Your Friend In Real Estate

Managing REO - Making Foreclosed Property Profitable

2010-06-03T19:23:00.001-07:00

Editor's Note
June 2, 2010
The Potential Perils of Short Sale and Mortgage Fraud

By Jennifer Harmon

California Real Estate commissioner Jeff Davi issued a consumer alert warning consumers and real estate agents about the perils and potential pitfalls of short sales. The alert educates consumers and real estate agents to recognize the elements of a fraudulent or questionable deal.

The number of short sales is on the rise and many consumers do not understand the consequences of such a transaction, said Davi.

To put it simply, a short sale transaction involves the sale of a property wherein a seller receives an offer from a buyer that is less than the amount of the mortgage loan on the property.

In order to complete the sale, the seller requests the lender to accept less than what is owed in order to allow the transaction to close. While short sales are a popular alternative to foreclosure, like all real estate transactions, they are complicated and sellers need to look out for the pitfalls.
For example, the DRE warns in some instances a seller may be required to pay taxes on the forgiven debt. In addition, a seller may be an unwitting participant in a fraudulent transaction wherein an unscrupulous agent or a short sale negotiator working with a straw buyer will make a lowball offer to the seller and in turn misrepresent the true market value of the property to the lender.
If the lender accepts the offer, the straw buyer immediately resells it at the true market value, with the profits split among the conspirators. Had the property been sold for the most amount of money that the market will bear, the potential tax consequence to the seller is diminished and the lender would have received fair market value.

Its important to remember that short sale negotiators must be licensed real estate brokers (or a licensed real estate salesperson where that person is working under the supervision of his or her broker.

Any and all payments must be fully disclosed and made part of the escrow documents. If there are any fees to be paid outside of escrow, this may be the red flag that the payment is illegal.

If an agent explains that the buyer is a fictitious person or entity, or your buyer is purchasing the property under a power of attorney or is a limited liability company, this may be a red flag that fraud is involved in your transaction.

If the potential buyer is told that an unlicensed processor, negotiator or facilitator is handling the short sale, this is a red flag that unlicensed activity is taking place. Only real estate licensees, California lawyers acting as lawyers and investors acting on their own behalf can engage in short sale negotiations.

With foreclosures, housing vacancies and mortgage fraud at all-time highs, the Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs released a new report outlining strategies for government and law enforcement officials in responding to these challenges.

The report provides an overview of law enforcement and government responses to mortgage fraud, foreclosure and abandoned property, drawing on focus groups which included representatives from Indio, Calif., Dallas, Indianapolis, Baltimore and Miami, as well as researchers, policymakers and advocates from financial, housing and law enforcement organizations.

The report is a detailed snapshot of mortgage fraud and foreclosures, their causes, their impacts on neighborhood safety and jurisdictions' responses.

According to the report, in many jurisdictions, the number and location of foreclosed and vacant properties is changing so rapidly that officials have trouble counting them, let alone formulating a meaningful response. The city of Cleveland, for example, estimated in early 2009 that at least 10,000 (or one in 13) of its houses were vacant while the county treasurer estimated that the number was 15,000.

In addition, it says the complexity of mortgage transactions makes it easier to mask fraud. Even when an instance of mortgage fraud involves the loss of $1 million or more, the crime can be hard to detect. This is at least partly because mortgage fraud usually involves industry insiders who know how to structure the deal to avoid discovery. Fraud is like a cancer because it is always spreading, and its always mutating, said Ann Fulmer, vice president of industry relations for Interthinx.

The bottom line is that mortgage fraud correlates directly with foreclosure. If a loan is originated fraudulently, it is eight times more likely to defaultand its 20 times more likely to go into the foreclosure process within the first year after origination, Fulmer said.

Often when one house on a block becomes vacant, others follow. Or as Brad Ramos, chief of the Indio Police Department, said, As one home goes, so goes the neighborhood.

The reports authors say empty housesoften overgrown and boardedare unsightly; worse, they attract crime. This not only makes neighborhoods more dangerous but lowers property values, giving the remaining homeowners multiple reasons to flee.

Under normal circumstances, it can take 15-plus years for a neighborhood to transformeither from a stable one into an undesirable one, or vice versa, said Ron Wilson, an analyst with the National Institute of Justice.

But concentrated foreclosures can accelerate that process and lead to the creation of bad neighborhoods more quickly, Wilson explained.

Once a neighborhood reaches a tipping point, its difficult to reverse. Businesses close or leave, and new people moving in dont necessarily want to live there, but thats all they can afford, he said.

A bad neighborhoodis next-to-near impossible to try to undo. So, its ever more important to try to make sure that these properties dont slide into blighted properties, rundown properties and become bad neighborhoods.
Other Editor's Note items.

via managingreo.com

In Colorado, short sale negotiations on behalf of a homeowner can only be conducted by a licensed real estate broker. Norberto is a licensed broker and certified Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource. He can be reached at 877-566-5808.

Posted via web from Norberto's posterous

Borrowers must prove income before entering trial mods - May. 28, 2010

2010-06-03T08:26:00.001-07:00

Want a loan modification? Get your paperwork ready.
By Tami Luhby, senior writerMay 28, 2010: 4:40 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Attention delinquent borrowers: If you want to get into the Obama administration's mortgage modification program, you'd better have your paperwork ready.
New Treasury Department guidelines go into effect on June 1 that will require loan servicers to verify applicants' income and financial hardship before placing them into trial modifications.
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This will make it much tougher to get temporary relief from unaffordable mortgage payments. But if you make it into a trial modification, you're more likely to get long-term assistance, providing you send in your check on time.
"This will allow people to have more certainty that the modification they want will materialize," said Suzanne Boas, president of CredAbility, formerly the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta.
Of the 1.2 million people who've started trial modifications, fewer than 300,000 have received permanent assistance. Another 278,000 have washed out of the program either because they didn't send in timely payments, hand in the required documents or meet the eligibility criteria.
Paperwork has caused all sorts of problems for the president's signature foreclosure rescue program. In order to get the effort off the ground quickly, administration officials allowed servicers to place people in trial modifications before verifying that they were indeed eligible for the program.
Originally intended to last three months, the trial period was meant to give troubled borrowers a chance to prove they could make the modified payments and qualify for a so-called permanent modification, which lasts five years.
Instead, many homeowners have been stuck in trial modifications for months and months while they wrestle with servicers over the documentation requirements. The financial institutions say that borrowers aren't sending in the needed forms; homeowners contend the servicers are losing them.
At Saxon Mortgage Services and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), for instance, about three of four borrowers in the trial phase have lingered there for at least six months.
A few servicers, however, have been requiring documentation up front all along. And the impact of this practice is evident in the government's monthly modification report. Firms such as Ocwen Financial (OCN) and HomeEq Servicing have converted 83% of eligible borrowers to permanent modifications. Others that rely on stated income to place people in trials have yet to shift half their participants to long-term adjustments.
Many loans didn't require much documentation when they were originated, which makes gathering the paperwork during the modification process that much more difficult, said Paul Koches, executive vice president at Ocwen. But doing so helps servicers craft sustainable payment plans.
"It puts us in a better position to determine the specific terms and conditions of the modified loans that will make it more likely that they will stick," he said.
The pace of people entering trial modifications has already slowed as servicers have started requiring the paperwork in advance. Only 47,160 trials were started in April, down from more than 72,000 in February.
"You have pinging back and forth between borrowers and servicers," said David Sisko, who heads Deloitte & Touche's default management practice. "Requiring upfront documentation to really start the clock is a good thing."
Though the application process takes longer, borrowers understand that they will now have a better ideas of whether they'll get long-term assistance, said a Chase spokesperson.
Among the documents Chase and other servicers require are hardship affidavits, two recent pay stubs, a bank statement, a tax return, proof of occupancy and a 4506T-EZ form.
"If they make the trial payments, it's almost certain they'll get a permanent modification because all the paperwork has been done upfront," she said.

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Think housing is recovering? Think again.
Mortgage delinquencies hit 10%
Borrowers flunking out of trial mortgage modifications

via money.cnn.com

Loan modifications may become more difficult to accomplish.

Posted via web from Norberto's posterous

Top 10 Myths About Buying a Foreclosure

2010-06-03T07:56:00.001-07:00

Top 10 Myths About Buying a Foreclosure

Trulia.com and RealtyTrac recently surveyed US adults to get some insight into what people *think* is involved with buying a foreclosure. Here are the Top 10 Myths that came up, and the facts to set the record straight:

1.       Foreclosures need a huge amount of work. 92 percent of consumers expressed that if they bought a foreclosure, they would be willing to make home improvements after they closed the deal, with 65 percent being willing to invest 20 percent or less of the purchase price. Although stories of foreclosures missing plumbing and every electrical fixture are very memorable, many foreclosed homes need only the (relatively inexpensive) cosmetics that many new homeowners want to customize no matter what kind of home they’re buying: paint, carpet, etc.

2.       Foreclosures sell at massive discounts, compared to other homes. Almost every member – 95 percent – of the surveyed group expected to pay less for a foreclosed home than for a similar, non-foreclosed home; 18 percent had realistic expectations of less than a 25 percent discount. However, 36 percent expected to receive a bargain basement discount of 50 percent or more off the value of a similar non-foreclosure. Reality check: while foreclosures might be discounted massively from what the former owner paid or owed, their discounts are much more modest when compared to their value on today’s market and the prices of similar homes.

3.       Buying a foreclosure is risky. 49% of respondents said they perceived buying a foreclosure as risky. And yes - buying a foreclosure at the auction on the county courthouse steps can have risks, including the risk the new owner will take on the former’s owner’s liens and other loans. But most buyers looking for foreclosures are looking at bank-owned properties, which are listed on the open market with other, ‘regular’ homes. Buying these homes is really no more risky than buying a non-foreclosed home.

4.       You can’t get inspections on the property when you buy a foreclosed home. County auction foreclosures don’t often offer the ability for buyers to have the homes inspected. But virtually all bank-owned properties for sale on the open market not only allow, but encourage buyers to obtain every inspection they deem necessary. This is because almost every bank sells their foreclosed homes as-is, and they want to avoid later liability. It’s in everyone’s best interests to make sure that the buyer has full information about the property’s condition before they close the deal.

5.       There are hidden costs to watch out for when buying a foreclosed home. Sixty-eight percent of survey respondents who felt there is a negative stigma to buying a foreclosure expressed the concern that buying a foreclosure poses the danger of hidden costs. At some foreclosure auctions, there are buyer’s premiums and other hefty fees that can really add up and take a chunk out of the effective savings the buyer stood to realize. However, when you buy a bank-owned property that is listed for sale with a real estate agent, the closing costs are the same as they would be if you bought a non-foreclosed home. Overdue property taxes, HOA dues and other bills left behind by the defaulting homeowner are cleared by the bank that owns a foreclosed home before it is sold on the market, though these items should be watched out for if you buy a home at the county foreclosure auction.

6.       Foreclosures are more likely to lose their value than “regular” homes. Thirty-five percent of U.S. adults who believed there are downsides to buying foreclosed properties believed this myth. In fact, because foreclosures often offer a discount from the home’s current market value, they may offer some degree of insulation from further depreciation. Whether a home loses its value or not has to do with the dynamics of the local market, including the area’s supply of homes, demand for homes, interest rates and the health of the employment market – not with whether the home was or was not a foreclosure at the time it was purchased.

7.       Most foreclosures happen when homeowners just walk away. Out of homeowners with a mortgage, only 1 percent said walking away from their home would be their first choice if they were unable to pay their mortgage. And a whopping 59 percent of mortgage-holders said they wouldn’t walk away from their home – no matter how upside down they were on their mortgage. Most foreclosures happen when the owners lose their jobs or their mortgage adjusts to the point where they absolutely cannot pay the mortgage, no matter how hard they try. Voluntary ‘walk-away’s are simply not as popular as many people think.

8.       When you buy a foreclosure, you should lowball the bank – they are desperate to get these homes off their books. Stories about in the press abound about the large numbers of foreclosed homes the banks have on their books. We’ve all heard the adage that banks have no interest in owning these properties. But the real deal is that they’re simply not desperate enough to give these places away. Also, the banks mostly service the defaulted loans – they don’t own them. Various groups of investors do, and they hold the banks accountable to selling the bank-owned property at as high a price as possible, helping them cut their losses. Many banks won’t even consider lowball offers, and many bank-owned properties actually sell for above the asking price. Before a bank will take a lowball offer, they will almost always reduce the list price first, and see if that attracts a higher offer than the lowball one they have in hand.

9.       You need to be able to pay in cash in order to buy a foreclosure. Again, if you buy a foreclosed home on the county courthouse steps, you might need to bring a cashier’s check and be ready to pay for the place on the spot. By contrast, bank-owned homes are bought through a more normal real estate transaction, which means buyers can obtain a mortgage to finance the home just like they would if the home weren’t a foreclosure. It is true, though, that in some markets, banks prefer offers from cash buyers, but this tends to be in situations where the property’s condition is pretty dire, and the bank knows this may make it hard for a buyer to obtain financing.

10.   It’s easier to buy a foreclosure with bad credit if you get a mortgage with the same bank that owns the property. Think about it: why would the bank want to end up with the same property as a foreclosure, again? Well, that’s what would happen if they allowed buyers with low credit scores to buy their foreclosures just to earn the interest on the mortgage. In reality, many banks do offer incentives like lower fees or closing cost credits for buyers who use their bank for their mortgage. But the buyers must meet the same credit, income and other qualification standards as anyone else would to seal the deal.

via trulia.com

Great article on buying foreclosures.

Posted via web from Norberto's posterous

NY Short Buzz

2010-06-03T07:41:00.001-07:00

Press Contact: Adel L. Morales FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Hollyhoodprod@optonline.net

HOLLYHOOD PRODUCTIONS, INC. AND "THE POINT" ANNOUNCE THEIR FIRST CELEBRATION OF NEW YORK-THEMED SHORT FILMS

HollyHood Productions will host a screening of award-winning short films on Friday, July 9, 2010, 7:00pm - 9:00pm, at THE POINT, one of New York City's most renowned community development corporations.

Bronx, New York, May 6, 2010 - HollyHood Productions' N.Y. Short Buzz is a screening series of the hottest New York-themed short films in the country. We hope to engage and inspire diverse communities in the Big Apple by showing short films in parks, community youth centers, and college campuses. By bringing the short films of established and emerging artists to areas of the city that aren't normally exposed to them, we aspire to galvanize our audiences into telling and sharing their own personal and gripping stories. Another of our goals is to nurture a vivacious New York independent filmmaking community not only by exhibiting the work of these filmmakers, but also by providing opportunities for filmmakers to meet and connect with their audience. HollyHood Productions N.Y. Short Buzz is helping to keep this essential genre of filmmaking alive and flourishing in New York City.

These film screenings are made possible by support from THE POINT, located at 940 Garrison Avenue, Bronx, NY 10474. THE POINT is a Community Development Corporation, a non-profit 501 (c) (3), dedicated to youth development and the cultural and economic revitalization of the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx. It works with its neighbors to celebrate the life and art of their community, an area traditionally defined solely in terms of its poverty, crime rate, poor schools and substandard housing. It believes the area's residents, their talents and aspirations, are THE POINT's greatest assets. THE POINT offers a multi-faceted approach to asset-based community development. Its' programming falls within three main headings - Youth Development, Arts and Culture and Community Development - all aimed at investing in the comprehensive revitalization of Hunts Point.

via hollyhoodproductions.com

Shout out to my brothers making moves in the Boogie.

Posted via web from brokernv's posterous

UPS Franchise Store - Business Opportunity for sale - $115,000

2010-06-02T07:06:00.001-07:00

via globalbroker.com

Take a look at this UPS Franchise Store for sale. Walkscore.com says its very walkable! This means lots of people walk by it. Means lots of business.

Posted via web from brokernv's posterous

Get Paid To Get A Mortgage!

2010-05-20T10:36:00.001-07:00

Check out this website I found at mortgages.estatemedic.com

Try a new way to get a home loan. How about you get paid to get a home loan? Then, refer others and get paid again!

Posted via web from brokernv's posterous

Foreclosure Process in Colorado

2010-05-19T13:17:00.001-07:00

First, the lender submits a Notice of Election and Demand (NED) along with other required documentation to the Public Trustee who must record it within ten business days.

A Combined Notice of Sale and Right to Cure and redeem is sent to an “Initial Mailing List”. The Combined Notice is sent again to all parties on a supplemental mailing list 45 – 60 calendar days prior to the first scheduled sale date. This notice must be published for five consecutive weekly publications unless a longer period has been defined in the lien being foreclosed.

For residential properties, the sale date is set to be no less than 110 calendar days and no more than 125 calendar days from NED’s recording; no less than 215 calendar days and no more than 230 calendar days for agricultural properties.

Read more at: http://budurl.com/a3e3. Thanks for reading!

A licensed real estate professional since 1997, Norberto Villanueva, Jr. is a licensed Realtor© and certified Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource (SFR). Contact Norberto for a FREE professional consultation at 877-566-5808. Or go to www.pikespeak-properties.com and register for a personalized home search or a market analysis of your home.

Posted via email from brokernv's posterous

Home Buyer Tax Credit Takes its Toll - CNBC

2010-05-14T08:27:00.001-07:00

US News
Page 1 of 3 | Next Page
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Home Buyer Tax Credit Takes its Toll
cnbc.com | May 12, 2010 | 11:11 AM EDT

As the end of the home buyer tax credit neared last month, we all argued whether or not the increase in sales and the relative price stabilization could survive on their own.
The first clues indicate the answer is: No.
One full week after the tax credit's expiration, mortgage applications fell 9.5 percent; this as mortgage interest rates dropped below 5 percent.
Sure, refis jumped, but that doesn't help us much with the currently bloated inventory of homes on the market.
Another report today from Trulia.com showed home sellers losing that little bit of ground they had recently gained in pricing. The number of properties on the market as of May 1st that saw at least one price cut rose 10 percent. (See Trulia's chart below.)
“With more than a year of the federal government’s involvement, we are now re-entering the free market system.
As we read just to the free market, we expect to hit turbulence in some markets,” says Pete Flint, Trulia co-founder and CEO. “We won’t know the true severity of the tax credit expiration until the conclusion of the peak home buying season in the summer months. Only then will we have a better sense if the U.S. housing market can stand on its own two feet.”
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via cnbc.com

Sellers take note...the raging buyer's market continues.

Posted via web from brokernv's posterous

Pikes Peak Real Estate and Agents Toolbar Download

2010-05-08T12:02:00.001-07:00

Check out this website I found at pikespeakrealestateandagents.ourtoolbar.com

Download my FREE toolbar and track your local weather, listen to music, access your email, find Wi-Fi locations, track eBay auctions and more!

Posted via web from brokernv's posterous

Interesting Take On Strategic Defaults

2010-05-04T13:48:00.001-07:00

Check out this website I found at patrick.net

This is an interesting take on the growing trend of strategic defaults. Enjoy!

Posted via web from brokernv's posterous

House for Sale? 4 Ways to Sell Your Home Faster - CBS MoneyWatch.com#comments

2010-04-30T08:37:00.001-07:00

moneywatch.com / Cash Flow

4 Ways to Sell Your House Faster

by Joanne Cleaver | Apr 19, 2010 | Comments

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Home sellers, buckle up: Spring selling season is here, and it's going to be a bumpy ride.

For now, the April 30 deadline for closing on a house to claim the home buyer tax credit is boosting sales. But with mortgage rates edging up, deals are fragile and lenders are on edge. “Last-minute glitches are holding up things far longer than we have ever seen before,” says Michael Onorato, president of the Illinois Association of Realtors.

Just because you have a real estate agent, that doesn’t mean you can sit back and let the pro sell your house. To get top dollar, you’ll need to take control of the relationship and micro-manage like nobody’s business. Follow these four steps to sell your house fast.

1. Keep Your Agent on a Tight Leash

Make sure your agent pre-qualifies potential buyers before wasting your time with pointless house showings, says Jack LeRose, president of Southeast Wisconsin Mortgage Corp. “Make your agent find out what the buyers will list their own house for,” he says.

Insist your agent confirm that the buyer’s loan prequalification is from a real, live, bricks-and-mortar lender. Quick preapprovals from online lenders typically are based only on the buyer’s credit score and may not stick, says LeRose.

2. Prove Your Home’s Value

To help your pro convince would-be buyers that your asking price is fair, arm your agent with documentation of anything and everything supporting it: receipts for home improvements, new appliances and maintenance, as well as low crime statistics for your neighborhood and top rankings for area schools. (Your mayor’s office, Chamber of Commerce or real estate agent’s firm may offer that data for free. If not, neighborhoodscout.com offers crime and school data for $29 with a one-month subscription.)

Ask your agent to show you three recent sales prices of comparable homes to yours, too.

3. Get a Fair Appraisal

Ridiculously low faulty appraisals are poisoning countless deals these days. You and your agent should do what you can to ensure that the appraisal from the buyer’s lender is reasonable.

The less an appraiser knows about your neighborhood, the shakier the analysis and the greater the chance the appraiser will undervalue your house. Then, if the appraisal doesn’t square with the buyer’s offer, the lender won’t provide the mortgage. Result? No sale.

Some lenders and agents hide behind the 2009 Home Valuation Code of Conduct (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rules regulating appraisers) to avoid the extra work of dealing directly with appraisers. Don’t let them, says Leslie Sellers, president of the Appraisal Institute and a Knoxville, Tenn., appraiser. “You can’t specify a particular person, but you can specify competency,” says Sellers. “And put it in writing.”

You need Javascript enabled to view the video player.

Ask the buyer’s lender for a “senior residential appraiser” who can provide proof that he is competent to evaluate sales locally. Otherwise, the lender will be free to hire the cheapest appraiser it can find, even if the appraiser wouldn’t know your neighborhood from one 50 miles away.

Have your agent meet the appraiser at your house armed with evidence supporting the sale price. And watch out: Appraisers sometimes wind up low-balling their estimates because they include foreclosures in their mix of comparable sales. The best way to avoid this is with a pre-emptive strike: Ask your agent to give the appraiser a list of recent local foreclosures and distress sales to be sure they’re not included in the comparables. (That said, if distressed properties make up a significant share of the sales in your neighborhood, they may have to be factored into the comps.)

And finally, ask the lender to send you the appraisal, so you can review it for accuracy.

4. Get Your Home Staged

Staging — making your house more appealing by removing knick-knacks and moving furniture around — can help you sell your home. Just keep in mind that in today’s sluggish housing market, you may end up living in your staged house for months. So you could find yourself wondering when the Pottery Barn poltergeist took possession as you furiously hunt for your toaster.

Some agents include staging in the cost of marketing. If yours doesn’t, you may want to hire a professional stager and work with your agent as a three-person team. (See if your agent will provide a rebate on the staging fee at the closing, especially if the agent recommended hiring the stager.)

Expect to pay $200 to $350 for a consultation with a stager, diagnosing the problems and recommending solutions. You and your agent could take it from there. Or, you might want to hire the stager to do the actual work, for another $500 to $1,200, says Barb Schwarz, founder and president of the International Association of Home Staging Professionals.

If you’re a ruthless declutterer, you could try to stage your house on your own by following these tips:

Look at before-and-after photos on stagers’ Web sites. See how the stagers arrange furniture to draw the eye to a room’s focal points and then do the same in your house.

Move accent lamps away from bedside tables and desks. Instead, put them where they brighten shadowy corners and draw attention to special features.

Position something intriguing to entice buyers into each room. It might be something like a mirror or a drawn-back curtain that frames a pretty view.

More on MoneyWatch:

9 Big Real Estate Mistakes You’re Making Now

Biggest Lies in Real Estate

Photo Tricks to Sell Your Home

The Housing Market’s New Rules

Housing Forecast: See Prices Near You

MoneyWatch TalkbackShare your ideas and expertise on this topic

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

1

ssmarvel2

04/20/10 | Report as spam

RE: 4 Ways to Sell Your House Faster

As a professional home stager, I would like to point out that, although we do move furniture around and remove a lot of knick knacks, the placement of every item is carefully thought out to create the greatest impact with the buyers. We don't just move them randomly. We'll show you where we put the toaster before we leave. And if the Pottery Barn look sells the house, then you'll thank the Poltergeist, won't you? I'm not sure where you got the tip about removing lamps from night tables and desks. I'll rent you some extras for the dark corners. Unsufficient nice lamps are the most often missed accessory in even the nicest homes.
But thanks for mentioning staging. It does work.

2

tdhawkins

04/21/10 | Report as spam

RE: 4 Ways to Sell Your House Faster

This post could be reduced to THE ONE and ONLY Way to Sell Your
House Faster, and it works in any market regardless of property
condition or market climate. First, all real estate is local so it doesn't
matter what's happening nationally or even regionally.

The "secret"? Price correctly, period, either AT current market value or
1 percent below. The house will sell. The caveat is you need to price
"ahead of the market" so, if the market is falling, try to figure out how
fast it's falling (by dollars or percents) and start there. In other words,
you cannot be in the middle of the pack in a falling market, you're
getting left behind by the day.

As for staging? I'll allow that it can help a little but is otherwise fluff.
Price can overcome any defect. For example, take a run down shack,
priced correctly it's a diamond to someone (maybe a builder who sees
potential). Point is price can cure any problem.

3

reluctantbear

04/29/10 | Report as spam

RE: 4 Ways to Sell Your House Faster

re hawkins point--
sure, lowering price below market will lead to quicker sale, but if carrying cost is low, seller is just "giving away money". patience is key to real estate investing. If buyer needs to sell, then high transaction costs make real estate very poor investment. agents emphasize price because their commission changes little with a price reduction--seller takes the hit. Seller can't rely on agent for conflict free advice on price. And in rapidly changing market, "comps" hard to assess. Wish it were all easier.

4

brokernv

04/30/10 | Report as spam

RE: 4 Ways to Sell Your House Faster

No offense, but it's OK Bear because you are what we call an unmotivated seller. Motivated sellers don't have time to wait out the market. They worship the time value of money more than they do the sales price or the commission. They NEED fast. And not only is pricing the property 1% below market value not about fast, it's far from being about increased commissions. After all, a 1% reduction paying 3% on a $200,000 single side transaction amounts to $60 less! Besides, a property priced there won't sell fast anyway, unless it is the best house on the block and it's lucky...there are too many short sales and foreclosures on the market. In fact, depending on that market a motivated seller with little to no offers 30 days down the road needs to be considering a 10% reduction just to attract a different pool of buyers, if they want fast.

via moneywatch.bnet.com

My two sense (sic)...

Posted via web from brokernv's posterous

Short Sale and Deed-In_Lieu Borrowers Wait Less For Fannie Mae Loans

2010-04-20T15:04:00.001-07:00

A borrower that previously completed a deed-in-lieu transaction can get a new Fannie Mane mortgage in two years with a 20% down payment, still four years with only 10% down.

Norberto Villanueva, Jr., ePro, SFR

Broker

The Axiom Realty Team

3355 N. Academy Blvd #279

Colorado Springs, CO 80917

Sales: 877.566.5808

Cell: 719.304.9363

Fax: 719.459.3157

Internet: Pikes Peak Real Estate and Agents

Skype: Brokernv

Posted via email from brokernv's posterous

Reaction To Forbes Ranking Of Denver Housing Market

2010-04-20T14:55:00.001-07:00

An April 5 article that ranked the Denver metro area's real estate market as the nation's second worst-selling elicited objection from the city's real estate community. Some Realtors and real estate bloggers disagreed with the housing inventory numbers, provided by Zillow.com, that contributed to the rankings.

Many felt that Zillow's numbers, which showed a 27% year-over-year increase in homes for sale on the site and an inventory of over 42,000 unsold properties, were inflated, because the site hosts multiple same-property listings, and transactions may not be recorded as quickly as they occur. This means properties could be on Zillow, but no longer on the market.

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Zillow's metric measured inventory from January 2009 to January 2010, the latest available when the article ran. Metrolist, a firm that collects and analyzes Colorado real estate data, shows a March 2010 inventory of 20,073.

Zillow.com confirmed that double counting was possible. Zillow spokeswoman Katie Curnutte says that Zillow's numbers represent the homes for sale on the site, and that data from January will differ from any count that's more current. She added that the company regularly takes on new partners who provide the site with listings, skewing year-over-year comparisons.

"It can be difficult to derive any assumptions about market conditions from the year-over-year numbers," she says.

Zillow provided Forbes.com with year-over-year homes-for-sale numbers for each of the metropolitan statistical areas examined; each metro was scored by the same measures. Since Zillow has acknowledged that these numbers may have been artificially increased, Forbes.com has decided to limit the use of year-over-year homes-for-sale statistics from the data provider.

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"Though Zillow's numbers allowed us to compare the number of homes for sale across the country's metros," says Lucy Maher, executive editor, Forbes, "we recognize that these numbers may not have given us an accurate look at local inventories."

In addition to the number of homes for sale on Zillow.com, used to measure inventory, the story looked at home price data from the National Association of Realtors; and sales rates from Moody's Economy.com. The article looked at each of the country's Metropolitan Statistical Areas with a population of more than one million.

Metrolist's data looked at the housing market two months later. What's more, it may not account for all foreclosures and new home sales. Still, Metrolist spokeswoman Melissa Olson says that those differences alone can't explain why Zillow reported over twice as many homes for sale than Metrolist.

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Forbes Luxury Housing Index

U.S. Bonds Rise

Spring Housing Special Report

Skateboarder's Millions

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Convenience is a nice to have but there is no substitute for the advise of a licensed professional in real estate.

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#12 Colorado Springs CO

2010-04-20T13:44:00.001-07:00

Check out this website I found at forbes.com

12 out of 19,354? Not bad at all.

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My view | Small firms need a healthcare checkup as laws evolve - Business Monday

2010-04-20T13:15:00.001-07:00

Join the discussion
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Great article on how small business is or is not affected by healthcare reform.

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The Axiom Realty Team - Google Maps

2010-04-02T08:08:00.001-07:00

via maps.google.com

The Axiom Realty Team is a full service real estate brokerage specializing in short sales and foreclosures. Check us out on Google Maps!

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Colorado Springs Colorado Realtors, real estate agents

2010-03-29T12:02:00.001-07:00

via agent-quest.com

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AddThis Social Bookmarking Sharing Button Widget

2010-03-20T10:35:00.001-07:00

Check out this website I found at addthis.com

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2010-03-19T16:34:00.001-07:00

Test

Norberto Villanueva, Jr., ePro, SFR

Broker

The Axiom Realty Team

3355 N. Academy Blvd #279

Colorado Springs, CO 80917

Sales: 877.566.5808

Cell: 719.304.9363

Fax: 719.459.3157

Internet: Pikes Peak Real Estate and Agents

Skype: Brokernv

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Norberto Villanueva, Jr. Earns NAR Short Sales and Foreclosure (SFR) Certification - Free-Press

2010-03-10T07:15:00.001-08:00

You are here: Home Blogging & Social Media Blog Norberto Villanueva, Jr. Earns NAR Short Sales and Foreclosure (SFR)...

Norberto Villanueva, Jr. Earns NAR Short Sales and Foreclosure (SFR) Certification
By brokernv on March 9, 2010 United States of America

25

SFR certified REALTORS® help both buyers and sellers navigate complicated short sale and foreclosure transactions as demand for professional expertise with distressed sales grows.

1 2
Norberto Villanueva, Jr. Earns NAR Short Sales and Foreclosure (SFR) Certification

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) March 9, 2010 -- Colorado Springs, CO, 03/09/2010 — Norberto Villanueva, Jr. with The Axiom Realty Team has earned the nationally recognized Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource certification. The National Association of REALTORS® offers the SFR certification to REALTORS® who want to help both buyers and sellers navigate these complicated transactions, as demand for professional expertise with distressed sales grows.
According to a recent NAR survey, nearly one-third of all existing homes sold recently were either short sales or foreclosures. For many real estate professionals, short sales and foreclosures are the new “traditional” transaction. REALTORS® who have earned the SFR certification know how to help sellers maneuver the complexities of short sales as well as help buyers pursue short sale and foreclosure opportunities.
“As leading advocates for homeownership, REALTORS® believe that any family that loses its home to foreclosure is one family too many, but unfortunately, there are situations in which people just cannot afford to keep their homes, and a foreclosure or a short sale results,” said 2009 NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth. “Foreclosures and short sales can offer opportunities for home buyers and benefit the larger community, as well, but it’s extremely important to have the help of a real estate professional like a REALTOR® who has earned the SFR certification for these kinds of purchases.”
The certification program includes training on how to qualify sellers for short sales, negotiate with lenders, protect buyers, and limit risk, and provides resources to help REALTORS® stay current on national and state-specific information as the market for these distressed properties evolves.
Contact Norberto Villanueva, Jr. at 719-304-9363 or visit http://www.pikespeak-properties.com for all your real estate needs.

Respect the copyrights of the authors by republishing the entire press release as it is with no changes.

About the author

Name: Norberto Villanueva, Jr.

Company: The Axiom Realty Team
Telphone: 719-304-9363
Email: ***@pikespeak-properties.com
Website: http://www.pikespeak-properties.com

About the author:
Bilingual real estate professional offering quality services and specializing in pre-foreclosures, short sales, and REO representation.

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Norberto Villanueva, Jr. Earns NAR Short Sales and Foreclosure Certification

2010-03-09T16:00:00.001-08:00

The National Association of REALTORS® offers the SFR certification to REALTORS® who want to help both buyers and sellers navigate these complicated transactions, as demand for professional expertise with distressed sales grows.

Posted via web from brokernv's posterous

Test 100309

2010-03-09T06:26:00.001-08:00

Norberto Villanueva, Jr.

Broker

The Axiom Realty Team

3355 N. Academy Blvd #279

Colorado Springs, CO 80917

Sales: 877.566.5808

Cell: 719.304.9363

Fax: 719.459.3157

Internet: Pikes Peak Real Estate and Agents

Posted via email from brokernv's posterous

Test

2010-03-08T17:42:00.001-08:00

Norberto Villanueva, Jr.

Broker

The Axiom Realty Team

3355 N. Academy Blvd #279

Colorado Springs, CO 80917

Sales: 877.566.5808

Cell: 719.304.9363

Fax: 719.459.3157

Internet: Pikes Peak Real Estate and Agents

Posted via email from brokernv's posterous

Test

2010-03-08T16:51:00.001-08:00

Norberto Villanueva, Jr.

Broker

The Axiom Realty Team

3355 N. Academy Blvd #279

Colorado Springs, CO 80917

Sales: 877.566.5808

Cell: 719.304.9363

Fax: 719.459.3157

Internet: Pikes Peak Real Estate and Agents

Posted via email from brokernv's posterous

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2010-02-13T07:28:00.001-08:00

Check out this website I found at dmachoice.org

Tired of that boatload of junk mail? How long does it take you to open, discard, then shred the personal information? Or do you just throw it away, unopened in the trash, making yourself a candidate for identity theft? Say, "no mas" to the madness. Spend a few minutes on this site and stop the junk mail before it starts!

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User Profile

2010-01-30T15:34:00.001-08:00

Ranked 373rd , 10 points

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Completed Profile10points

via iremfirst.org

Enjoying my journey of personal and professional development.

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Have Housing Prices Hit Bottom?

2010-01-23T08:48:00.001-08:00

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/video/default-ap.aspx?cp-documentid=0043754c-5cf9-4c83-9abf-f6eecb8d60bb

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CAREPROS

2009-10-14T14:55:00.001-07:00

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CAREPROS

2009-10-14T14:50:00.001-07:00

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ePropertyWatch

2009-10-14T10:41:00.001-07:00

Check out this website I found at epropertywatch.com

ATTENTION HOMEOWNERS! This is a FREE service from a reputable, national service provider that keeps you abreast of EVERYTHING having to do with your home. Register today.

Posted via web from CAREPROS

Fed Report Shows One in Three Mortgage Apps Denied, Higher for Minorities

2009-10-12T07:30:00.001-07:00

via dsnews.com

Not only is discrimination in housing a violation of federal law, it is also against the the Code of Ethics of most professional trade associations, such as the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB). If the discrimination is a violation of a state fair housing law, a complaint should be filed with the state agency in charge of enforcing the law. The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) administers and enforces federal laws to make sure all Americans have equal access to the housing of their choice.

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Let's See This Home For Sale in Colorado Springs, CO 80909

2009-10-11T14:51:00.001-07:00

Call Me To Take A Look At This Lovely Home For Sale In Colorado Springs!

For a virtual tour, click here! For a personal tour, call 877-566-5808!

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NYT: First lady’s slave roots revealed - The New York Times

2009-10-08T15:56:00.001-07:00

By Rachel L. Swarns and Jodi Kantor
updated 7:50 a.m. ET Oct. 8, 2009
WASHINGTON - In 1850, the elderly master of a South Carolina estate took pen in hand and painstakingly divided up his possessions. Among the spinning wheels, scythes, tablecloths and cattle that he bequeathed to his far-flung heirs was a 6-year-old slave girl valued soon afterward at $475.
In his will, she is described simply as the “negro girl Melvinia.” After his death, she was torn away from the people and places she knew and shipped to Georgia. While she was still a teenager, a white man would father her first-born son under circumstances lost in the passage of time.
In the annals of American slavery, this painful story would be utterly unremarkable, save for one reason: This union, consummated some two years before the Civil War, represents the origins of a family line that would extend from rural Georgia, to Birmingham, Ala., to Chicago and, finally, to the White House.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here
Melvinia Shields, the enslaved and illiterate young girl, and the unknown white man who impregnated her are the great-great-great-grandparents of Michelle Obama , the first lady.
Viewed by many as a powerful symbol of black advancement, Mrs. Obama grew up with only a vague sense of her ancestry, aides and relatives said. During the presidential campaign, the family learned about one paternal great-great-grandfather, a former slave from South Carolina, but the rest of Mrs. Obama’s roots were a mystery.
Now the more complete map of Mrs. Obama’s ancestors — including the slave mother, white father and their biracial son, Dolphus T. Shields — for the first time fully connects the first African-American first lady to the history of slavery, tracing their five-generation journey from bondage to a front-row seat to the presidency.
The findings — uncovered by Megan Smolenyak, a genealogist, and The New York Times — substantiate what Mrs. Obama has called longstanding family rumors about a white forebear.
While President Obama ’s biracial background has drawn considerable attention, his wife’s pedigree, which includes American Indian strands, highlights the complicated history of racial intermingling, sometimes born of violence or coercion, that lingers in the bloodlines of many African-Americans. Mrs. Obama and her family declined to comment for this article, aides said, in part because of the personal nature of the subject.
“She is representative of how we have evolved and who we are,” said Edward Ball, a historian who discovered that he had black relatives, the descendants of his white slave-owning ancestors, when he researched his memoir, “Slaves in the Family.”
“We are not separate tribes of Latinos and whites and blacks in America,” Mr. Ball said. “We’ve all mingled, and we have done so for generations.”
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External links
The outlines of Mrs. Obama’s family history unfolded from 19th century probate records , yellowing marriage licenses, fading photographs and the recollections of elderly women who remember the family. Ms. Smolenyak, who has traced the ancestry of many prominent figures, began studying the first lady’s roots in earnest after conducting some preliminary research into Mrs. Obama’s ancestry for an article published in The New York Times earlier this year.
Of the dozens of relatives she identified, Ms. Smolenyak said, it was the slave girl who seemed to call out most clearly.
“Out of all Michelle’s roots, it’s Melvinia who is screaming to be found,” she said.
Strange and unfamiliar world
When her owner, David Patterson, died in 1852, Melvinia soon found herself on a 200-acre farm with new masters, Mr. Patterson’s daughter and son-in law, Christianne and Henry Shields. It was a strange and unfamiliar world.
In South Carolina, she had lived on an estate with 21 slaves. In Georgia, she was one of only three slaves on property that is now part of a neat subdivision in Rex, near Atlanta.
Whether Melvinia labored in the house or in the fields, there was no shortage of work: wheat, corn, sweet potatoes and cotton to plant and harvest, and 3 horses, 5 cows, 17 pigs and 20 sheep to care for, according to an 1860 agricultural survey .
It is difficult to say who might have impregnated Melvinia, who gave birth to Dolphus around 1859, when she was perhaps as young as 15. At the time, Henry Shields was in his late 40s and had four sons ages 19 to 24, but other men may have spent time on the farm.
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Check out historical info, photos, and panoramic images.
“No one should be surprised anymore to hear about the number of rapes and the amount of sexual exploitation that took place under slavery; it was an everyday experience, “ said Jason A. Gillmer, a law professor at Texas Wesleyan University, who has researched liaisons between slave owners and slaves. “But we do find that some of these relationships can be very complex.”
In 1870, three of Melvinia’s four children, including Dolphus, were listed on the census as mulatto. One was born four years after emancipation, suggesting that the liaison that produced those children endured after slavery. She gave her children the Shields name, which may have hinted at their paternity or simply been the custom of former slaves taking their master’s surnames.
Even after she was freed, Melvinia stayed put, working as a farm laborer on land adjacent to that of Charles Shields, one of Henry’s sons.
CONTINUED : Reunion
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Finally! Proof that it's not where you're from, but where you're going!

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The Axiom Realty Team Is Now A Fannie Mae Approved Home Counselor!

2009-10-07T18:05:00.001-07:00

It is our mission to make the buying and selling of real estate as cost effective as possible while maintaining the highest level of service, providing accurate and up-to-date information, skilled analysis, and sound real estate advice, while continually exploring new ideas and technology that make the buying and selling of real estate faster, less costly, and easier to accomplish.

Well, we outdid ourselves this time! That's right, we are now a Fannie Mae approved home counseling agency!This means we will soon be able to:

Create step-by-step homebuying action plans for our clients

Develop enhanced budgets to help our clients sustain homeownership

Assess the mortgage-readiness of our clients

Compare loan products to help our clients determine the best-fit

Transfer client case file data to trusted lending partners in a secure environment

Assist Spanish-speaking clients with bilingual calculators and worksheets

Help clients manage expenses with advanced budgeting tools

Use an enhanced multi-loan analysis and amortization calculator

Create debt repayment scenarios using the integrated PowerPay™ debt management tool

Expedite loss mitigation resolutions using a borrower’s financial statement

Assess your clients’ financial readiness for homeownership using the Affordability AnalyzerTM

Compare loan products and identify options more quickly with a suite of loan products

Pull credit report data automatically into client files

Take advantage of system reminders and appointments to manage the counseling process

Develop action plans and customized budgets to meet our clients’ needs

Move newly mortgage-ready clients from counseling to loan origination with automated referrals

Stay tuned for more! Or call us at 877-566-5808 if you just can't wait!

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Home Buyers Want Green Features, but at the Right Price, Study Says - Green Building - Builder Magazine

2009-10-07T17:31:00.001-07:00

Check out this website I found at builderonline.com

http://tinyurl.com/yb3l4fp

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The Potential of a Deficiency Judgement in Colorado Foreclosures

2009-10-06T11:02:00.001-07:00

A deficiency judgment can happen in Colorado when a property is foreclosed and then sold (usually at auction) to the highest bidder. The “deficiency” judgment is usually for the difference between the high bid and the foreclosure judgment amount. As an example, the bank forecloses on property for which the principal balance on the mortgage is $100,000. At the auction, they receive a high bid in the amount of $80,000, $20,000 less than they are owed. The resulting $20,000 is the deficiency, and the amount for which the bank may pursue a deficiency judgment.

On the borrower side of things, a Colorado judgment usually earns interest to a maximum of 8% per year, with some exceptions, until paid. Worse yet, the debtor is hard pressed to finance any subsequent purchases until the judgment is paid, sometimes not until well after. And the judgment must be paid if and when the debtor sells the property. The resulting judgment can only be removed by paying it off (plus interest) or in bankruptcy.

Things are a bit different, and much simpler on the bank side of things. Most times, the bank sells the judgments for literally pennies on the dollar.

When properly addressed, there are quality alternatives available to the distressed owner which may prevent foreclosure or limit the effects of falling behind on their mortgage payments. Owners should not face the distress alone, and may well benefit from seeking the advise of a competent real estate professional.

Blog entries are intended to be informational only and are not exhaustive or conclusive. Readers should schedule a free consultation if they have specific real estate questions.

The author of this posting is a Colorado licensed real estate broker. Based on the author’s research, the posting is offered to inform its readers of factors to consider regarding the topic at hand and is neither an offer or an intent to take the place of legal or tax advise. It is strongly recommended that the reader seek the advise of a licensed attorney, accountant, or other such advisor in order to fully comprehend the relevance to their individual circumstance.

Visit http://www.pikespeak-properties.com or contact the author at 877-566-5808 for a personal consultation.

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Why Blame The Borrower?

2009-10-06T08:19:00.001-07:00

The following is not intended to disparage those of us real estate professionals who work in the best interest of both our clients and customers. To you my hat is off.

But I am so tired of those fellow real estate practitioners who pass judgment on those that got in financial trouble with real estate when we, as a collective, reaped the benefits of a loose marketplace, no questions asked! It’s akin to “Wall Street” blaming investors for their stock market crashes, is it not?

First, many in the real estate, to include mortgage, business were happy to sell homes to people…the higher the sale price the better. Why? Because “we” made more money! After all, how many of you who now blame the troubled borrower have EVER told a buyer, “Now, you know that’s too much house. Let’s look at this little one, over here” ? I have, though the truth is that many of “us” didn’t care whether it was affordable, or not; all “we” cared about was whether the buyer in front of “us” had a pre-approval letter. Tell the truth.

Second, I have been on both sides of this business since 1997, and even sold a friend an ARM at 1.5% to have it shoot up to 6% within 3 years. This wasn’t a purchase, mind you, but a refi. Why? Because we were taught to sell the LIBOR based product as stable, hedged against market volatility with its 12 month averaging, blah, blah, blah. Did my friend “knowingly get in over their head”? This is not to mention the unscrupulous mortgage broker who put borrowers in ARM’s, because they could pad the rate even more and what…make more money. By the way, that large, once well respected lender is no longer in business.

Yes, I got into this business to make money, too. But also to help people with a basic need; Zig Ziglar and common wisdom will tell you those two are not mutually exclusive.

What are you in this business for?

Norberto Villanueva, Jr.

Broker

The Axiom Realty Team

3355 N. Academy Blvd Suite 279

Colorado Springs, CO 80917

Phone: (719) 304-9363

Sales: (877) 566-5808

Fax: 719-359-4157

E-mail: brokernv@pikespeak-properties.com

Buy and Sell Real Estate, Track My Blogs at http://www.pikespeak-properties.com

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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10 things your real-estate broker won't say - MSN Real Estate

2009-10-03T18:03:00.001-07:00

via realestate.msn.com

An axiom is a self-evident truth, something that goes without saying. As such, it is my goal to always be transparent in my business practices. If this separates me from just one less than desirable experience in your real estate journeys, than I have accomplished my goal.

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Are the Symptoms of H1N1 Flu Different From Those of the Ordinary Flu? - MSN Health & Fitness - Cold and Flu

2009-10-01T12:51:00.001-07:00

via health.msn.com

What H1N1 feels like.

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