Over and over we counsel agents against “gaming” the system to make extra money. In Houston, we are aware of a “Short Sale Specialist” that works both sides of the transaction to make more money. BEWARE!! As an agent you have a fiduciary responsibility to your homeowner/seller. DO NOT try to “flip” the property to [...]
Ocwen’s President Ronald Farris gets caught saying he WANTS to foreclose homes versus help the homeowner
May 19, 2010 By 3 Comments
This is a perfect example of how the mortgage servicers, like Ocwen, don’t really care about helping homeowners in regards to short sales. We take calls all day long in our office from homeowners and Realtors who are frustrated with the short sale process. HELLO!! It is easier for the bank to simply [...]
Should I try a short sale, file bankruptcy, or both?
May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
This is a common question posed to us. Can I do a short sale AND a bankruptcy. The answer is yes, BUT. Below is a short article by a Boston BK attorney who I think does a decent job of explaining both options. That said, I think that way too often homeowners jump right to the [...]
What is Equator? Shhh…Bank of America secrets below
April 13, 2010 By 4 Comments
For those who are about to launch a short sale BofA’s way please take note of their love for what used to be REOTrans and now is the new Equator system. We have been testing this with them for quite some time. In a nutshell they are pushing the work out to the loss mitigation [...]
WARNING: You may be sued by your seller!!!
April 12, 2010 By 2 Comments
This is not a joke. Realtors who think they are now “Short Sale Specialist” or “Loan Modification Specialist” are running a huge risk by trying to navigate in dangerous water and practicing in areas for which they lack training and more importantly don’t have a license. If you are taking short-sale listings, you’d better darn [...]
How do you get Obama’s $3,000 for a short sale?
April 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
So you need the $3,000 to either help you move out or maybe just put a little money in your pocket when exiting your home in a short sale. So many friendly Texas folks, while understanding yesterday’s post about the new short sale program understood there were some “gotchas”, but they still wanted to know [...]
Short Sale’s are gaining traction with Lenders
March 29, 2010 By 2 Comments
For homeowners the choice is VERY CLEAR; short sales do less damage to credit, allow the homeowner to satisfy a large portion of the debt and in many cases allow for the homeowner (who has fallen behind on payments) to live “rent free” while the sale is negotiated. The following article on CNNMoney highlights what [...]
What are the tax consequences of a foreclosure, short sale or loan modification?
March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Yesterday the IRS paid a visit to our office to verify some information. Everything was OK but it got me thinking. What does the IRS say about the tax consequences in real estate transactions in regards to distressed situations. This is a common question from clients. Let’s see what the IRS has to say: The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief [...]
HAMP update…we bring you HAFA
March 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
When are they going to roll out the HEMP program so we can relax while being put through the agony of re-faxing 90 pages of paperwork over and over and over. You asked for a new and improved HAMP and so now you get HAFA…say it with me now, HAFA, no, no, no, pronounced just like “half [...]
FHA loans are available to Short Sellers!
December 22, 2009 By 3 Comments
One of the fears that homeowner have is whether they will be able to secure a new loan to purchase a home in the future after short selling the current one. The answer is yes. In fact, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a letter to lenders regarding borrower eligibility for a [...]
