One of the most devastating experiences is to go through a foreclosure and lose your home.  The American dream is to buy a home, make it your own, and create memories for your family for a lifetime. But who could predict what has happened to the economy in the last few years. We all enjoyed the ride up during the boom. But who could have known how hard we were about to fall…and still keep falling. Clearly...

Fannie Mae is working hard to entice you to buy a foreclosure…and it’s a nice enticement for everyone. The government-sponsored enterprise will also give qualified home buyers 3.5% of the final sales price that can be used toward the closing cost, including home warranty. Eligible offers must be submitted on or after Sept. 23 and they must close by Dec. 31, 2010. Fannie said the sale must close within...

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan awarded an additional $1 billion in funding to all states along with a number of counties and local communities struggling to reverse the effects of the foreclosure crisis. The grants announced today represent a third round of funding through HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) and will provide targeted emergency assistance to...

The U.S. Treasury Department has approved CalHFA’s plan to use nearly $700 million in federal funding to help  California families struggling to pay their mortgages. The “Keep Your Home” programs are focused on assisting low and moderate income families stay in their homes, when possible, and leveraging additional contributions from lenders and mortgage servicers. Primary objectives...

It was bound to happen. A bit more help for the real estate market…before it falls totally on its face. You can expect another home buyers tax credit to come out in another 30-60 days, according to a Wall Street Journal Article discussing the Administrations new plans – including a new Home Buyers Tax Credit version 3.0, if you will. “The Obama administration plans to set up an emergency...

To walk  or not to walk away from your mortgage…that is a tricky question.  Is a strategic default or disposal an ethical or even moral issue…..or is it simply a contractual issue? Here’s the thing…as your REALTOR,  it’s not my job to play moral police.  It is my job, and my passion, to help homeowners (and buyers).  So, in this epically distressed real estate market it’s my MORAL...

Bank of America pushed its total number of permanent mortgage workouts under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) to 76,300 in July, a 5.9% increase from June. The Treasury Department launched HAMP in March 2009 to provide incentives to servicers for the modification of loans on the verge of foreclosure. BofA converted 4,300 trial modifications into permanent ones in July, about half of the amount...

Last week I updated you on the new HPO Short Sale Program offered by Bank of America.  This new cooperative program is so streamlined that only 3 documents are required…and the bank can close in 2 weeks.  Is this too good to be true? Or is it the new direction of short sale resolutions offered by major lenders. Now that the cat is out of the bag on Bank of America’s program, here are the details...

According to Real Estate Insider News, Corelogic released their  2010 “The Cost of Short Sales” study that puts hard numbers of what is really happening with short sales…and….they are claiming 1 in 53 short sales were potentially fraudulent. Right smack in the middle of the short sale fraud, claims Corelogic….are…Realtors. The study projects that more than half of short sales happen in Arizona,...

Yes, you can say your heard it here first. The largest lender in the land is rolling out a new Short Sale Program for homeowners that will absolutely revolutionized the  real estate market.  It will only be available to a select group of Short Sale Specialist agents and is rolling out in limited markets.  This is big news…for sellers, home buyers and the market as a whole. Right now,  short sales are...