besim’s posterous

From Bloomberg News:

Banks are beginning to go along with short sales in increasing numbers, three years into a U.S. housing slump that pushed the economy into a recession and cut resale values by 30 percent from the peak in July 2006. Short sales almost tripled to 40,000 in the first six months of 2009 from the same period a year earlier. Yet for each short sale, there were 25 foreclosures started or completed in the first half of this year, according to data from the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Wells Fargo, Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. this year have hired and trained more staff, developed software systems for expediting short sales, and increased marketing of short sales to delinquent borrowers.

Banks are increasing such sales under pressure from the Obama administration and lawmakers who criticized them for favoring foreclosures and delaying short sales, Green said. Lenders and loan servicers also stand to receive up to $2,000 in incentives to close short sales under a Treasury Department plan unveiled Nov. 30.

DOWNLOAD Treasury Department plan NOW.

Loan Modifications

The first choice for lenders has been to try to keep borrowers in their homes, offering loan modifications as an alternative to foreclosure. More than half of the modifications of delinquent mortgages re-defaulted within a year, according to a Sept. 30 report by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The single biggest problem was the lack of a vehicle or mechanism at most banks to handle short sales. Pressure is building to approve short sales as the number of delinquent mortgages has grown to 3.2 million and an estimated 7 million foreclosures loom in the next two to three years, according to Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac Inc., which compiles and sells U.S. mortgage delinquency data.

New Treasury Department guidelines for foreclosure alternatives scheduled to take effect in April 2010 will require lenders to consider borrowers for a short sale on their primary residence 30 days after missing two consecutive payments on a modified loan or after the borrower requests a short sale.

Treasury Plan

The Treasury Department would pay up to $1,500 for a homeowner to relocate, $1,000 to loan servicing companies that accept a sale and a maximum of $1,000 to help settle a second mortgage or subordinate lien. A lender must agree to release the borrower from all liability for repayment for the mortgage, under the Treasury plan.

In July, Wells Fargo began mailing notices to delinquent borrowers advising them that short sales might be an option to avoid foreclosure.

“When we determine that a loan is not affordable for the customer — either because a modification was denied or failed – - we obtain the value of the property, run it through our loan decision tool and then send a letter to the customer advising them of our short sale program, including the short sale price we are willing to take on the property,” Debora Blume, a spokeswoman for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage said in an e-mail.

 ‘Pick a Pay Loans’

Wells Fargo is focusing on delinquent borrowers in Florida and California homeowners with “Pick-a-Pay” loans originated by Wachovia Corp., Blume said. Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia in December 2008 and owns the “Pick-a-Pay” loans outright, said J.K. Huey, the bank’s senior vice president overseeing short sales and bank-owned properties. That allows the company to approve a short sale without consulting investors or parties that can hold up transactions.

“Pick-a-Pay” mortgages have among the highest rates of negative equity, because borrowers could select their monthly payments, often paying less than the interest, with the difference added to the principal. That formula means that total loan debt was increasing at a time property values were falling.

Wells Fargo held $87.8 billion of such loans as of Sept. 30, down $7.5 billion from the end of last year. Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins said on an Oct. 21 earnings call that the bank is reducing the number of loans with “negative amortization potential.” As of the end of the third quarter, 26 percent of the loans in that portfolio now have minimum monthly payments that fully cover the interest due so that the total principal does not grow, up from 16 percent at the end of last year.

As of Sept. 30, Wells Fargo had modified 43,500, or 22 percent, of the distressed loans to reduce borrowers’ payments, Atkins said.

Reaching Out

JPMorgan doubled the number of staff trained to handle short sales after adding 5,000 people since Jan. 1 to deal with distressed mortgages, said Thomas Kelly, a spokesman for the New York-based bank’s home lending division.

Chase services 10.3 million mortgages worth $1.4 trillion, according to Kelly. Of its portfolio, Chase reported 422,000 loans more than 60 days delinquent, about one third of which were in loan modification programs, according to a Nov. 10 Treasury Department report on the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable Program.

“We’re reaching out to people who are struggling with the Obama loan modifications or our own,” Kelly said. “Approaching customers is a very recent phenomenon.”

Bank of America, the nation’s largest loan servicer, had one of the lowest loan modification rates, with 14 percent of problem loans in trial workout plans as of Oct. 31, according to the Obama Administration.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank started a “cooperative short sales” program in October and may close its first short sale through the program this month, said Dave Sunlin, senior vice president for foreclosure and real estate management.

Pay-Option Mortgages

Many are borrowers with pay-option adjustable-rate mortgages issued by Countrywide Financial Corp., Sunlin said. BofA bought Countrywide, once the nation’s largest mortgage originator, for $4 billion in stock in 2008.

“We typically expect a 10 to 15 percent decrease of loss severity with a short sale,” Sunlin said.

Losses on prime loans going through the foreclosure process averaged 49 percent versus 34 percent for a short sale as of Oct. 1, according to a Nov. 10 report by Laurie S. Goodman, senior managing director of Amherst Securities Group LP. For subprime loans, losses averaged 73 percent for a foreclosure compared with 59 percent for a short sale, Amherst reported.

“The loss severity of short sales is lower but it’s not low,” Goodman said.

Short sales benefit a neighborhood because they clear out stagnant properties that may have an adverse effect on values.

Americans are out there still buying homes and trying to move it along.

Short sales also help the bank, because foreclosed properties lose more value when they are vacant or a homeowner vandalizes a house on the way out.

Click here to learn more about Short Sales

If you are having trouble making your mortgage payments but wish to keep your home there are answers. Don’t ignore the problem. The further behind you get, the harder it is to work out a solution. Contact your lender as soon as possible. Lenders have set up programs to help fix bad loans and slow foreclosures – these are called Loan Workout Programs. Here are a few options:

Forbearance – is an agreement to reduce or suspend payment for a short period of time.

Loan Modification – is an agreement to change the terms of the original loan to make the payments more affordable. For example, missed payments can be added to the existing loan balance, the interest rate may be modified or the loan term extended. Find out if your loan is owned by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae by clicking on these links:

http://loanlookup.fanniemae.com/loanlookup/

https://ww3.freddiemac.com/corporate/

Reinstatement – paying the total amount owed in a lump sum by a specific date in exchange for forbearance.

Repayment plan – is an agreement to resume making monthly payments with a portion of the past due payments each month until they are caught up.

Claim Advance/Partial Claim – if the loan is insured, the home owner may qualify for an interest-free loan from the mortgage guarantor to bring the account current. If so, the home owner will be required to sign a promissory note and a lien will be recoded against the home until the loan is paid in full.

What should you do if your lender won’t work with you or you need assistance?

There are a few agencies (click here to view HUD recommended counselors) that may be able to assist you in negotiating with your lender.

If your lender will not work with you to save your home, please act quickly to begin the short sale process while that is still an option.

Avoid Foreclosure Prevention Scams

Some companies promising to help charge exorbitant fees. Reputable assistance can be obtained from the resources listed above. Beware of offers to repay the loan or sell the property if the homeowner signs over the deed or loan assumptions where the owner is not released from liability. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Report suspected scams to the Department of Financial Institutions at slong@utah.gov.

Foreclosure should be the last resort, when all other options fail.  Many homeowners can successfully complete a short sale if they: 

1.  Begin as soon as they are about to go delinquent on the loan

 2. Complete the necessary paperwork and

3.  Hire a competent real estate agent to handle the sale. Be aware that some agents charge an upfront fee to take on the task of a short sale. We do not.

The primary benefits of doing a short sale are, first protecting your credit. While both the short sale and foreclosure will affect your credit, a foreclosure will greatly impact your ability to purchase a home in the future.  

Fannie Mae has announced changes that went into effect August 1^st, 2008.

You cannot purchase a home under the following guidelines and time frames using Fannie Mae Conventional financing:

Pre-Foreclosure (short sale of home); 2 year

Deed in lieu of foreclosure; 4 years

People who foreclose will have the following Fannie Mae restrictions placed on them:

5 year time period from date of foreclosure completion in which you cannot obtain financing, after which you can finance with a minimum of 10% down and a credit score of 680.

7 year time period from completion to finance a second home or investment property.

7 year time period from completion to take cash out of a refinance on any property regardless of occupancy.

Additionally, some employers will not hire or retain an employee who has foreclosed on a home.

The emotional impact to borrower who has a foreclosure cannot be underestimated.  Despite the time involved in doing a short sale, there is an emotional benefit to doing the “right thing”.

Also, where a homeowner has continuing liability for a loan (such as a Home Equity Line of Credit) after foreclosure, the borrower can take some measure of control and mitigate the loss with a short sale.

That's the incendiary core message of a new academic paper by Brent T. White, a University of Arizona law school professor, titled "Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis."

White contends that far more of the estimated 15 million U.S. homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages should stiff their lenders and take a hike.

Doing so, he suggests, could save some of them hundreds of thousands of dollars that they "have no reasonable prospect of recouping" in the years ahead. Plus the penalties are nowhere near as painful or long-lasting as they might assume, he says.

"Homeowners should be walking away in droves," White said. "But they aren't. And it's not because the financial costs of foreclosure outweigh the benefits."

Sure, credit scores get whacked when you walk away, he acknowledges. But as long as you stay current with other creditors, "one can have a good credit rating again -- meaning above 660 -- within two years after a foreclosure."

Better yet, homeowners can default "strategically": Buy all the major items they'll need for the next couple of years -- a new car, even a new house -- just before they pull the plug on their current mortgage lender.

"Most individuals should be able to plan in advance for a few years of limited credit," White said, with minimal disruptions to their lifestyles.

What kind of law school professorial advice is this? Aren't mortgages legal contracts? In so-called anti-deficiency states such as California and Arizona, mortgage lenders have limited or no legal rights to pursue defaulting homeowners' assets beyond the house itself, White said. In other states, lenders may decide that it is not worth the legal expense to pursue walkaways, or consumers may be able to find flaws in the mortgage documents, disclosures or underwriting to challenge the original contract.

The main point, he said, is that too often people's emotions get in the way of clear financial thinking about mortgages, turning them into what he calls "woodheads" -- "individuals who choose not to act in their own self-interest." Most owners are too worried about feelings of shame and embarrassment after a foreclosure, and ignore the powerful financial reasons for doing so.

Buttressing these emotions is a system that White labels "the social control of the housing crisis" -- pressures and messages continually sent to consumers by the "social control agents," namely banks, government and the media. The mantra that these agents -- all the way up to President Obama -- pound into owners' heads, White said, is that "voluntarily defaulting on a mortgage is immoral."

Yet there is an inherent imbalance in the borrower-lender relationship that makes this morality message unfair to consumers, White says: Banks set the rules during the housing boom, handing out home loans with no down payments, no income checks and inflated appraisals. Now that property values have dropped 20% to 50% in many areas, banks have been slow to modify troubled mortgages and reluctant to reduce principal debts.

Only when homeowners cut through the emotional fog and default strategically in large numbers, White argues, will this inequitable situation be seriously addressed.

How does White's 52-page manifesto go over with mortgage lenders? Predictably, not well. Officials at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- investors who fund the bulk of all new mortgages in the country -- disputed White's characterization of how quickly after foreclosure a walkaway borrower can obtain a new loan. It's not three years, they said, it's a minimum of five years, absent extenuating circumstances such as medical or employment problems that caused the foreclosure.

"Borrowers who walk away from their mortgage obligations face serious consequences," including severely depressed credit scores for extended periods, said Brian Faith of Fannie Mae.

In addition, he said, "there's a moral dimension to this as homeowners who simply abandon their homes contribute to the destabilization of their neighborhood and community."

kenharney@earthlink.net

Distributed by the Washington Post Writers Group.

Number 10

I can’t make my house payments but I do have an ability to pay back all or part of the negative equity. Also, I want to preserve my credit score…is a short sale right for me?

Probably, not. In cases where the seller can pay back all or part of the negative equity (usually to the 2^nd lien holder) it makes sense for them to work out a repayment plan. The lender will then release the lien and allow the home to close.

Number 9

If I pay mortgage insurance and default on my loan, why wouldn't that cover the deficiency amount?

The mortgage insurance is not there for your protection, just the mortgage lender’s.

Number 8

Do I have to have my home ‘Approved’ by the lender prior to offering it for sale as a short sale? / I called them and they wouldn’t talk to me about it.

No. Technically speaking there is no such thing as being ‘Short Sale Approved’. The actual approval only happens with an accepted offer.

Number 7

I just missed a payment and I know I will miss more….how long does the foreclosure process take and is there time to do a short sale?

The foreclosure process takes differing times depending on your state.  In the Midwest a foreclosure can take over a year. In California its taking 6+ months.  Generally speaking a well priced short sale being processed by an educated short sale listing agent will sell and close in less than 120 days.

Number 6

Will I still have to pay property taxes if I do a short sale?

Property taxes will always have to be paid as part of any accepted short sale. Whether it’s you or the lender depends on their policies and the specific agreement you reach while negotiating the short sale.

Number 5

I owe more than my home is worth and I can’t make the payment, do I have to somehow qualify for a short sale?

The simple answer is NO. If someone can’t make their payment and they are otherwise insolvent they qualify for a short sale. Note: insolvent simply means their total debts are great than their assets.

Number 4

Do I have to pay income taxes..I have heard that I will get a 1099. Will the loss the bank takes be treated as a taxable gain to me..the seller..is this true?

It WAS true, now it’s now. Consult your Tax Attorney or Qualified CPA.  Very recently the tax law was modified and now most people who do a short sale will have no taxes due.

Number 3

How do you, my listing agent get paid..who pays you commission?

The bank will pay the commission along with all the other usual closing costs.

Number 2

Do I have to miss a payment to do a Short Sale?

No. Late last year most major lenders started accepting short sale offers from sellers who have never missed a payment.

Number 1

I want to do a short sale and have a 2nd mortgage, does this make me ineligible?

No. Both of your lenders will need to be satisfied in some way to complete the short sale. If your first lender will be paid off by the sale, then you just negotiate the terms with the second lender. Most short sales do involve 1^st and 2^nd lien holder.

Sales of existing Wasatch Front homes were up for the second consecutive month, rising 4 percent in July, while Utah County sales increased by a whopping 22 percent, according to statistics released by the Utah Association of REALTORS® Aug. 25.

In July, Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, Weber and Tooele County REALTORS® sold 2,352 single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums compared to the 2,261 properties sold in July 2008. In Utah County, REALTORS® sold 566 existing homes compared to the 465 homes sold last year.

The statistics mirrored figures released by the National Association of REALTORS® that said U.S. home sales were up 5 percent in July compared to July 2008. On a monthly basis, U.S. seasonally adjusted home sales increased 7 percent, the first time in five years that sales increased for four months in a row.

Along the Wasatch Front, sales were down 6 percent from June to July; however, the decrease was expected because sales are traditionally slower in July and the Utah statistics are not seasonally adjusted.

The median price of homes in the five-county area in July was $205,000, down 6 percent from last year. In a separate report, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Utah home prices decreased nearly 12 percent for the second quarter.

 
Besim Kuduzovic "Yours Real Estate Samurai" - loyalty, devotion, integrity & honor to death
Harris Real Estate University Certified Short Sale Expert

Utah real estate is seeing big affordability gains, according to a new report from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo. Numbers from the analysis show affordability in many Wasatch Front areas is back to levels seen in 2004, a time when Utah real estate was selling well and National City Corp. said Salt Lake had the most undervalued home prices.

The Housing Opportunity Index, which uses incomes, mortgage rates and home prices to determine affordability, is similar to a separate analysis conducted by Salt Lake City-based Wells Fargo economist Kelly Matthews. He says although average home prices are still higher today than in 2004, homes are about as affordable as they were five years ago because mortgage rates are closer to 5 percent rather than the near 6 percent rates in 2004.

Such is the case for the Provo-Orem area, which saw the biggest affordability gains in the state, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo report. In the second quarter, 71.3 percent of the homes sold were considered affordable, only a tad off the 72.6 percent in 2004 and up significantly from the 48.5 percent last year.

Similarly, in Salt Lake, 70.6 percent of homes sold were considered affordable to those earning the area’s median income, close to the 75.2 percent in second quarter 2004 and up considerably from the 54.6 percent in 2008, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo report. St. George had the lowest affordability in the state at 57.2 percent (up from 36.8 percent last year), and Ogden-Clearfield had the highest affordability at 81.5 percent (up from 68 percent last year).

“If someone feels secure in their employment and income and needs a larger home, in actuality it’s probably the best time to buy in a generation,” Matthews said.

 Besim Kuduzovic "Yours Real Estate Samurai" - loyalty, devotion, integrity & honor to death
Harris Real Estate University Certified Short Sale Expert