Foreclosures
Foreclosures by Steve Cook | February 1, 2012 
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today invited investors interested in purchasing pools of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA foreclosures in the nations hardest-hit metropolitan areas with the requirement they rent them for a period of year to pre-qualify. The new bulk sales program, under discussion since August, will begin with a pilot program [...]
Read the full article → Foreclosures by Steve Cook | February 1, 2012America has become a nation of two foreclosure realities: judicial states, where judicial review is required for every foreclosure, and non-judicial states. Both have their processing problems, but delays in judicial states are setting new records and impacting local real estate economies. December data from Lender Processing Services (LPS) paints a picture of increasingly clogged [...]
Foreclosures by Steve Cook | December 21, 2011Most folks who buy and sell distressed property for a profit secretly expect that eventually the day will come when foreclosures will no longer account for one out of every three homes sold in America. Someday the Foreclosure Time will indeed end, though most likely not within the next two years. It’s end, however, is inevitable and [...]
Foreclosures by Richard Warren | December 5, 2011So many people have walked away from homes that are hopelessly underwater. With little prospect of recouping their losses, or faced with a difficult personal financial situation, they have made a decision to let the bank foreclose. Prior to 2007 this would have resulted in an income tax liability on the amount of any forgiven [...]
Foreclosures by Melissa Zavala | August 29, 2011When I was in college, I took a sociology class that was taught by a professor who specialized in studying the impact of the media and its presentation of the news on the public. For example, he would study the number of copycat killers there might be after a murder was featured on the news. [...]
Foreclosures by Melissa Zavala | August 9, 2011When I am representing a buyer in a short sale transaction, I am certainly hoping that the short sale listing agent falls into the category of those who can get the job done and those who are fast. Those who can have successfully closed a fair number of short sales, have significant experience in real estate, and know [...]
Foreclosures by Melissa Zavala | July 19, 2011 
In many parts of the United States buying a foreclosure is en vogue. Buyers flock to these properties because they are allegedly a great deal. But, are they? While each and every foreclosed property listing is different, there are quite a few considerations with respect to purchasing a bank-owned foreclosure (REO). And, sadly, not every bank-owned property [...]
Read the full article → Foreclosures by Melissa Zavala | July 12, 2011 
I spend a small part of each and every day answering questions that come through my email inbox about short sales. Over and over, I see many common questions. Seems that inquiring minds want to know the answers to all of the same things. Here’s my top five: 1. How will a short sale affect [...]
Read the full article → Foreclosures by Melissa Zavala | July 5, 2011 
The short sale has always been a tricky transaction. It’s a challenge to obtain the required paperwork from the seller. It’s a challenge to find a qualified buyer who is willing to stick around until the short sale gets approved. It’s a challenge to prepare the paperwork and to get the deal accepted by the [...]
Read the full article → Foreclosures by Melissa Zavala | June 28, 2011 
Agents, homebuyers and individuals facing foreclosure frequently ask me about this thing called ‘cash for keys.’ Somebody’s uncle’s cousin’s sister told someone that they can get ‘cash for keys’ if the property goes to foreclosure, and homeowners generally want to know whether this is true. And, yes, in a nutshell, it’s true. What is Cash [...]
Read the full article → Foreclosures by Joe Manausa, MBA | March 22, 2011I try to keep track of as many possible statistics about the housing market, knowing that a gem of intelligence is always lurking behind some chart or graph if I look hard enough. One graph that historically has been un-revealing is suddenly speaking to me in volumes. The graph below shows the continuing trend of [...]
Foreclosures by Melissa Zavala | March 15, 2011 
Short sale negotiations are tough–even in the easiest of circumstances. It takes around two months to get a short sale approved. And, many times, it takes much longer when buyers back out, paperwork gets lost, dates are not met, etc. Perhaps the toughest thing for a short sale negotiator to deal with is a buyer [...]
Read the full article → Foreclosures by Melissa Zavala | March 8, 2011 
Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of negotiating with Fannie and Freddie—you know… our friends Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These friends have been in the news quite often of late, and they certainly aren’t making short sale processing any easier. For homebuyers and home sellers not involved in short sales, there may be very [...]
Read the full article → Foreclosures by Melissa Zavala | February 22, 2011 
I review short sale packages for a living. It’s what I do. One part of the package that is interesting to me is the hardship letter. In order to participate in a short sale, a borrower must have some sort of hardship. The bank actually requests a copy of a hardship letter. The reason that [...]
Read the full article → Foreclosures by Melissa Zavala | February 15, 2011 
In the past, the average real estate agent didn’t spend too much time scrutinizing the estimated closing statements. Usually, that task would be left to escrow officers, title officers or lawyers. With short sales being the new normal, scrutiny of these statements in the early stages of a short sale transaction is vital. Why? Well [...]
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Joshua Dorkin
