Hello everyone,
I know it's been some time since I've posted anything on the blog. There comes a time when you hit a limit on the amount of projects you can focus on and this is one of them. Intermountain Investments is alive and kicking. We are always on the lookout for new properties to negotiate and rehab or wholesale. If you have a Utah property that you need to sell right away, contact us. We'd love to put a deal together with you.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Bank sued for botching a loan modification process.
http://bit.ly/9uKDxM Chase Sued for allegedly botching a customer's attempts at securing a loan modification. Chase ended up foreclosing on the home. Get this - when the homeowner's contacted Chase to confirm this, they were told the house had not been foreclosed. Well, Chase was wrong; they had.
A must read.
A must read.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Homebuyers, get educated!
Having just watched a sale fail due to the buyer's inability to meet all the conditions of a loan, and watching another transaction drag out for an additional 3 weeks for similar reasons, it's become increasingly evident there is a lot of educating that we as agents can be doing with our clients.
Believe me I understand that it's nerve-wracking to have one's credit pulled and possibly find some surprises... To sit down with your lender and find out how much house you truly can afford. Yet, these are vital details that ultimately speed up the home shopping experience.
As with anything in life, the first step is to overcome your fear. Keeping in mind that, whatever the fear may be, what matters is you need to overcome it. And fear is overcome by gathering knowledge; not just information but knowledge. The difference being that you have some guidance to go along with the information you collect.
Ask questions! Compare the answers you get and then find a few more professionals and ask the questions again. It's not for no reason that the saying goes: 'Keep on asking, Keep on knocking.'
For those who are real estate professionals, it is our duty to emphasize to our buyers the importance of taking these steps. Show your clients how they will benefit from approaching their purchase in this way and you will experience greater satisfaction (and less last minute "glitches") knowing you have truly provided a valued service by guiding them around the pitfalls and traps of buying a home.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Good news for investors!
Spread the word! FHA announced that the 90-day restriction will be suspended for a year, beginning Feb. 1
Let's Be Honest!
Scanning through headlines the other day, I came across the following: "Underwater Mortgages Are The Main Cause Of Foreclosures."
After letting that thought sit for a couple of days, it dawned on me that really, how much you owe on your house shouldn't matter except when you want to sell it. Really the main cause of default was ARMs that reset, in some cases doubling the homeowner's monthly payment. Correct me if I'm wrong but most homeowner's want to stay in their home and would tolerate being underwater in their mortgage if they could afford their monthly payment.
After letting that thought sit for a couple of days, it dawned on me that really, how much you owe on your house shouldn't matter except when you want to sell it. Really the main cause of default was ARMs that reset, in some cases doubling the homeowner's monthly payment. Correct me if I'm wrong but most homeowner's want to stay in their home and would tolerate being underwater in their mortgage if they could afford their monthly payment.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Government Announces Short Sales Guidelines!
The U.S. Treasury Department announced new guidelines this week designed to make short sales go more smoothly.
Read all about it here: http://bit.ly/8FpZ8M
Read all about it here: http://bit.ly/8FpZ8M
Friday, November 13, 2009
Getting a Short Sale Processed
I began a short sale in late spring of 2009. Since then, we have received a total of 3 offers on the property. Two were flat out rejected.
Here is the story on that second offer... Buyers toured the property with their agent. Agent contacted me about making an offer. I told them that based on my conversations with the lender, an offer of $250K would work. I let the agent know it would be best to put in a full price offer, which the buyer's did.
After a couple weeks of waiting, I call the bank only to find out that the offer was rejected. They didn't even bother to counter!
In the meantime, the lender contacted my client, the seller, and offered a modification. Basically they would forgive the 5 payments that had not been made and lower the interest rate permanently. Now, that sounds like it could be a good deal but let me tell you why in this case it was not.
The home was worth $400K at the peak of it all... Now we were struggling to get an offer of $250K. The homeowner's property tax paperwork for 2009 shows the assessed value at $280K. The homeowner naturally made this known to the bank and suggested they lower the principal owed. No go said the bank.
"But wait a minute," said my seller, "You are willing to sell this in a short sale to someone else for less than what I owe. Why can you not sell it to me at that price?"
Naturally the answer is that banks don't want to encourage irresponsibility. They don't want clients thinking they can get away with buying a home for one price and then renegotiating later. Now, isn't that what's happening higher up the chain?? These lenders are asking the Treasury for a bailout, an "injection", an "infusion." Call it what you want, they certainly have no problem asking for a break. But damn their clients if they need a break.
In this time of unprecedented financial turmoil, why is it not possible to reset home values, reset existing mortgages and move forward? Why has it become necessary to displace so many families?
I am happy to hear any explanations as to why this kind of solution is not an option. I mean, the banks are now willing to become landlords for goodness sakes! That means hiring property management, repair expenses since these are no longer the homeowner's responsibility... How can they offer a lower monthly payment when becoming the landlord actually increases their expenses on the property????
Here is the story on that second offer... Buyers toured the property with their agent. Agent contacted me about making an offer. I told them that based on my conversations with the lender, an offer of $250K would work. I let the agent know it would be best to put in a full price offer, which the buyer's did.
After a couple weeks of waiting, I call the bank only to find out that the offer was rejected. They didn't even bother to counter!
In the meantime, the lender contacted my client, the seller, and offered a modification. Basically they would forgive the 5 payments that had not been made and lower the interest rate permanently. Now, that sounds like it could be a good deal but let me tell you why in this case it was not.
The home was worth $400K at the peak of it all... Now we were struggling to get an offer of $250K. The homeowner's property tax paperwork for 2009 shows the assessed value at $280K. The homeowner naturally made this known to the bank and suggested they lower the principal owed. No go said the bank.
"But wait a minute," said my seller, "You are willing to sell this in a short sale to someone else for less than what I owe. Why can you not sell it to me at that price?"
Naturally the answer is that banks don't want to encourage irresponsibility. They don't want clients thinking they can get away with buying a home for one price and then renegotiating later. Now, isn't that what's happening higher up the chain?? These lenders are asking the Treasury for a bailout, an "injection", an "infusion." Call it what you want, they certainly have no problem asking for a break. But damn their clients if they need a break.
In this time of unprecedented financial turmoil, why is it not possible to reset home values, reset existing mortgages and move forward? Why has it become necessary to displace so many families?
I am happy to hear any explanations as to why this kind of solution is not an option. I mean, the banks are now willing to become landlords for goodness sakes! That means hiring property management, repair expenses since these are no longer the homeowner's responsibility... How can they offer a lower monthly payment when becoming the landlord actually increases their expenses on the property????
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
