Short sales are challenging– we know!

· The rules of the game are always changing

· Banks give bad advice

· Buyers bail; get tired of waiting for an answer on their offer

· The short sale process can take what feels like forever, and sometimes it does- especially when someone else does them…

WHY DO WE DO THEM?

We started doing them when the market started to decline in 2007 and the “Mortgage Forgiveness Act” made it more feasible; not to mention people who we sold homes to started coming to us asking us to help them get out from under the home we’d help them purchase.

We saw THE need and we decided to meet IT.  Hopefully our market will recover in the somewhat near future and short sales will not be our market.  If we help people today in a market when there are so many people that need help;  we hope that they will refer their friends and family to us and we can truly become their preferred “Realtors for Life”.

What sets us apart???

• We are the “Goldilocks Team”! We are not too big and not too small and we didn’t just start doing short sales yesterday-unlike so many of the other realtors out there that claim to be the experts.
• We are a more of a boutique brokerage which takes a hands-on approach to customer service.
• Solo agents typically cannot handle negotiations themselves  and do a good job at a high volume; many outsource them to title companies or attorneys (which you usually have to pay for).
• Mega teams often times lose touch and do not have consistent communication directly with their clients.
• We intentionally have a hands-on approach to handling every single transaction internally. Our full time team negotiator and admin manager allow us to accomplish this!

We don’t give up!

• Persistence – we don’t take no for an answer from the banks. We continue to ask for help through the banks corporate systems until we get someone to help us. This is due in part to our Negotiators 21 yrs in banking industry- she knows their lingo and how to operate with them. She only works for OUR team and OUR clients!
• So many times throughout the process our clients give up and they feel defeated. We don’t give up at all on them and we exhaust all measures to fight for them (even when they’ve already given up).

We can relate to your pain…

• We’ve literally lost sleep when we have a house scheduled for trustee sale and continue to fight to get them postponed until the day of, we never give up!
• We have either empathy/sympathy for our client’s situation– everyone from our team has been touched by this market directly; either having to do a short sale themselves or for a close friend or family member.
• Therefore; we are never too busy to pick up the phone to update our clients on their files or just to listen to them vent. We understand! (Even if we’ve spoken with them several times already that day)

**Clients**

• Over 75% of our current transactions are referrals from past clients. We always follow up with customer surveys after the sale or purchase of their home because we are always trying to improve our service.
• We really do care about our clients and they will tell you the same!  I had one tell me the other day that we spoil them with our response time and there was no comparison with his last Realtor, that he fired.  Those kind of compliments keep us going strong.

Call us today @ 480-243-4242 to get your questions answered confidentially with compassion or click here to get started now.

Watch video so you can learn more about Dena and what she does to help our clients of the Integrity All Star Team.

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Do you want to avoid a stressful foreclosure and leave your home gracefully?

We help homeowners just like you and your friends who may be in a position where you think you owe more than your home is worth or you cannot afford to make your mortgage payments anymore or you just want to know what options are available to you.

There are many reasons homeowners choose to do a short sale:

1. They recognize that to get the help they need is completely overwhelming and disheartening. There is light at the end of the tunnel! We can help you navigate through the HUGE organizations such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo or Chase systems and get you results. Many times clients come to us after being denied a loan modification and super frustrated already by their processes.  We don’t give up on our clients and because of that we have a very high success rate!
2. A short sale will give the seller some control over the process and a potential seller incentive for moving expenses. YES, that is right I said “SELLER INCENTIVE”. Not all short sale situations result in giving the seller incentives for moving expenses, but in some cases a seller can get up to $5000 for moving expenses. How do you know if you qualify? Call us let us help you determine if there are any programs out there that will help you move into the next chapter of your life.
3. A short sale helps preserve a neighborhoods market values and reputation. 66% of all homes that sold in August were either short sales or bank owned homes. The national average home price of a short sale is $213,900, an REO is $184,300 and a damaged bank owned home is $113,900. Homes that are damaged are bringing down home values and making everyone’s property values suffer. What can you do about it? Maintain your home and call us to sell your home in a short sale before it is too late. It’s amazing how many people worry about impacting their neighbors when they decide to leave their home, which is totally normal.
4. They want to help preserve their credit so they can buy a home again someday soon. Did you know that based on today’s current FNMA lending guidelines that a person can apply for a new home loan 2 years after they had a short payoff through a short sale and people who had a foreclosure need to wait 7 years. Lending guidelines are always changing, but as of today a person can apply for a short sale 2 years after their short sale has been closed. ACTUALLY,did you know if you are current on your mortgage payments, FHA will give you a new loan NOW with no waiting at all? Contact us today and we can explain how that works.

Foreclosure can be extremely stressful – let us help you gain some control over your situation by helping you with a short sale, click here to apply online with NO COST to you to find out if we can help.

(Please click on photo above for a downloadable PDF of the article written by Mike Orr of the Cromford Report; bullet points listed below)

Last month; in Metro Phoenix’s Real Estate Market we saw the supply of REOs increased substantially, short sales were stable and normal listings declined in number:

• REO listings grew 11% from 5,087 to 5,626 (Greater Phoenix, all types)
• Short Sales / Pre-foreclosure listings grew 1% from 16183 to 16,347 (Greater Phoenix, all types)
• Normal listings fell 5% from 18,123 to 17,226 (Greater Phoenix, all types)

• Because sales pricing is higher than last year, we saw a more significant 8.6% jump in dollar volume which is good news for the optimists.
• It seems likely that almost anyone who wants a "starter home" in 2010 and could get approved for a home loan has already purchased one before the Tax Credit expired at the end of April.
• Overall we can say with confidence that the luxury market is now showing strong signs of improvement while the low end end of the market is weakening significantly. The weakness in lender-owned homes is particularly noticeable, with REO sales volume down 36% year on year. 
• These annual charts are very slow to react to changes but confirm the bottom of the market is now over a year behind us.  The most important measures of real home pricing – the average price, median price and average $ per sq. ft. of homes that actually sell have been moving in a general upward direction for Greater Phoenix since April/May 2009.
• New notices of trustee sale dropped another 8% from April, to the lowest monthly number (6,471) since July 2008. Trustee sales also dropped 8% to 4,090, the lowest total since November 2009. 
• Nevertheless market distress remains very high and will dominate the market for at least the next two years. Short sales are becoming more significant as each month goes by, while lender-owned properties become gradually less so.
• The market is still fragile and although it has stabilized over the last year, we must caution that in the last several days the Cromford Market Index has been falling fast due to weakening demand matched with a fairly strong and stable supply.
• The biggest question we have right now:  Are the changes we have seen in the last month merely due to the end of the tax credit or are the result of more significant changes in the demand for housing??

Stay tuned for next months update and we hope to be able to answer that question for you.  In the meantime; if you’d like to discuss your particular situation with one of our very talented and experienced Realtors, please call us at 480-243-4242.

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!

1. A highlight on the Chandler Market is that 46% of our active listings were Short Sales, which is a huge increase from same time last year.
2. Active price per sqft is highest for normal “equity” sales but the gap on closed sales between REO bank owned foreclosed homes and short sales is not nearly as great.  I believe due to a lot of sellers listing for too much and then accepting less at the closing table, partially due to appraisal issues and other competition.
3. We are still seeing record highs of distress, at 57.7% in Chandler, although it has come down about 5% since March which is a great sign for our area.
4. A lot less REO’s are active on the market since the banks are pushing sellers now to do Short Sales (in general but Lender specific still) rather than foreclosing at a Trustee sale and having to sell themselves which loses them an average of $38k per house.

If you are interested in a personal analysis of your situation, please contact us here or call 480-243-4242 for one of our Agents to answer your questions regarding homes for sale in your area.

You can also sign up free on our website for a Listingbook account which allows you to search live MLS data (updates every half hour) to research homes yourself for sale or that have sold in your area.  You just need to enter your name and email- it’s free and simple to use!

What does this mean to you if you live in Chandler?

• Of the homes currently active today:
• 47.2% are Short Sales &/or Pre-Foreclosures listed for sale at an average price of $102.12 per sqft
• 12.18% have already been Foreclosed and are “Lender Owned” (aka REO or Bank Owned) at an average price of $96.93 per sqft
• 40.62% are normal listings, new term “Equity” sales and are asking an average price of $147.75
• What actually sold last month (closed escrow) in Chandler:
• 28.76% were Short Sales that closed at an average price of $99.58 per sqft
• 37.17% were REO’s that closed at an average price of $96.93 per sqft
• 34.07% were Regular listings that closed at an average price per sqft of $122.91

Seems that if you are wondering where your next mortgage payment is coming from, you aren’t alone. 

Banks are finally beginning to see that they lose more money with a Foreclosure where they have to take over a property and remarket it to get it off their books.  It makes more sense for them to work with people in distress by approving their short sales! 

Many banks are trying to streamline their processes and that is why we are beginning to see more and more people opt for doing a Short Sale rather than stick their head in the sand and wait for the bank to come take back their asset (your home) in a Trustee Sale. 

Many sellers are starting to come back out on the market again; but most need to reduce their prices to actually get their homes sold ($147 vs $122 per sqft). We are also seeing many investors purchasing distressed properties and flipping them for an immediate return on their investments.

Homes that aren’t in distress are still high in demand because:

• The homes are typically better taken care of and aren’t “stripped” or trashed like so many of the pre/foreclosure homes are.
• The buyer can avoid those headaches that the various Banks and Lenders out there give when it comes to negotiating price.
• The buyer isn’t having to send in multiple offers and compete with others looking for a bargain.
• Many buyers run out of time and patience to wait on the banks with the lengthiness of their current processes.

Are you interested in seeing what this graph looks like in your area?  If so, click here to get started.  If you let us know, we’ll send one to you for your area (this report can also be done by Zip Code).  All of this data is provided by Mike Orr of the Cromford Report.

• Opening bid was 292k
• He won at 318k
• We sold and closed it 40 days later for 410k
• He netted over $65k after all fees and costs

Not bad,eh? 

Click the link below to watch the virtual tour of the actual sale itself to get a feel for how it works.

Maricopa County Trustee Sale

If you are interested in doing the same, click here to get started.

When we take out our buyers to look at both Short Sales and REO’s, we need to set our Buyers expectations between the two because there is a difference in how long they take to close escrow. 

• Short Sales do have a longer time frame involved due to negotiations than other homes on the market unless they’ve already been “pre-approved”; on average about 3 months but it does depend on who is handling the negotiations, who are the banks or lenders involved, and how many lien holders there are all impact the time frame. 
• Bank owned properties (REO’s) take usually less than 2 months start to finish just due to the fact that they already have determined and processed what they want for the home. 
• There are also a lot more “regular” or “equity” sales out there recently because the “flips” are now coming back due to FHA temporarily removing their 90 day seasoning rule.  It has made it more attractive for investors to purchase either bank owned homes or homes on the auction block, aka Trustee Sale Homes. Those also move faster than short sales.

We’ll be happy to further talk with someone interested in buying a home on more specifics because these are merely estimates; each home out there has it’s own story to tell.