entered the biz in 1980...we had only about 12 documents to sign. Then came the lawsuits and loopholes, often the lender lost... therefore we have 80 - 90 documents prepared by high paid attorneys. No way we could understand everything those documents represent. It really is up to the borrower to educate themselves as much as possible. I highly agree that its very important for us, the professionals to educate our clients.

I haven't allowed a client to go to escrow to sign their documents since 1995. I sign them off myself. I accept a HUGE liability for this, but who knows those documents better than me (other than the attorney's and lender), I negotiated the loan. I have found mistakes in the documents, as well as documents that my client shouldn't have to sign. These issues would not have been caught by an escrow officer (we typically don't use attorney's her on the west coast).

Keep the good info flowing to the consumer, hopefully they'll listen!

Klarque - I'm going to reach the 20,000 this weekend. Let's pop the bubbly :-)

Hi Dorene Great to hear from you once again! Great info and i'm sure your clients appreciate your dedication to making sure the get the best possible deal.

20K already! Wow...you've been busy! Make sure you give me an invite to the party.lol

MAR

2008

Klarque,

Great work you are doing, an informed consumer is an empowered consumer. I am thinking that some agents could also learn a few things. Do they teach these types of things in classes to new agents?

Hi Rebecca,

I don't believe they do overall, however i've offered different information classes to Real Estate professionals from time to time. Many people have said the get a lot out of them and the best part is the classes are free!

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