louisville: Medical Bills, Foreclosure and Short Sales in Louisville - 09/16/10 01:20 AM
Health problems and medical bills are a major cause of foreclosure.
As a short sale Realtor in Louisville, I help many homeowners avoid foreclosure. In many cases, the hardship that caused the payments to fall behind is directly related to health issues.
Health issues often cause job loss or job reduction. Homeowners are faced with a choice; pay the medical bills or pay the mortgage.
In the past, homeowners could sell their house at a profit. The sale would simultaneously get rid of the mortgage payment and put cash in their pocket.
Can't Sell the House
In today’s market that is … (0 comments)

louisville: In a Pre Foreclosure Short Sale “Do I Need To Leave The Appliances?” - 09/06/10 01:03 AM
Most appliances are not part of the house and are the seller’s personal property. The sellers can take the appliances or sell them. The buyers are buying the house, and are not automatically entitled to free appliances.
This excludes appliances that are built-in or attached to the property, such as most dishwashers.
If you are in a short sale situation you are probably in financial survival mode. If you can't afford new appliances or if you need the money, you should take the appliances with you or sell them. The appliances are your personal property just like your furniture and your … (4 comments)

louisville: “They Can Take This House and Shove It!” - 09/04/10 12:05 PM
Actual quotes from frustrated short sale sellers about their lender:
“They’re taking too long and I’m fed up.”
“They can take this house and shove it!”
“Why can’t they just make a decision already?”
I am helping a retired couple short sale their house in Louisville. I got the above earful from them when I picked up some additional documents that the bank suddenly asked for five months into the process. They're grateful for all the activity and communication with my office, but they're frustrated with the confusing and conflicting correspondence and demands from their lender.
The couple is in their … (9 comments)

louisville: Phenomenal House in Locust Creek, Louisvile, KY. Preforeclosure Short Sale - 08/06/10 10:50 AM
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louisville: Thousands of Louisville Houses Go To Foreclosure – Unnecessarily - 07/25/10 05:51 AM
 
Sadly, every year thousands of houses get scheduled for foreclosure auction in Louisville, KY. Behind every home is a borrower who now has to pick up the pieces and recover from a foreclosure.
However, most of these foreclosures could have been avoided. The various foreclosure avoidance techniques include:
 
Loan modification and various repayment plans Short sales Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure  
Here's a brief overview of these methods:
Loan Modifications
Homeowners who want to keep their house and believe they can afford it should apply for a loan modification. There are many variations of a loan mod, including repayment plans, … (0 comments)

louisville: Turned Down for Loan Modification in Louisville, KY? Try HAFA Short Sale - 07/24/10 03:56 AM
Did your loan modification get turned down? Did the bank say you make too much money? Not enough money?
How about this:
Did your lender deny a loan modification that you didn't even request?
Or this:
Did the bank approve your loan mod but you don't want it because the bank only lowered your payment by 20 bucks?
There are solutions to avoid foreclosure:
All these scenarios are playing out in millions of households across the nation.
If the house payment is draining you and bringing financial disaster, and you owe more than the house is worth, it is time to … (3 comments)

louisville: Loan Modification Denials Often Create Massive Delinquencies - 07/20/10 12:27 PM
More and more I am getting calls from distraught homeowners bewildered by their lender’s behavior.
Here’s the typical cycle:
Borrower submits request for loan modification. Lender puts the borrower on reduced trial payment. The reduced trial payment is hundreds of dollars less than the regular payment. 6 to 12 months later the lender denies the loan modification. Lender notifies the borrower that there are thousands of dollars of accrued interest owed; the difference between the months and months of regular payments and the trial payments. So, not only is the loan mod denied, but now they are in serious arrears. Sometimes … (40 comments)

louisville: What killer apps do you use for your Android or iPhone? - 07/18/10 05:54 AM
Rapid response time and access to data are keys to success for Realtors. Now that I graduated from my "primitive" cell phone to an Android smart phone I can't imagine ever going back.
What applications do you use in your Realtor business and why?
How do they:
Help you serve your clients? Save you time? Help you be more competitive? Dave Halpern
Broker
Louisville Short Sale Expert Realtors
Have a short sale that needs a solution? Click here to refer to Dave
… (1 comments)

louisville: Short Sales: Some Sellers Assume They Have No Options, So They Don't Even Try - 07/14/10 02:54 PM
Sadly, many homeowners needlessly lose their homes to foreclosure rather than sell their houses by way of a short sale.
In general , a short sale is better for the homeowner both financially and emotionally. In a best case scenario, the lender will accept an amount short of the payoff and forgive the difference. Emotionally, the seller gets to sell their house and not lose it to the bank.
So why do hundreds of thousands of sellers never look into a short sale at all and just let the house slide all the way to the foreclosure auction?
Well, I can't … (0 comments)

louisville: Short Sales - Will a contingency offer be accepted? - 07/13/10 11:08 AM
Will the buyer's offer be accepted if it is contingent upon the sale of the buyer's existing home?
The short answer is: NO.
Here's the reasoning; The seller's primary motivating factors are speed and likliehood of closing. In today's unstable and declining market there's no way to tell when the buyer's house will sell or if it will sell at all.
A short sale takes months of diligent processing until the short sale lender approves the price and terms. Once the lender sends approval, they restrict the closing time to about 30 days.
If the buyer has yet to sell their house, … (2 comments)

louisville: Brief But Powerful Guide to Succeeding With Short Sales - 07/13/10 04:45 AM
Looking for the secrets to success with short sales? Here they are.
Most importantly, care about helping clients avoid foreclosure. Communicate often with your clients, when there's good news, bad news, or even no news. Communicate with the buyer's agent during the long processing period. Get as much short sale training as possible. Never stop learning. Hone your craft every day. Be Organized. Be Systemized. Have a team that can enthusiastically handle the negotiations and the selling of short sales. Lead your team then get out of the way. Liberate their talents and inner drive. Worth repeating: Care about helping clients … (0 comments)

louisville: Short Sales - What If the Seller Disappears? - 07/12/10 01:56 AM
Sellers turn to a short sale when life events are so overwhelming that the house payments are just not sustainable anymore.
Job loss or reduction in income Injury Illness Divorce Bankruptcy Relocation These are just some of the problems plaguing homeowners. The problems are compounded by declining market values thus rendering the house unsellable for enough to pay off the loan.
Believe it or not, in many cases losing their home to foreclosure is NOT their biggest problem.
Most sellers are extremely cooperative during the long and winding road of a short sale. However, sometimes the seller's life events overwhelm them and … (3 comments)

louisville: Short Sales - Does the Seller Need to Be Present at Closing? - 07/07/10 03:08 AM
Some of the reasons that cause sellers to need a short sale also make it hard for them to attend the real estate closing.
Some of these reasons include:
Job relocation Military deployment Health reasons Job schedule conflicts with closing time Family and personal reasons The answer is simple; The seller does not have to be present at the closing. However, the closing documents have to be signed and some notarized. There are several ways original signatures can be obtained, as follows:
If the seller is local, a mobile notary can go to the seller's home, workplace or hospital room. Documents … (2 comments)

louisville: HAFA Short Sale - Consumer Friendly Brochure - 07/06/10 05:36 PM
Need a consumer friendly overview of HAFA short sales?
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has published an easy to understand brochure about the Home Affordable Foerclosure Alternatives (HAFA).
The brochure covers:
Benefits of HAFA HAFA Eligibility HAFA Process Useful Links Here's the link to the brochure: Worried About Foreclosure? HAFA May Be Able To Help
The two greatest benefits of a HAFA Short Sale are forgiveness of the deficiency and granting a $3,000 cash incentive to the seller.
Hopefully this post and the linked document will help Realtors simplify the explanation of this important option available to homeowners who need debt … (5 comments)

louisville: HAFA Guidelines - Going To The Source Document For Answers - 07/06/10 03:02 PM
If you're doing any short sales at all you're running into questions about HAFA. If no one seems to know the answer, how about going to the actual source document?
"Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives - Short Sale and Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure Update, Supplemental Directive 09-09 Revised March 26, 2010" is a good place to start.
Here's the link: https://www.hmpadmin.com/portal/docs/hafa/sd0909r.pdf
Yup, it's 45 pages long. It's not the most interesting read but mastering it is vital to becoming an expert on the subject. We are representing sellers in what is one of the most critical financial dilemmas they will face. Media and … (1 comments)

louisville: Short Sales and Hard Working Americans - 07/06/10 01:44 AM
I list and close dozens of short sales each year, which gives me a reliable vantage point of a typical short sale in my city.
Here's my observation of a typical short sale seller.
High sense of responsibility. Devastated that they can't meet their obligations. Ran up credit cards trying to keep the house payment afloat. Depleted their savings trying to keep the house payments afloat. Incurred other debt and did not pay other critical bills so they can keep their house payment afloat. Took on additional jobs to make a little more money to try to keep their house payment … (2 comments)

louisville: HAFA Short Sales - Benefits to the Seller - 07/05/10 03:06 AM
One of the biggest concerns sellers have is the threat of having to stay obligated on the deficiency in a short sale.
If the seller qualifies for a HAFA short sale that problem is solved.
Let's back up for a minute and explain. A short sale is when the lender accepts an amount short of the full payoff. That shortage is called a deficiency, and many lenders refuse to specify in the terms of the short sale that they will waive their right to pursue the seller for the deficiency.
On April 5, 2010, the government and many lenders announced the … (8 comments)

louisville: July 4th and Independence from Debt Via a Short Sale - 07/04/10 10:50 AM
July 4th is a day each year for us to contemplate and appreciate the freedoms we enjoy.
I speak with homeowners every day who are searching for their own independence day from the shackles of mortgage debt. Homeowners who are valiantly fighting the fight to meet their obligations but are losing the battle.
Declining job market and declining market values have combined to cause many hard working Americans to be unable to make their mortgage payments on their now overleveraged homes.
Many families have tried loan modifications and a variety of repayment plans, and still cannot overcome the deficit.
A short sale … (0 comments)

louisville: Short Sales - Be A Hero to Your Client - 07/03/10 05:09 AM
A foreclosure is traumatic for most homeowners. It's confusing, scary and stressful. It tugs at their self-esteem and keeps them up at night. They get advice from friends, family and bankruptcy attorneys. The advice ranges from good to bad. Most of all the advice is conflicting. Worse yet, often they seek no advice at all, just suffering silently, not knowing that a short sale is a viable option. Sometimes they get up and quietly abandon the home, never knowing what happened afterwards. Never knowing how it affects their credit or what the bank can do to them after foreclosure. Living in … (3 comments)

louisville: The Reality About HAFA Is No One Knows What the Reality Is Yet - 04/17/10 03:25 AM
As of the writing of this blog post on April 17, 2010, the reality of HAFA is that no one knows what the reality is yet. It's simply too early to know how lenders and upside down borrowers will respond. Both lenders and borrowers have strict timelines but great latitude in the quality of answers they have to provide within those timelines.
It will probably take at least two to three months to determine the effectiveness of the HAFA program and how many borrowers in foreclosure and lenders will be helped.
All the Realtors, lawyers and loss mitigators can recite the … (0 comments)