Phoenix has made #4 of 20 cities ridden with Foreclosures, 1 out of 14 homes are in Foreclosure; there are so many people out there that need help from someone who cares.  We just hope it’s the right kind of help in the end for those families that need it.

Yes, they are an option for people struggling to keep up with their mortgage payments who really don’t want to lose their home.  In the end, at least half of our clients come to us after a failed attempt, or in some cases several, and credit destroyed already- wishing they hadn’t wasted time or resources in trying to get their bank(s) to work with them.  Unless a PRINCIPAL REDUCTION is given, then Loan Modifications are “Band-aids” to delay the inevitable- for some, is reason enough to apply for them just to buy more time in the home they are living in.  Please call us at 480-243-4242 to discuss your personal situation and get quality free advice with no obligation before you go down the road of applying for a loan modification.

With 2010 com­ing to a close, the “experts” are out in full force, mak­ing pre­dic­tions for next year’s hous­ing and mort­gage mar­kets on busi­ness tele­vi­sion and in the papers.

Pre­dic­tions for 2011 are wide-ranging:

• Some say home prices will rise in 2011
• Some say home prices will fall in 2011
• Some say mort­gage rates will rise in 2011
• Some say mort­gage rates will fall in 2011

The prob­lem with hous­ing and mort­gage pre­dic­tions is that — like all pre­dic­tions — they’re just edu­cated guesses about the future. Nobody knows what will really hap­pen with the hous­ing and mort­gage mar­kets in 2011. All any­one can do is the­o­rize. As layper­sons, though, it can be hard to sep­a­rate the­ory from fact.

Tele­vi­sion can make that task even more dif­fi­cult at times.

As an exam­ple, when a well-dressed econ­o­mist goes on CNBC and presents a clear, suc­cinct argu­ment for why home prices will fall on 2011, we’re inclined to believe the analy­sis and con­clu­sion. After all, the out­come seems plau­si­ble out­come given the facts. But then, imme­di­ately after, a dif­fer­ent econ­o­mist presents an oppo­site argu­ment — that home prices will rise in 2011 – and her analy­sis seems sound, too.

Even Fred­die Mac can’t see the future.

Last year, the gov­ern­ment group pre­dicted mort­gage rates to 6 per­cent in 2010. That never hap­pened, of course. Instead, con­form­ing mort­gage rates dropped over a 7-month period this year to lev­els best be described as “his­toric”.  Fred­die Mac couldn’t have been more wrong.

So, what’s a home­owner to believe?

About the only thing that’s cer­tain right now is that mort­gage rates remain low by his­tor­i­cal stan­dards, and that home prices do, too. Also, that both hous­ing and mort­gage mar­kets appear to be rid­ing momen­tum higher into 2011.  This sug­gests that it will be more expen­sive to buy and finance a home by the end of 2011.

Until that time, how­ever, pre­dic­tions are just guesses.

(Article above posted on several blogs and websites as of 12/29/10— original source unknown)

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In my opinion; after the roller coaster rides of 2008 through 2010 (government intervention impacted supply and demand)- we will see 2011 still riddled with foreclosures however the market did hit a second bottom locally 10/10/10 according to The Cromford Report (first one was 4/6/09).

I personally expect it to remain relatively flat since I am currently selling homes at or below pricing of when I started in the Real Estate business nearly 18 years ago- there just isn’t much more lower it can go and as the economy in general recovers, prices will slowly increase- that is for certain!  (That’s just an educated guess based on the article above- lol )

With that said; many buyers have sat on the fence waiting to see what will happen next year before they do anything.  Unfortunately we won’t know for sure when we’ve started a permanent “recovery” until after prices do increase, meaning those waiting for certain indications will actually miss the bottom and purchase when the prices have already increased.  There are a lot of great “deals” out there TODAY when one really looks, they’ll come to the conclusion that it’s a great time to invest or “move up” into that home one could not have afforded 5 years ago.  There’s also something to be said for the enjoyment your own home brings and pride of ownership.

For Sellers who are upside down and either purchased or refi’d in years 2004-2008; unless the banks actually start reducing principal balances on debts owed- a strong consideration should be made with regards to doing a short sale today in order to get out from under that house.  If the market ever returns to the record high in 2005, it’s unlikely it’ll be anytime soon.  Most likely, it will be several years down the road before those homes could ever be worth the same values again that we saw before.  Why keep throwing “bad” money in after “bad” money in the meantime?  If you haven’t gotten behind in your payments yet, we’ve helped clients successfully sell short and immediately repurchase today (it’s actually possible to do a short sale and not damage your credit, just ask us how!).

For Buyers; Rates are still in the 5’s and prices at record lows; you cannot go wrong with purchasing a home today if you can qualify for a mortgage loan OR have cash on hand (calling all investors)!  For current renters; it’s a no brainer- with the tax advantage of home ownership and the net effective house payment vs. rent comparison- renters can live in much nicer homes today for the same or less money monthly than they can renting.  Click here to read more…

Click here to get started OR call 480-243-4242 and we will gladly help you navigate through all of this confusion and help you achieve your and your family’s Real Estate GOALS for 2011- just let us know what you need and we’ll be there for you, your family and/or friends!  We are never too busy for your referrals and greatly appreciate our past clients passing the word about us on to others.

Click on the picture to hear the episode- many important topics are covered including:

• Foreclosure VS Trustee Sale
• Mortgage VS Deed of Trust
• Arizona being an Anti-Deficiency State
• Loan Modifications
• Being Pro-Active on doing a Short Sale so as not to damage your credit

(Check out the Visual Show of Josh’s new house HERE!)

WHAT’S EVEN BETTER THAT IF YOU ARE CURRENT AND HAVE NO LATE PAYMENTS, FHA WILL LOAN YOU MONEY THE DAY YOU CLOSE ESCROW ON YOUR SHORT SALE FOR A NEW HOME!

• The misconception is due in large part to many servicers over the last couple of years telling borrowers if they wanted to do a loan modification or short sale, to have their file looked at, they had to be delinquent.  NOT TRUE ANYMORE for most servicers/investors. 
• Depending on someone’s financial situation; they may not even have to contribute to the banks loss.  Some cases yes.
• Josh’s FICO score was barely impacted at all by his short sale and before he closed, the underwriter for his new loan received his approval letter and approved him for the new loan because the approval letter he had was with “FULL FOREGIVENESS LANGUAGE” of his unpaid debt.
• Josh closed 2 weeks ago and had let the previous homeowners rent for a couple of weeks, so he actually walked in the door to a check waiting for him.

Josh’s story is one of true success.  He retained his great credit; got out from under a home that was UPSIDE DOWN; took advantage of today’s great prices and rates (4.5% interest fixed for 30yrs).  So he ended up with a larger home with a pool closer into town for LESS than what his old mortgage payment was. 

IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE INTERESTED IN DOING THE SAME THING- PLEASE SHARE THIS SUCCESS STORY WITH THEM AND ASK THEM TO CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED WITH THE PROCESS.  INTEGRITY ALL STAR REALTY WILL HAPPILY HELP THEM TOO!!!

Of course if you are late on your mortgage payment, you can still do a Short Sale and buy a home again; but it’s a minimum of 2-3 yr waiting period at this time and lending guidelines are constantly changing.  (If staying current is an option still, call us right away at 480-243-4242 or click the link above to get started in case FHA changes their guidelines down the road.)

Looks like I am going to have to eat my words from the blog I wrote back in April; & I am very happy to do so! http://integrityallstars.com/hafa-hafa-hafa-what-the-heck-is-hafa/

Reason being, the Government just recently announced that both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be participating in this program which was the main reason I and so many other professionals in my industry felt it was off target when it started back in April- looks like the government was listening however it may be too soon to see since it doesn’t start officially until August 1.  See https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/servicing/hafa/index.jsp for more information straight from their website.

Give me a call at 480-243-4242 if you want to find out if you will qualify for this Government program.

If you are upside down on your home and not sure what to do because you would really rather stay in your home and not do a short sale or let you home go into foreclosure- please watch the attached video!

Our advice to our clients is to apply directly with their lender(s) for a loan modification and not turn to a company to do it for you; remember if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Several of our clients have come to us days before their home’s Trustee Sale (after spending thousands of dollars that they didn’t have to apply for a loan modification) hoping for a miracle to avoid foreclosure- we’ve had a few miracles; but we’d much rather see you keep your money in your pocket.

Don’t hesitate to call us for more advice if you don’t know how to get out from under your house payment; especially if you already have a Trustee Sale (aka Foreclosure) date set. 480-243-4242

• Are you at risk of losing your job or have you already lost it?
• Do you know where the money to pay your next mortgage payment is coming from?
• Are you afraid of getting your family locked out of your own home by your bank? 
• Do you know that 58% of the loan modifications that even do get approved, end up in foreclosure/default again within 4 months?
• Did you know that in Chandler alone, 3 out of 5 homes on the market are considered “distressed” sales. (Either Short Sales or Bank Owned)

If you answered yes to any of these questions; please reach out to us for help now before it’s too late, click here to get started. 

We will gladly give you a compassionate & intelligent conversation when the time is right for you and your family!

IN THE MEANTIME; THERE ARE LEGAL RIGHTS THAT GIVE SOMEONE TIME STILL IN THE HOME AFTER A TRUSTEE SALE: Please read the following article AZ Republic: Eviction Adds to Pain of Home’s Foreclosure.  In this, Michelle Lind, general counsel for the Arizona Association of Realtors, explained how the state’s eviction laws work. "The buyer of a foreclosure home has to give the home’s former owner notice to move out," she said. "If after five days the former owner doesn’t move out, the new owner can file with the courts for a forcible eviction."

You do have rights and don’t have to be alone, call us at 480-243-4242 and we will do our best to help!

What is the default process?  I’m going to try to explain what the information on this chart means but… it is when someone starts getting behind on their mortgage payments and they are usually at least 3 months behind before the following occurs:

Basically, there are only 4 results that can happen when a person isn’t able to stay current on their mortgage payments:

• NOTS= NOTICE OF TRUSTEE SALE is sent to the homeowner.  This notice gives them 90 days to do something otherwise the bank will try to sell them home at a Trustee Sale. (Please see resource tab of website for more information and a slide show re: what happens at Trustee Sales) Most lenders will either issue a postponement or a cancelation of the Trustee Sale (aka Foreclosure Proceeding) as long as someone contacts them and tries to work out an alternative solution.  Unfortunately the majority of homeowners facing this do nothing and put their heads in the proverbial sand and ultimately do lose their homes, which only adds to this crisis.
• REINSTATEMENT OF LOAN= This means that the Lender will allow the borrower to add the missed payments to the end of the loan and allow them to become current under the original loan terms.  In this situation one normally needs to show that it was a one time problem that caused them being late.  It’s also commonly called a Forbearance.  For most this isn’t an option. 
• LOAN ADJUSTMENT= By proving a hardship, one can request what is called a loan modification in hopes of getting the payments reduced to where they are affordable.  Financial information must be sent to the Lender with an application to be considered.  The government has stepped in and have some programs (HAMP and HAFA) intended to help those in need but in my opinion, they aren’t enough.  This process can be tedious and time consuming and many give up.  In some opinions, these are just temporary Band-Aids because to get principal reductions to what the current value is has not happened with anyone I have met or heard of .  The recent stats are that 58% that do get approved for these loan modifications end up in default again as well.  I had one client recently that fought with her Lender for a year and they extended her loan to 40 yrs and reduced her interest rate but changed the loan from an interest only and in the end it only reduced her payment $100, which wasn’t the help she had asked for.  Typically the Trustee sale is either cancelled or put on hold by the Lender during this process.
• SHORT SALE= Default process is over because the borrower sells the home short with the Lender(s) approval.

 SHORT SALE VS FORECLOSURE GUIDELINES (Published by CDPE February 2010)

There is another option called “Deed in Lieu” which is basically the homeowner giving the house back and is considered a Foreclosure without having to go thru the legal proceeding of a Trustee Sale.  If the home doesn’t sell to a private 3rd party (many investors pick up great bargains) at a Trustee Sale (aka Auction), then title goes back to the bank and they have to remarket the home.  That’s where the term REO (Real Estate Owned) comes from, sometimes called a Lender or Bank Owned Home.  Those homes get marketed normally on the MLS, here’s a link to the Bank Owned Homes in our area.

If you have any further questions about this process, feel free to call us at 480-243-4242 or go to our Get Started Tab and enter in your information so we can see if we can help you or someone you know who is in DEFAULT on their Mortgage payment(s). We do everything we can here to help those that need it!

• Are you at risk of losing your job?
• Do you know where the money to pay your next mortgage payment is coming from?
• Are you afraid of getting your family locked out of your own home by your bank? 
• Do you know that 58% of the loan modifications that even get approved, end up in foreclosure within 4 months?
• Did you know that in Gilbert alone more than 3 out of 5 people, just like you, are either at risk or are already in a foreclosure situation?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, please reach out to us for help now before it’s too late, click here to get started.  We will gladly give you a compassionate & intelligent conversation when the time is right for you and your family.

IN THE MEANTIME; THERE ARE LEGAL RIGHTS THAT GIVE SOMEONE TIME STILL IN THE HOME AFTER A TRUSTEE SALE: Please read the following article AZ Republic: Eviction Adds to Pain of Home’s Foreclosure.  In this, Michelle Lind, general counsel for the Arizona Association of Realtors, explained how the state’s eviction laws work. "The buyer of a foreclosure home has to give the home’s former owner notice to move out," she said. "If after five days the former owner doesn’t move out, the new owner can file with the courts for a forcible eviction."