It's time for the short sale/vs REO round-up for the first half of 2012. Today I will do the entire county, and then will break down the numbers by city.

So, in San Mateo County from Jan 1, 2012 until June 30, 2012 there were:

517 closed short sales

430 closed bank owned home

Total sales during this time period were 2520

Total % Short Sales: 20%

Total % REO Sales: 17%

Total Percentage San Mateo County Distressed Properties: 37%

This is still a significant number in terms of percentages and at this percentage they are bound to have an effect on the overall market.

If you have any questions about short sales or foreclosures in San Mateo County please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

DRE  01191194

Understanding the Auction Process

If you have been trying to sell your home without success then a real estate auction may be a great alternative. In an auction you literally know the date your home will be sold! Auctions bring buyer attention like no other marketing tool available and create buyer urgency that gets homes sold fast. Below is a simple explanation of the types of auctions available. Depending on your situation your auction consultant will recommend which one will be best for you. Contact Rebecca Giacobba 410-320-4868 to see what is right for you.

Absolute Auction

Absolute Auction means highest bid wins, regardless of price. The typical result? More money for the seller because of the competitive nature of bidding. Competition typically heats up most intensely at Absolute Auctions because bidders know that by besting a rival across the room or online, the property can be theirs. But of course, other bidders have the same strategy and desire. Absolute Auctions typically get the most bidding. For the seller, the risk associated with an Absolute Auction is greater than the other types of auctions, but so is the potential reward.

Minimum Bid Auction

Minimum Bid Auctions begin at a minimum price established by the seller. Bidding must begin at least at that minimum before there can eventually be a sale. The minimum bid is published and announced by the auctioneer at the start of bidding for that particular property. These auctions offer a certain level of safety to the seller but are not usually as attractive to buyers as an Absolute Auction. A key strategy for a Minimum Bid Auction is for the seller to set the minimum bid low enough to attract the interest of buyers. Setting the minimum bid too high will discourage initial bidding.

Reserve Auction

Reserve Auctions allows the seller to accept, reject or counter the “winning” bid, for any reason. Sellers typically make this decision before the auction event ends. This gives sellers protection so their properties will not be sold below what they consider acceptable. However, sellers should be aware that Reserve Auctions typically generate the least amount of interest among potential buyers, because buyers know their "winning" bid can ultimately be rejected.

Sealed Bid Auction

In a Sealed Bid Auction, bidders privately submit their one best offer, in writing and in a sealed envelope. The bids are opened privately by the auctioneer and seller who do not reveal the bids to any of the participants. The seller can take one of the following courses of action: Accept the highest or best bid; reject all bids and call for a “Best and Final” bid from the two highest bidders, or just commence serious negotiations with all the identified bidders.  
  
Sealed Bid Auctions are often used for properties that do not have a broad market or appeal. Furthermore, keeping the bids private helps ensure that if all bids are too low for any of them to be accepted by the seller, the property will not become stigmatized by having a perceived low value in the marketplace.

Two-Step (or Combo) Auction

The Two-Step Auction is one in which sealed bids are sought from bidders (the first step) and if the seller does not accept the highest bid then the top five bidders are invited to participate in live bidding on an absolute or reserve basis (the second step) to determine the highest bidder. 
 
With distinct advantages to each of these common types of real estate auctions, sellers are encouraged to consult with the specialists at RealEstateAuctions.com for the best fit for each particular property.

Current price stabilization is certainly a result of the list to sold ratio’s slow but steady decline that began drastically in 2009 blipped up just a bit in 2010 and has been on a slow but steady decline since. If the 15 month average list to sold ratio of 1.6 for all of Central Oregon holds we should expect further inventory reduction. Inventory reports will be complete in a week or two.

Based on results since 2007, we have past the “typical” season of increasing list to sold ratios which barely happened this year, adding further support to the possibility of continued inventory declines.

There are lots of outside positive and negative influences on our local market, which could sway our market any which way. These influences have been occurring all along with big headlines – positive and negative, doomsayers prognostications and cheerleaders proclamations, yet change in our market has been slow and steady (and darn near predictable!) which is a good thing in my book J

For a more comprehensive understanding of our market see additional charts and tables covering inventory, sale and list prices etc.:

http://www.centralorproperty.com/Central,ORTrends.html

Also now on:

http://centralorhomesales.com/inventory.asp

The Wisconsin housing statistics are now in for May of 2012. Here is an excerpt from what the Wisconsin Realtors Association (WRA) had to say:

“Wisconsin home sales recorded strong growth again in May, continuing the trend that began last summer. Sales of existing homes were up 18.9 percent in May 2012 compared to May 2011. In addition, median home prices in the state rose 1.5 percent to $138,000 relative to the same month last year"

“It’s good to see Wisconsin’s housing market continuing a robust rebound from the depressed levels of the recession,” said Rob Keefe, Chairman of the WRA board of directors. He noted that the monthly growth rates have been in the double digits since July 2011, and that year-to-date home sales are up over 20 percent in the state. The South-Central region was up 18.5 percent.

Below are the number of Home Sales and Median House Prices for the state of Wisconsin, Rock County, and Dane County. These stats include Janesville and Madison. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions pertaining to these figures. As you can see, home sales have been increasing substantially this year. Both Dane and Rock counties are showing marked improvements in the number of homes sold.

If you would like some insight into how much your home is currently worth, I would be happy to provide you with a free comparative market analysis. This is a report that gives a close estimate to what your home might sell for in your current local Wisconsin real estate market. Has your home value fallen below what you currently owe? A short sale may be right for your situation. Visit the following page on Wisconsin Short Sales.

Like many of you active REO Brokers, I too have found my REO inventory has shrunk....dramatically. In the past 6 months, I have seen 2 of my 4 AMP's layoff almost all of their Asset Managers and send out notifications that they have had their inventory re-assigned to another AMP. I have spoken with AMP CEO's who tell me that inventory is down across the nation and the market is more competitive than it has ever been. All in all, the golden year of REO is over.

Now, this flies in the face of some vital statistics that should be driving REO and keeping us REO Brokers busy as little bees. Let's look at one particular vital statistic, unemployment. Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, since February of 2009, the nation's unemployment has remained above 8%, peaking at 10% back in October of 2009. Keep in mind, this number doesn't account for the millions of people who drop out of the unemployed workforce but, would still need a full time job. It's speculated that this number, the "real" unemployment rate is 14 - 18%. With 4 years of high unemployment, and a saturated market, most areas see a DOM (Days on Market) of a 6 months or more. So, if just using unemployment numbers and a minimum 6 months DOM, we should still be seeing the same REO inventory as we did at a minimum back in 2009, considering we are still at a unemployment rate above 8% and a "real" unemployment rate of 14%....right? So, where are all the REOs?

Finally, to further this point, I will make one last observation. In the Monday Jun 11, 2012 issue of National Mortgage News, it was reported in the article written by Paul Muolo that Fannie .....Fannie Mae alone, has an estimated $20 BILLION....yes, you heard me correct, $20 BILLION, in mortgages that are in the arrears. So, where are all the REOs?

It was just 3 years ago or so, I would walk into a struggling homeowners home and he would tell me that he was past due 5 months and the bank is threatening foreclosure. We would talk about short selling and he would likely list. 2 years ago, I would walk into a struggling homeowners home and he would tell me that he was past due 8-10 months and the bank was threatening foreclosure. Most of the time we would talk about short selling and he would list. 1 year ago, I would walk into a struggling homeowners home and he would tell me that he was 15 months past due, doesn't have any job prospects, on unemployment and was reading online that he could save his home with some government program. We would do the paperwork for a loan modification and, he would get on his trial payment for 6 months. After the 2nd month, he would default off because he didn't have any money, the bank would foreclose and he would be there for another 6 months till eviction. Now, I can go into a struggling homeowners home and, he tells me he has been past due now for 36 months, worked on a loan modification, was told he doesn't qualify, and now the bank has set a foreclosure sale date in 3 weeks so, he wants to know if he puts his home up for short sale, how much time would that give him before he has to be out. My point is, banks aren't foreclosing within a reasonably time frame after default. My 2nd point is, it seems that government influence, these "save your home" programs have done nothing but create a atmosphere where banks either can't or won't move forward aggressively with foreclosure.

The larger picture here is, we have a lot of homeowners who need to be foreclosed on....yes, I said it. We have a lot of homeowners who are living in homes they no longer own yet, banks aren't evicting. Instead, we have a lot of homeowners who are being feed lies from our government that they can save their homes. It seems to me that these banks are then forced to cooperate, even at their own peril, because some politician wants to win at the ballot box by telling homeowners....."YES WE CAN".

Once the pipe dream has ended and reality sinks in, America the Beautiful is going to become more of America the Broker and the really sad part is that because we refuse to tackle this tragedy of Government gone wild, individual Americans are going to find themselves with nothing more than burdensome debt and a handful of I.O.U's that read, "should-a, could-a, would-a"

Make no mistake, the REO inventory is there.....in a really big way however, it's hidden...away from the sight of most people because politically, it's just not something you can run on and get re-elected if you expose it to the light of day.

Housing Debt (MSRs) Fall to Lowest Level in Five Years

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As many of you know, I rarely.....RARELY, work with buyers...I have a team for that, at least I have referral agents for that however, I got a recent buyer referral and of course, I work those. So, I take the buyer out, we look at some homes and he finally decides to put down an offer. The offer is on a REO...so, I am thinking to myself, "I can do this in my sleep"...because I list REO's myself. Well, come to find out, I was completely mistaken.

So, we get our offer over to the seller's agent, let's call him Lionel the Listing Agent. A couple days later, I get a call from a member of his team, who works all the offers. She tells me the seller is countering and she sends me an email with the seller's terms. After some careful reading my buyer and I are a little concerned because the closing cost language isn't exactly the way we put it in on our offer. You see, I usually use the following closing cost language.....

"Seller to pay up to, $6,000.00 towards buyers; items payable in connection with the loan, items required by lender to be paid in advance, reserves deposited with lender, title charges, government recording and transfer charges, any additional settlement charges"

The seller replied back with, "Seller has countered the following items from your offer: Seller will pay $6,000.00 towards buyers closing cost and prepaids. Seller will pay title if Buyer uses Sellers attorney which is Super Title (Name changed to protect the innocent), Seller will contribute up to $500.00 towards a home warranty of Buyer's choice/plan. Buyer's agent will be responsible for ordering the home warranty"

Now, here is the problem, after speaking with the buyer and the buyer speaking with his lender, he isn't going to use all the $6,000.00 and suggested we add "upfront mortgage insurance", which many of you will know is covered under "items required by lender to be paid in advance"...hence why I use the closing language I do.

I countered the seller counter and said, we would like to add in "upfront mortgage insurance" in our special stipulations language and oh dear sweet baby Jesus.....it was like we asked for the 2nd coming of Christ. The listing agents just couldn't understand it, went back to the seller, the seller couldn't understand it and everyone seemed like we were asking for green eggs and ham. We went round and round for like 2 days explaining over and over again, we want to add the "upfront mortgage insurance" because if your seller agrees to give us $6,000.00 we want to use the full $6,000.00. So, finally the listing agent team member doesn't know why the AM is having a problem with that and instead of getting us an answer, she resorts to telling us that either we agree to the amended terms, which changed to...,

 "All BCC (Buyers Closing Cost) to appear on the HUD and be approved by lender and title company"

As you can imagine, this was completely unacceptable to the buyer because now, after speaking with the lender, the seller just cut our closing cost credit in half because the lender's closing cost only accounted for about half of the money the seller agreed to provide. In other words, by using the latest wording, we could only use the funds for closing cost....and nothing else. We couldn't use it for pre-paids, incidentals or anything else.

Well....here we go, around and around again and finally, the listing agent team member begins threatening that if we don't sign the deal as written, they are going to just reject the deal. The problem here is, all we are asking to do is to spend the money.....the dollars that the seller has agreed to as we see fit....................WHAT IS THE DAMN PROBLEM, THE NET TO THE SELLER ISN'T CHANGING?

So, after a day or so of crazy talk, listing agents who just don't seem to get it, my buyer says, let's just agree to their original terms .........

"Seller has countered the following items from your offer: Seller will pay $6,000.00 towards buyers closing cost and prepaids. Seller will pay title if Buyer uses Sellers attorney which is Super Title (Name changed to protect the innocent), Seller will contribute up to $500.00 towards a home warranty of Buyer's choice/plan. Buyer's agent will be responsible for ordering the home warranty"

.......and just be done with it.

I send it over to the listing agent and inform them via email....my buyer agrees to your original counter. So, two days later, they send me over the REO addendum and it reads .....

"FM to pay up to $500.00 towards HOW to be selected by buyer. FM to pay $6000 towards bcc."

Ok...so, if you didn't catch the problem......I can't help you. None the less, this isn't going to work, for the same reasons I already stated above.

So, we go back to the listing agent team member, explain that we agreed to their terms and therefore, we would like to see those terms in the addendum. She tells me that we should write those terms in the state offer but, not to change the reo addendum. As we all know, if it's not in the reo addendum, it's not enforceable. So, I bring this up to her and we are threatened again....either we sign it the way it is, or they will reject the deal. DAMN, do you not understand, we are agreeing to your sellers terms....we are just asking that you put those terms in your sellers addenum.....lol.

After going around and around about that, finally my buyer says, let's stop talking to this listing agent team member and talk with the listing agent. He calls the listing agent, gets insulted by the listing agent before the agent realizes he is actually talking directly to my buyer.....and per my buyer, after about 10 attempts at explaining to him that we agree to your sellers terms, now put your sellers terms in your sellers addendum....the light switch catches and he goes....oh...yeah, we need to do that.

My problems are....

1. The listing agent obviously isn't involved in his own transaction.

2. No one is supervising the agent working the deal to ensure the seller's terms are actually put in the sellers addendum.

3. Rather than listening, talking and working together, the listing agents are hyper defensive and rather than negotiating, they would rather threaten the deal and strong arm the buyer into a signature when they themselves don't even know what is wrong with their own sellers addendum.

Check out and LIKE us on Facebook to follow other industry news! 

Today’s news that may be of interest to you:

New Mortgages 20% More Likely to Default than Those from the ’90s
DSNews.com | June 12, 2012
Investors and lenders should expect loans currently originated to have a 20 percent higher chance of default than those originated in the ’90s due to current economic conditions, according to the University Financial Associates (UFA). (Keeping in mind that this is only one firm’s position, it does seem to me that the US homebuyer’s mindset has turned a corner. It used to be that foreclosure normally only happened to those folks that couldn’t afford their house payment.  ’Strategic default’ is a now socially acceptable option if things get tight. This adds a whole new segment of consumers who will be foreclosed upon in the future.  ~Anthony)

Shortage of homes for sale creates fierce competition
Los Angeles Times | June 10, 2012
The newest problem for the slowly improving housing market isn’t a shortage of serious buyers, it’s a shortage of good homes.

Landlords Cash in on Higher Demand
RealtorMag | June 12, 2012
Taking advantage of an increase in home owners-turned-tenants, apartment landlords are raising their rents and expect to continue to do so.

Rental Market Still Tightening: Moody’s
DSNews.com | June 12, 2012
With vacancies declining and rental prices rising, the climate in the housing industry is clearly warming up to rental properties.

Wells Fargo to limit FHA Streamline participation
HousingWire | June 12, 2012
Wells Fargo will only accept new streamlined refinancing on Federal Housing Administration mortgages serviced in-house beginning June 19, according to an alert sent to lenders Tuesday.

US GDP – Not As Pretty As Otherwise Indicated
Ted C. Jones Blog | June 11, 2012
If you looked at the basic U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers, you would conclude that the U.S. is gaining economic ground. 

Trade Group to Call for CFPB Official to Resign After Remarks
DSNews.com | June 12, 2012
Sparking indignation in the mortgage broker community, Raj Date, deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau laid the bulk of the blame for the housing crisis on brokers during a speaking engagement Monday. His statements have led at least one industry trade group to call for his resignation. (I know lots of really good and honest mortgage brokers who helped many, many of consumers. Like many industries, there was a segment that took advantage of some consumers and gave the others a bad name. ~Anthony)

Endless QE? $6 Trillion and Counting
Reuters | June 13, 2012
Many more years of money printing from the world’s big four central banks now looks destined to add to the $6 trillion already created since 2008 and may transform the relationship between the once fiercely-independent banks and governments. 

Find me on:            

Anthony V. Carollo / President
Stewart Title of Spokane
606 W. 3rd Ave.
Spokane, WA 99201
Telephone: 509.328.7171
Direct Line: 509.321.3939
Direct Fax: 866.652.8834
acarollo@stewart.com

Please remember to choose Stewart Title of Spokane on your next transaction!

www.StewartSpokane.com

Check out and LIKE us on Facebook to follow other industry news! 

Today’s news that may be of interest to you:

5 of the Most Frequent Consumer Complaints
Yahoo! Finance | June 6, 2012
Have you been unhappy with your bank in the past year? Or gotten an unpleasant call from a debt collector? You’re not alone.

Shortening Loan Terms
The New York Times | June 1, 2012
Low interest rates are making it easier for homeowners to reduce their mortgage payoff times considerably.

Home Rentals — The New American Dream?
USA Today | June 6, 2012
Unlike traditional apartment renters, this breed of American tenants are older and have kids, U.S. Census Bureau data indicate.

Tale of Two Markets: No Downturn in Megahome Sales
MSNBC | June 5, 2012
The real-estate market is splitting in two, with wealthy buyers driving stronger growth at the top while the rest of the market continues to struggle.

Hispanic Home Buyers On The Rise
Forbes | May 31, 2012
For Hispanic Americans, a mega-boom in homeownership is revving up.

New Value for Land in Rural Ohio
The New York Times | June 5, 2012
The energy boom has swept into the rural counties of the upper Ohio River Valley, producing a torrent of investment in mineral leasing that is jolting the economies of small towns and swelling the bank accounts of some working-class families.

Probe Widens Into Mortgage Lenders
The Wall Street Journal | June 6, 2012
Federal officials are broadening their investigations of mortgage lenders that use a popular federally backed mortgage program, a move that could force more banks to pick up some of the rising tab for losses at the Federal Housing Administration.

Americans Cling to Jobs as U.S. Workforce Dynamism Fades
Bloomberg | June 7, 2012
After 4 1/2 months of meetings, interviews and hand-holding, personnel recruiter William Rowe thought he had sealed the deal. The senior executive of a major corporation Rowe had been courting finally agreed to take a top post at a venture capital- backed technology firm in California. Then four days after giving notice, the mid-to-late 40-year-old executive had second thoughts about leaving the security of his company and returned to his old job.

Find me on:            

Anthony V. Carollo / President
Stewart Title of Spokane
606 W. 3rd Ave.
Spokane, WA 99201
Telephone: 509.328.7171
Direct Line: 509.321.3939
Direct Fax: 866.652.8834
acarollo@stewart.com

Please remember to choose Stewart Title of Spokane on your next transaction!

www.StewartSpokane.com

Check out and LIKE us on Facebook to follow other industry news! 

Today’s news that may be of interest to you:

North Spokane Corridor Reaches Major Milestone
GSI Blog | June 5, 2012
A semi-truck traveling from, say, Grand Forks, British Columbia needing to get to the Hillyard area of Spokane, will soon be able to do so without seeing a stoplight between Deer Park and Francis Avenue. (This will be great for Spokane! ~Anthony)

Census Releases 2011 Housing Characteristics
HousingWire | June 5, 2012
The US Census Bureau released their report “Characteristics of New Housing” for the year 2011. While conventional mortgages hit an all-time low (percentage wise) in 2010 and FHA-backed mortgages hit an all-time high, those numbers moved a little closer to normal in 2011. (See the graph in the last articel below. ~Anthony)

Home Prices Gained in April: CoreLogic
Reuters | June 5, 2012
CoreLogic’s home price index rose 2.2 percent in April from the previous month and gained 1.1 percent from the year before.

Fannie Mae Announces New CEO
The Washington Post | June 5, 2012
For Timothy J. Mayopoulos, the promotion comes with an odd twist: a significant pay cut.

Google Beefs Up Its Mobile Docs With QuickOffice Purchase
Los Angeles Times | June 5, 2012
Google is adding some weight to its Google Docs team by purchasing Quickoffice, a startup that developed a suite of mobile apps that are essentially clones of Microsoft Office.

Redfin: Homebuyers think the market is beginning to favor sellers
HousingWire | June 4, 2012
While homebuyers are hitting the pavement looking for a home, real estate broker Redfin concluded in a new survey that 49% of buyers believe it’s a good time to shop for real estate, down from 56% in the first quarter.

Five Cheap Tip to Boost Your Home’s Value
Fox Business | June 5, 2012
Here are five inexpensive ways to increase the value of your home for sale. With home prices falling again, it might be foolish to spend thousands on a new kitchen or bath. Instead, say veteran real estate agents, you can wow buyers by using a few household cleaners, generous amounts of elbow grease and some thoughtful staging. (All easy stuff, but do you agree with what they say?  Are there obvious tips that they missed? ~Anthony)

New Single Family Homes: 2011 vs 2006
The KCM Blog June 6, 2012
The Census Bureau just released their findings on new single family residential construction built in 2011. (This blog post is a simple table that looks at 2011 as compared to 2006.  Noteworthy to me: square footage was a surprise, the average sales price drop was not as much as I would have expected, and not much else was surprising but rather affirmation of what we already knew. Your thoughts? ~Anthony)

Find me on:            

Anthony V. Carollo / President
Stewart Title of Spokane
606 W. 3rd Ave.
Spokane, WA 99201
Telephone: 509.328.7171
Direct Line: 509.321.3939
Direct Fax: 866.652.8834
acarollo@stewart.com

Please remember to choose Stewart Title of Spokane on your next transaction!

www.StewartSpokane.com

Here's my gripe...National Property Preservation Companies, a great concept if they hire the right local contractor, BUT when they don't it can be a nightmare. May I introduce some of my recent encounters?

John aka the drunk guy- He was supposed to meet me at a property to bid on some fire damage repair. He missed two appointments, and then told me "Oh, I can get in, I'll just break in" No Thanks. When I did meet him, he tells me that he will have to come back with an electrician....hmmm...Was he really thinking that the fire damage did not affect the wiring, when it caused major structural damage?

Two Punks in a Pick-up- These two Jersey Shores wanna-be's show up at a CFK exchange as the authority for check release and to re-key property. They are 25 minutes late, and have to leave to go get a lock set.

Dollar Store Air Freshener- I haven't actually met this person yet but for the past three weeks they have been turning and re-dating all the empty air fresheners in one of my pre-lists. They come in every week, cross out one date with sharpie, turn re date and photograph. It makes me wonder, how much money do they think they are saving? Some lenders require that the property preservation company place air fresheners in the kitchen and bathrooms. I think they meant AFTER you clean it. If the house is dirty, not even a full air freshener is going to entice a buyer.

In all fairness, there are some excellent preservation contractors that I would enjoy working with again. I just think it may be a good idea to raise the bar and weed out the under performers.

A veteran—whether Active Duty, Discharged, Retired, National Guard or Reserve—is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check payable to “The United States of America” for an amount of “up to and including my life”.

Our market remains dynamic!

A quick summary:

Our market continues on a very long, slow but steady improvement trend. By many measures this improvement trend began in 2009/2010.  See list to sold ratio charts, inventory charts, sales price charts etc.

As usual, the media is slow to recognize subtle changes and is just beginning to pick up on the accumulated improvement, adding positive influence to the difficult to measure but ever important perception factor.

Many sources quote Median sale price and/or average sale price. View the tables to see how these values can paint a different picture of the market.

See charts and tables to see trends and more specific results.

http://www.centralorproperty.com/Central,ORTrends.html
or
http://centralorhomesales.com/inventory.asp

Other facts and thoughts:

List to Sold Ratios indicate future inventory increases far less than typical seasonal shifts.  List to Sold Reports will be generated in a few days. See links below for most recent list to sold reports

Percent sale price of current and original list are at their highest levels since 2006.

We aren’t out of the woods yet though as many 2 year old mortgages are underwater, lead by low down payment loans such as FHA. We of course have high unemployment, low paying jobs and high poverty levels right here in Central Oregon.

On the brighter side, folks love it here and continue to be attracted to the area; many retired or semi-retired. Additionally, perceptions about Central Oregon Real Estate prices have vastly improved. We all know perceptions can make a huge difference!

See charts and tables to see trends and more specific results:

http://www.centralorproperty.com/Central,ORTrends.html
or
http://centralorhomesales.com/inventory.asp

If you have a home loan through Bank of America and you are currently concerned about making your payments or your home is worth less than you owe, you may qualify for a short sale incentive from BoA. They refer to it as an 'enhanced relocation assistance payment'. To qualifying home owners/sellers, this could mean a check given to you for up to $30,000 after a successful short sale closing! Trust me, this is no scam. Here is a recent email that was sent to Bank of America Short Sale Specialists, like myself.

My name is Michael Collins, real estate agent and broker at Rock Realty. If you are currently considering a short sale in Wisconsin, I would be happy to walk you through the process and answer any questions you may have. I am certified as a Short Sales & Foreclosure Resource through the WRA.

Realtors® who have earned the SFR certification know how to help sellers maneuver the complexities of short sales as well as help buyers pursue short sale and foreclosure opportunities. The certification program includes training on how to qualify sellers for short sales, negotiate with lenders, protect buyers, and limit risk. Call my cell at 608-921-8536 and we can see if you qualify for any of these incentives.

Also feel free to fill out our simple
Short Sale Home Evaluation Form

Additional Short Sale Information

• Is a Short Sale right for my home?
• Half of Homeowners Underwater on their Mortgage
• Buying a Wisconsin home after a Short Sale or Foreclosure
• Benefits of Buying an Owner-Occupied Wisconsin Short Sale
• Tips for Buying a Wisconsin Short Sale

If you receive a letter from Chase Bank stating that you are eligible for a short sale incentive, please do not throw it away. It is not a scam. Distressed home owners have been receiving these letters for over a year now, and guess what? They are the real deal!


Real estate agents and Realtors® have been reporting that their clients are getting large checks cut to them at closing. In some cases, as much as $30,000! Yes, Chase Bank is not only forgiving the debt on a short sale, they are giving the current sellers/owners a check at closing. Don't believe it? See an example letter below:


My name is Michael Collins. If you are currently considering a short sale in Wisconsin, I would be happy to walk you through the process and answer any questions you may have. I am certified as a Short Sales & Foreclosure Resource through the WRA. REALTORS® who have earned the SFR certification know how to help sellers maneuver the complexities of short sales as well as help buyers pursue short sale and foreclosure opportunities. The certification program includes training on how to qualify sellers for short sales, negotiate with lenders, protect buyers, and limit risk. Call my cell at 608-921-8536 and we can see if you qualify for any of these incentives.


Original Post -
Chase Bank Short Sale Seller Incentive


Additional Short Sale Information


• 

• Is a Short Sale right for my home?
• 

• Half of Homeowners Underwater on their Mortgage
• 

• Buying a Wisconsin home after a Short Sale or Foreclosure
• 

• Benefits of Buying an Owner-Occupied Wisconsin Short Sale
• 

• Tips for Buying a Wisconsin Short Sale

As a Menlo Park Short Sale Agent I get asked this a lot. My answer is a definitive sort of, especially if it is a Chase short sale. 

Here is how it may make a difference.

Some homeowners owe more on their homes than the home is worth, the definition of being underwater. The home is not going to sell for what it is worth, it will sell at or around market value. The bank generally understands that. The bank as representative for the investor on the loan wants to lose as little money as possible, but knows there is going to be some loss.

The banks have procedures in place to approve short sales. At Chase they have the number of people who have to approve a short sale broken down by the amount of loss, not by the value of the house. 

So if the loss is $250,000 or less, only one lowest level of negotiator needs to approve. If the loss is $250,000 to $350,000 the offer goes to the 1st negotiator and then a negotiator one level up. At $350,000-$450,000 it goes to the first 2 plus one level up in management. And so forth.

So the greater the loss the more people have to approve before it even gets to the investor and/or mortgage insurance company. Each person who needs to approve can ask for more documentation or just ok the file. All of this takes time.

The bottom line, the bigger the loss, the more time you should expect for approval and the more doumentation you may need to provide.

So knowing that, don't try to keep up with the Joneses. Just because your best friend's short sale was approved in 3 weeks, and you are still waiting at 8 weeks, it does not mean you got the B team looking at your file. You just may have more managers that have to approve that are gumming up the process.

If you have any questions about short sales in San Mateo or Santa Clara County please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E.  01191194

The Wisconsin housing statistics are now in for April of 2012. Here is an excerpt from what the Wisconsin Realtors Association (WRA) had to say:


“The strong pace of existing home sales continued, with 10 straight months of double-digit sales growth. Home sales rose 19.5 percent in April 2012 compared to April 2011, according to the most recent monthly report by the Wisconsin REALTORS^® Association (WRA). Home prices were also up for the second straight month, rising 2.4 percent to $128,000 in April compared to April 2011."


“After several years of a stagnate housing market, it’s encouraging to see sustained growth in home sales, especially as we enter the summer, which is the prime season for home sales in the state,” said Rob Keefe, Chairman of the WRA board of directors.


The WRA says an improving state jobs market is helping home sales. Since December, the state has added nearly 18,000 nonfarm private jobs even as government employment fell by 3,400 based on seasonally adjusted estimates.


Below are the number of Home Sales and Median House Prices for the state of Wisconsin, Rock County, and Dane County. These stats include Janesville and Madison. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions pertaining to these figures. As you can see, home sales have been increasing substantially this year. The median sale price in Dane County has risen approximately $8,500 year over year. In Rock County Wisconsin, the median sale price has fallen, $2,450, year over year.


If you would like some insight into how much your home is currently worth, I would be happy to provide you with a free comparative market analysis. This is a report that gives a close estimate to what your home might sell for in your current local Wisconsin real estate market. Has your home value fallen below what you currently owe? A short sale may be right for your situation. Visit the following page on Wisconsin Short Sales.