Renaissance Realty Group’s Blog: Georgia

To start the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program you need to call us to request to sell your home in a short sale.

If you haven’t applied for a Home Affordable Modification prior to requesting a short sale, we’ll check to see if you meet that program’s eligibility requirements first. To do this you’ll need to update your lender  on your financial information.

 

I have requested a HAFA short sale.

Once you’ve requested a short sale, you’ll have to update us on your current financial situation. As part of the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, we’ll review your information and check your eligibility for a Home Affordable Modification or other home retention programs that would reduce your monthly payments to enable you to stay in your home.

If you do not qualify for a modification or no longer wish to stay in your home, then we begin to work with you on a short sale.

Which lenders are participating  in the GEORGIA HARDEST HIT FUND ? 

ASC (America’s Servicing Company)

Bancorp South Bank

Bank of America

Bank of Dooley

Branch Bank and Trust (BB&T)

Brand Banking Company

Cenlar Mortgage

Chase Mortgage

Citi Mortgage

Delta Community Credit Union

EMC Mortgage

EverHome Bank and Mortgage

Fifth Third Bank

Flagstar Bank

GMAC Mortgage

Habitat for Humanity, Camden County GA

Habitat for Humanity, Coastal Empire

Habitat for Humanity, DeKalb County GA

Habitat for Humanity, Gwinnet County GA

Habitat for Humanity, Sumter County GA

Habitat for Humanity, North Central GA

Habitat for Humanity, Macon GA

Habitat for Humanity, Valdosta-Lowndes

James B. Nutter & Company

JPMorgan Chase Bank

Monroe County Bank

Midland Mortgage

Navy Federal Credit Union

Ocwen Loan Servicing

PNC Bank

RBC Bank Regions Mortgage

Real Estate Mortgage Network

Residential Credit Solutions

Saxon Mortgage

State Home Mortgage

SunTrust Mortgage

United Bank, Griffin GA

USAA

Vericrest Financial

Wachovia

Wells Fargo

 

 

Call us today if you hold a loan with any of the above servicers - we can help

Bank of America completed more short sales than it unloaded previously foreclosed homes every month for the last year and a half.

In May, BofA completed roughly 9,000 short sales compared to 7,000 REO, said David Sunlin, the bank's real estate management executive. With the introduction of the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program in April 2010, lenders received the first guidelines for these transactions.

Since then, banks find it easier to collect necessary documentation and reduce the time it takes to close these transactions. Recent guideline changes to HAFA could push numbers higher in 2011.

BofA completed more than 95,000 short sales in 2010, more than double the prior year, Sunlin said.

"HAFA is dead on. It's a lot easier to qualify now for HAFA than it was in 2010. All I need is a hardship affidavit and one water bill. We're trying to make it as easy as possible," Sunlin said.

Justin Rand, Citigroup (C: 38.40 -0.98%) senior vice president of loss mitigation, said his bank used to take an average 120 days from when the property was listed to when it closed. That since dropped to 83 days.

There remain some setbacks, however. Real estate agents in the audience at HousingWire's REO Expo in Fort Worth, Texas, complained of having an offer from a buyer at what the property listed at, only to lose the deal when the bank's appraisal came in afterward. Sunlin suggested these buyer-side agents send in their own information with the servicer for a better chance of reconciling the appraisal.

"Valuation is an inexact science. The offer may be a full to list, but not to the appraisal. When you submit your own short sale deal, send your own BPO," Sunlin said."If you put your facts out there, you can at least make your case."

Other agents said those working on the other side of the deal do not send in offers or document packages correctly, regardless of any certification. Both Sunlin at BofA and Rand at Citi said their banks are considering recommending agents to the homeowner.

"We would love to get into a system where we're recommending agents for a short sale," Sunlin said. "But (the) homeowner has their rights, they're going to select who they want to select, and that's going to be the biggest constriction."

Seems that each time I turn on the TV or read some real estate blog I hear the numbers are up the numbers are down. The shadow inventory is here no its gone .. well I found the following report at Inman News and they give just the numbers no opinion - Thank you Final I can see the forest through the trees 

By Inman News, Wednesday, June 1, 2011.

Inman News™

Foreclosure starts dipped below the 200,000 mark during April for the first time in years, but the foreclosure pipeline remained bloated by more than 4 million homes whose owners are in foreclosure or delinquent by 90 days or more.

That’s according to the latest numbers from loan data aggregator Lender Processing Services, which show foreclosure starts fell nearly 31 percent from March to April, totaling 187,423 — a 14.7 percent decline from a year ago.

LPS estimated that 2.18 million mortgages were in foreclosure, down nearly 2 percent from a record 2.22 million in March but up 9.5 percent from a year ago.

Another 1.96 million mortgages were delinquent by 90 days or more in April, down about 1.5 percent from the previous month and 29 percent from a year ago.

Home loan applications down 35% - what does it mean for sellers ?

If Cash is King then a fully Qualified Buyer must rule the universe in today's market. Today's Resale Seller need to do anything  and everything possible to get and keep that  buyers attention.

 

One simple  rule: Sellers don't hedge pricing  in hopes of " leaving room to negotiate " - think about it  the same buyer who will drive 3 miles out of the way to save 2 cents on a gallon of gas is not going to spend a day shopping homes outside their loan limits when the market is flooded with quality homes within their comfort zone.  Also Buyers are not going to pull cash out of a savings safety net to make repairs in a tight economy - so make repairs before listing if possible  -new carpet new paint updated or fully serviced HVAC need to be done before the first buyer walks in the door.

Buyers want to Buy - and Sellers want to Sell  and an experienced agent  will show you how to  find the sweet spot where it is a Win - Win. 

The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index dropped 11.6 percent to 81.9 in April, the lowest since September. Pending home sales lead existing home sales by a month or two.

"There may some temporary factors like bad weather in the South," said Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

"Higher gasoline may be making potential home buyers a bit cautious. It is signaling further weakness in housing, but we do expect housing to turn around later this year. It just hasn't happened yet."

Pending home sales in the South, which was ravaged by tornadoes, dropped 17.2 percent. Sales were also down in the Midwest and the West.

The weak housing market is one the headwinds facing the economy as it make a slow recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s. The economy grew at a 1.8 percent annual rate in the first quarter after expanding at a 3.1 pace in the last three months of 2010.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Last week the House Financial Services Committee put forth a "discussion draft" on FHA reform.  The draft has a number of good provisions (providing increased lender enforcement, other risk avoidance tools, etc).  However, there are several provisions that I STRONGLY oppose.   

The first would raise the FHA downpayment for all borrowers to 5%, and prohibit the financing of all closing costs and the Upfront MIP. 

The second would change the whole calculation of the loan limits by making it 125% of median home price by county.  It would eliminate the MSA rule - which raises all counties within an MSA (metropolitan statistical area) to the highest limit in that area, and it would eliminate the FHA floor of $271,050 (which means low cost counties would go to 125% of median - under $100k in many areas).  It would make the high cost limit $625,500. 

It is very important to note that this is a "discussion draft" - not legislation yet. 

The bill also includes the issue of moving Rural Housing to HUD. 

Mortgage Defaults Boost Credit Card Payments - Go Figure When people stop paying their mortgages, they have a lot more money to spend on everything else, Cramer told viewers Monday. And the beneficiaries appear to be retailers. Seems barrows are more concered about on time payments for Credit Cards over Mortgages Payments Borrowers are living in houses they are not paying for, and they are staying until they are thrown out. But it can take a year before the eviction process really takes hold.

Current numbers show that 17,000,000 homes expected enter the foreclosure list

A break down by the numbers

3,000,000 Homes currently owned by the bank via Foreclosure

4,000,000 Homes currently owned by Fannie Mae Freddie Mac

an additional 10,000,000 homes purchased between 2005-2007 underwater - preparing for strategic default .

= 17,000,000. Grand Total of Homes are headed for foreclosure (or already in foreclosure)

Now Granted Short Sales and Loan Modifications can and will prevent some homes from entering the foreclosure process but remember there are roughly 5,000,000 TOTAL homes sold per year. and current REO  inventory suggest a 3 year supply of inventory and that does not include 'traditional" resale and Short sale inventory

If your looking to buy a home now is the best time ever .

Has the ready set Go no Wait Game of self imposed foreclosure moratorium cost the lenders more than can be recovered in the sale  With the increase in aging, non listed, non sold, shadow inventory on the raise and total debt now exceeds the original loan how will banks clear the inventory offer the books ?  Will banks offer greater incentives to buyers in the form or repair allowance and upgrades or simply reduce the market price hoping for a quick sale to stop the bleeding?

It is surprising is just how old some of the foreclosures  are.

In Contra Costa alone there are 123 homes now scheduled for trustee sale, with loans originated by Countrywide, where the foreclosure process began in 2008.  That is 3 years of missed payments, interest and fees. In just this one county that totals $71.5 Million in original loans with balances now nearly $19 Million higher. Although all of these 123 properties have active sale dates many are still being postponed. In fact the largest loan, where the total debt now exceeds the original loan amount by more than 1 Million dollars, has been postponing since January, and was just postponed again until June.

 

 Shadow Foreclosure Inventory 

 

If you're buying or selling a home in Gwinnett County we need to be talking .