Bellevue WA – The Stop Foreclosure Institute recently talked to a homeowner whose home had been sold on the courthouse steps. We asked if she had considered selling the home as a short sale. “I did, but I heard that short sales are difficult and not worth trying. My friend told me that the banks never approve them”, she told us. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. After we got off of the phone, we reviewed what she had lost. She lost the opportunity to protect her credit and to be able to buy a home 3 years after the short sale sold. Now she will have greater credit damage and will have to wait 5-7 years to buy another home. Ouch! All of this could have been avoided if she had known the truth about short sales. Yes, short sales... 05/06/2013

Bellevue WA – We recently sent everyone in congress a fax about a certain large bank. They had done a lousy job on a short sale file. We waited 90 days for an answer on an offer. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. The buyer was impatient and canceled their contract. Fortunately we had a backup buyer. Instead of using the BPO that Freddie Mac paid for and reviewing the new offer, the negotiator closed the file. Freddie Mac, the owner of the loan, stands to lose $75 spent on the BPO and 90 days worth of interest. We estimate that Freddie’s loss over the delay to be around $1,249. Rather than just sit here and take abuse, we decided to stand up for ourselves. We found the entire list of fax numbers for congress, typed up a fax, a... 05/06/2013

Bellevue WA – The Stop Foreclosure Institute recently received a question about renting a home in foreclosure. Short Sale Question: “I am own two homes that are in foreclosure. I would like to rent the homes during the foreclosure process. I will continue to pay the homeowner’s association fees. I will not be paying the mortgage. Is it legal to do this? Is there any liability that comes with it?” Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Here was our answer to them. The Stop Foreclosure Institute is not a law firm. Therefore, we can’t answer as to whether or not it is legal. We recommend that you check with a lawyer before making a decision. We do know that there are laws forbidding that practice in many states. For example, Florida ... 05/06/2013

Bellevue WA – The Stop Foreclosure Institute recently received a question from Brandon. Brandon is selling his house and something very interesting happened. Brandon’s Question: “My lender is tring to charge a 1% short sale processing fee to the buyer. Is that legal? The buyer is upset. They have stipulated that ONLY the buyer can pay the fee. This was never revealed until the short sale approval letter arrived. Brandon.” Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Our comments on this. Yes, the buyer is upset. Buyers think they are in control in today’s market. They can’t see why they should pay a fee if they are buying a house in a “Buyer’s Market.” Is it legal? We did a short sale with the same lender and they said their lawyers had... 05/06/2013

Bellevue WA – Another agent recently e-mailed the Stop Foreclosure Insitute. They were having a hard time with a short sale on a Fannie Mae Loan. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Here is an excerpt from the agent’s e-mail. “I spoke with Josh @ Fannie Mae. He said that once there is a foreclosure sale, per an agreement with the lender, Fannie Mae would pay the lender the full balance of the note. I started to comment that what incentive is there for the lender to process a short sale. He said I know where you’re going with that and we couldn’t comment. It appears that the title would be transferred to Fannie Mae and the lender would be reimbursed for the FULL balance of the note. This is crazy! When Fannie Mae is the investor... 05/06/2013

Bellevue WA – After yesterday’s blog post, I am sure that some people were wondering why a Second Mortgage or HELOC gets zero from a foreclosure. Let me explain why. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. When a property is foreclosed upon, it is auctioned on the courthouse steps.Let me give you a scenario where a homeowner owes the following on the property. First Mortgage is owed $200,000. Second Mortgage is owed $40,000. There is a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) that is owed $100,000. (The home increased in value to $400,000 and a lender agreed to grant the loan.) So a total of $340,000 is owed on the property. Now, what if it only sells for $150,000 on the courthouse steps. Who gets that $150,000? Click here to find out. 05/06/2013

Bellevue WA – This is a common myth that is promoted by people that do not understand lenders or the foreclosure process. However, it’s not true. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Many homeowners have short sold their home and never missed a payment. The lenders will approve a short sale where the seller has not missed a payment when the following is in place. 1. The homeowner owes more on their home than it is worth. 2. The homeowner has a verifiable hardship that will force them to miss their payments in the near future. In these cases, the lenders know it is better to liquidate the home as quickly as possible. A faster sale will reduce their losses on interest and property taxes. In addition, an owner occupied home usually... 05/06/2013

The scarce inventory of Bellevue homes for sale is having a significant effect on the price of houses locally. Home prices in Bellevue have been up-and-down over the past year, but the median home price hit a peak this April. The median sale price of a house in Bellevue for April was $660,000, up from a median of $569,000 one year ago.  That increase of 16 percent is one of the biggest we're seeing in the greater Seattle market. While the overall trend isn't particularly striking, the seasonal effect should be noted.  We'll usually see a drop in sales and median prices over the winter, while those numbers spike in spring and summer.  We did see a bit of the drop in Bellevue over the winter, but it was slight.  In the meantime, the spring numbers mark what we've expected. Sales have been... 05/04/2013

Nice to hear things are on the rise but we need more homes to go on the market so that the sales continue to rise. They are talking about pending sales here. What about closings? In my market here East of Lake Washington in Bellevue, Issaquah, and Renton even short sales are going pending with back up offers. It's questionable whether these will close. They seem to be taking longer than before. In my opinion, the banks are not in a hurry to get it done since the longer they wait the higher they can ask for the properties. Read this article and watch this video for more...     March Pending Sales Continue to Head Up - National Housing Report WASHINGTON (April 29, 2013) - Pending home sales increased in March and remain above year-ago levels, but contract activity in recent months shows o... 04/30/2013

Schools in Seattle and on the Eastside are lauded year-in and year-out by news organizations ranking "college-readiness" and other educational outcomes.  Once again in 2013, schools in Bellevue took home the bulk of Washington's top spots, with schools in Seattle, Kirkland, and on the Islands bringing in their own awards. U.S. News & World Report's latest release puts four Bellevue schools, two Seattle schools, and one Kirkland high school in the spotlight.  Rounding out the top 10 were schools in Bainbridge, Friday Harbor, and Vancouver. Gold Medal High School Awards: High School District National State International School Bellevue 9 1 International Community School Lake Washington (Kirkland) 22 2 Newport High School Bellevue 91 3 Bellevue High School Bellevue 125 4 Friday Harbor High... 04/23/2013

 Nicely updated Mithun designed neo-contemporary home in Bellevue's Enatai neighborhood to be part of the Nationwide Sunday Open House Tour May 5, 2013 open from 2-5PM       Mithun Neo-contemporary Overview Maps Photos Description Open House Market Stats $1,130,000 Single Family Home Main Features 4 Bedrooms2 Bathrooms1 Partial BathroomLot: 19,000 sqft Location 3242 110th Avenue SEBellevue, WA 98004USA To get updates on open home dates and other property events, please click the "Like" button below: Adrian Willanger (206) 909-7536adrian@adrianwillanger.comhttp://www.thehomefunnel.com/?page_id=566       Listed by: Coldwell Banker Danforth & Associates Our recent listings Mithun Neo-contemporaryBallard commercial/office space Subscribe to our listing feed Nearby properties for sale 04/21/2013

Bellevue WA – We at the Stop Foreclosure Institute receive emails all the time that go something like this “The Bank’s Short Sale Problems are not that simple. A bank can’t afford to write off too much loss at once. Also, their investors may not approve the short sale, because they can’t afford to write off too much loss at once either. And the circle goes on.” Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Here is why this flawed assumption is incorrect. Most of the large, national banks do not own the mortgages they handle. As an example, Bank of America does not own 80% of the mortgages they service. The biggest holders are the GSEs: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae. These entities are accustomed to losses. The other entity that... 04/17/2013

Bellevue WA – We at the Stop Foreclosure Institute receive calls all the time that go something like this “I have fought the bank for a year and half, and after paying thousands and thousands I have decided to short sale, can you help me”? Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Because of this, I decided to break down the reasons to short sale your home. In addition I added in a few reasons you should NOT consider A Short Sale: Short Sale if you are a financial superman. If you are a CPA or a Number Cruncher, then you understand that numbers are more important than warm and fuzzy thinking. Take a look at GM and all the businesses that “Short Sale.” You can call it that. They know the numbers are what matter to them. If you are too... 04/17/2013

Bellevue WA – The Stop Foreclosure Institute recently received a question from Cathy. Here was her question. “I am trying to buy a house that is a short sale. It has been 4 months and we have heard nothing. The agent did mention that they are now on the 2nd negotiator and still haven’t heard from the negotiator. I am getting very frustrated. Is there anything I can do on my end to try to push the process along, or is it all up to the agents? Cathy.” Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Here was our answer to Cathy. Cathy, short sales can take a long time. But, usually the longest they should take is 3-4 months. If the short sale hasn’t been approved by the end of 4 months, then it probably won’t be approved by the end of 12 mont... 04/17/2013

Bellevue WA – The Stop Foreclosure Institute received a few responses from yesterday’s blog post. Most of the questions went something like this. “I think a lender would be stupid to approve an investment property short sale for a wealthy person. If I was the lender I would sue them for the loss. Jan.” The bottom line is that people didn’t think a lender would allow a wealthy person to walk away from the debt on an investment property. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Here are a few reasons that a lender will allow a wealthy investor to walk away from an upside down investment property. Lenders know that if they can give a customer what they want, then it will help them. If they don’t give a customer what they want, then eve... 04/17/2013

Bellevue WA – Lenders often reject loan modifications only to lose more money when they sell the home after foreclosure. Here is how to prove the loss to them. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. When you request your free loan modification guide, you will have the option of also receiving a property valuation. This is called a BPO (short for Broker’s Price Opinion), and it is a real estate agent’s opinion of the value of a property. Lenders use BPOs to determine a property’s value for short sale processing. Find out what you can pay the lender as a monthly payment. Then, find out the mortgage amount that equals that payment. For example, $1,200 a month will pay off a $211,346 mortgage over 30 years. $2,000 will pay off a $352,... 04/17/2013

Bellevue WA – The average American knows very little about what is happening with loan modifications. They think the banks are doing a great job helping people stay in their homes. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Little does the average American know that the banks are flubbing it. In my opinion, the biggest mistake that banks are making is rejecting profitable loan modifications. They would net more money on a loan modification than foreclosure. However, because the loan modification process is so tough they are foreclosing instead. Most Americans would agree that it is important to help homeowners stay in the home. They agree even more when they learn how it would help the bank’s bottom line and the general economy. Keep ... 04/17/2013

Bellevue WA – In my opinion, the decision making process most lenders use to approve or deny a loan modification is flawed. It appears that the lenders have one thing in mind when you stop paying. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. They want to foreclose as quickly as possible. It appears that they don’t want homeowners to stay in the home. A foreclosure is much simpler and easier. So they just look at it as the main solution. If a homeowner can’t afford the payments, then the lender should have reducing losses as their main goal. If that was their goal, then they would approve loan modifications that net them more money than a foreclosure would net them. Instead, the loan mods are approved only when everything is perfect. As ... 04/17/2013

Median real estate list prices up slightly in West Bellevue The median list price in West Bellevue, WA 98004 this week is $1,300,000 up  from last weeks $1,275,475.  Inventory is tightening and days-on-market decreasing recently.  The  Market Action Index (MAI see below chart) has basically been flat, not providing strong indication for market conditions. shows demand is heating up.     Supply and Demand Over the last few weeks in  West Bellevue the real estate market has achieved a relative stasis in terms of sales to inventory. However, inventory is sufficiently low to keep us in the Seller’s Market zone so watch changes in the MAI.  If the market heats up,  prices are likely to resume an upward climb.    Price We continue to see prices in  West Bellevue hovering around these current... 04/15/2013

New View Home in Bellevue's Enatai Neighborhood Mithun Neo-contemporary Overview Maps Photos Description Market Stats $1,149,500 Single Family Home Main Features 4 Bedrooms2 Bathrooms1 Partial BathroomLot: 19,000 sqft Location 3242 110th Avenue SEBellevue, WA 98004USA To get updates on open home dates and other property events, please click the "Like" button below: Adrian Willanger (206) 909-7536adrian@adrianwillanger.comhttp://www.thehomefunnel.com/?page_id=566       Listed by: Coldwell Banker Danforth & Associates Our recent listings Mithun Neo-contemporary Subscribe to our listing feed Nearby properties for sale     04/11/2013