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HomeRun Homes is a centralized marketplace which helps people Find or Sell a Rent to Own Home, both Nationwide and Globally to the thriving Rent to Own Market. http://www.lease2buy.com
Showing posts with label modification. Show all posts
Showing posts with label modification. Show all posts

February 7, 2011

How Much is Too Much Government Involvement With Home Owners?

Hi Everyone,

   Hope you had a nice and relaxing weekend.

   Ever since the economic crisis exploded on the scene, there has been much debate on the topic of the Government's involvement in our every day lives, from the big bank bailouts on Wall Street, on down to homeowner bailouts/modifications on Main Street. How much is too much?

   We put out this question, and we received the strongest response from Pablo Solomon, who resides in Texas. "I grew up in Houston.", says Solomon, where, "The city had codes for every board and wire, and yet would let developers build entire neighborhoods in a flood plain. The same was true for the Gulf Coast. You had to have every detail permitted while allowing you to build on a sandy barrier island that was certain to wash away with the first hurricane. How crazy is that?".

   Solomon also provided his comments on the tax credits for homeowners and the bailout of homeowners, and he says that, "'social justice through redistribution of the wealth' has created more problems than it has solved.", and as far as bailing out homeowners, he says, "what is good--or bad--for the Wall Street Goose should apply to the local homeowner Ganders.", and Solomon says that he is, "amazed that many who see evil in bailing out mismanaged businesses, see good in bailing out mismanaged households."

   Solomon also sees the housing bubble as much due to, "Main Street people taking advantage of the easy loan situation as were Wall Street crooks.", and says that, "There are dirty hands at every level."

   In some final comments, Solomon, an artist known primarily for drawings and sculptures of dancers, muses, "Can socialized housing be far behind?". He questions the following; "Why should taxes payers have to borrow money from the Chinese to rescue either businesses or home owners who made stupid decisions. Even if sad situations result from sad circumstances--that happens. Nature has no bailouts and yet things eventually level out."

   Obviously, these opinions are those expressed by Mr. Solomon, however, I'm sure there are some opposing opinions. Do you care to share with us?

Have a Great Day, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
Regards,
Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Website http://www.lease2buy.com


TAGS: #bailout #modification #taxcredit #housing

August 18, 2010

Short Sales - What Do You Need to Know?

Hi All,


   Happy Wednesday to you. In keeping with our promise to tackle every topic you threw at us a few weeks back in that now "famous" Blog Post, today we are going to discuss some tips and strategies when pursuing Short Sales.

   A conversation about Short Sales would be incomplete without looking at it from two viewpoints: that of the Buyer (Broker or Investor), and that of the Seller (The Homeowner), and we have spoken with a few experts in the field who will discuss both viewpoints.

   First, we will examine things from the vantage point of the homeowner (the Seller). Geena Becker, of Geena & Company/William Raveis Real Estate & Home Services reminds us that the credit score is bruised on a short sale vs a foreclosure - "whereas foreclosure your credit score is driven down 200 points and banks will loan money to a bankruptcy victim before they loan to a foreclosed victim.". Becker also states that the banks pay for the attorney, realtor commissions, and back taxes, but will, "not pay any liens on the property. Those liens have to be negotiated OFF before the approval."

   In addition, Allan S. Glass, President of ASG Real Estate Inc. adds that, "The bank is settling a bad debt. Anything and everything they can extract from you regarding financial information will be used to that end, there are no casual off the record conversations with the banks while they are collecting your debt". Glass warns that you need to make sure you are working with an expert in the field of short sales, and that, "not every agent/broker is created equal and there is a learned skill to negotiating a debt settlement."

   Glass also provides additional pointers, such as to never pay any fee under any circumstance up front ! ("Professional agents will not charge until they are successful in completing your short sale or modification"). Further, he says that you should never sign over title to an investor who will then negotiate with the banks, as you do not need to sign over title to your home to be helped with a short sale. Finally, Glass reminds us that investors who help you with short sales are attempting to buy your home for a discount in order to make a profit, and that, "Not that anything is wrong with that when reasonable, however make sure you ask what happens if they cannot negotiate a purchase price low enough for them to invest."

   From the Buyers point of view (broker or investor), Becker provides some important pointers:
   1. You Will be buying "as is"
   2. You may be subject to more than one banks approval
   3. The Buyer won't know if the seller's loan was an FNMA (takes longer).
   4. If seller has it in their contract to make it subject to not receiving a deficiency judgment tied with short sale appraisal - there is a 50/50 shot of getting that wish.

   Further, she says that she will, "always find out if the mortgage they are late on was their mortgage that they first had when they bought the house. If so, nationally the bank CAN NOT go after the sellers with a deficiency note or promissory note on the difference. With the bank knowing it can come into play in a short sale negotiation since they know they can't come after the seller or borrower for the deficiency. If they have re-fi'd meaning it was not the "original" mortgage they will not have that slam dunk protection."

   Glass also provides some pointers in reminding us that, "the banks are motivated by values. They will do a short sale if they make more money by doing so compared to completing the foreclosure process", and that, "the bank and the seller are NOT working together to get the highest price from the buyer." Glass tells us that the best strategy is, "for the seller and buyer to work as a team to deliver the best value to the bank.". He warns that you must, "understand the numbers (as a broker or investor) and have a strong understanding of market value. Compare what the bank will net as a short sale vs. foreclosure / REO sale".

   As for timing, Glass says that it is key to, "follow up, follow up, follow up. If you are not following up the bank is not working on your file!", and Becker suggests that you make sure the buyer is very clear that this will not be a normal closing time frame, and that the buyer has to be able to, "wait without having to move in." and tells us, "I have had a lot of short sales last year especially where the buyers walk 1/2 way through my negotiating process and I have to start all over again. The buyer's agent must get it through to their clients that they can not be in a hurry. Good deals come to those who wait..."

   This is good sound advice from some seasoned Short Sales Professionals. Do you have any additional tips to share with our readers? We welcome your comments below.

Have a Great Day, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

May 21, 2010

Confusing Housing Market, Residential Sales, Prices, Mobile Devices...

Hi Everyone,

We have all made it through another exciting week, with traffic to our website up another 10% from last week, and Ad-responses have been gaining further momentum. This is great news for anyone who has an Ad on our website.

Well, if you've kept an eye on the news this week, you know that there have been several mixed signals from the market and the housing sector. We have heard that mortgage delinquencies were still happening at a rapid clip through the end of March, loan demands/requests from people looking to buy homes are at a 13-Year Low, and for the people who did seek Obama's Loan Modification HAMP program, an astonishing amount of them had their trial mortgages canceled...yes, you heard me right...canceled. True, there is a lot of uncertainty now, due to the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit (which expired on 4/30). This past week, an article on CNN was aptly named, "Housing market diagnosis: Bipolar".

OK, so doom and gloom. Is there a bright side? Of course there is. There are still options for homeowners who cannot find a loan the conventional way. The possibility always exists for you to negotiate a Rent to Own with a homeowner. Ask them. Inform them of how it works, and get your attorneys involved. Homeowners, please take note as well. If you're trying to sell your home, you might be going through potential buyers faster than a termite goes through wood. One after the other drops off since they cannot get a bank loan. Be creative and look into Rent to Own.

A few changes to the site this week, outside of what we mentioned earlier in the week. We have spruced up our "Top Spot" Featured Ad pages with some images of what an actual Top Spot promoted Ad will look like.

You can check out the page for upgrading a "Home Wanted" Ad here: http://www.lease2buy.com/top_homeswanted.php

You can check out the page for upgrading a "Home Available" Ad here: https://www.lease2buy.com/top_homesavailable.php

A look ahead to the economic news for next week shows us some very important numbers coming out: Existing-Home Sales. S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, FHFA Quarterly House Price Index, and New Residential Sales. These numbers should set the tone for the summer months, and they are worth watching.

Looking ahead for our website, we will be working on "mobile-enabling" our site for the most popular mobile devices now, like the IPhone, Android, etc, and we'll keep you posted on how this is going. We have seen a significant increase in traffic to our site from Mobile Devices, and we want to capitalize on every potential buyer and seller...any one of them can be "the one" who can Rent to Own your home !!


We value your feedback; Please tell us what creative options you have been considering to buy or sell a home? Let us know



Have a Great Weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !