Tips for Realtors (but good for buyers also)

10 Tips to avoid delays in Short Sales
The short sale process is complex and involves many different parties who must all agree to take a loss on an outstanding debt (for example, investors, additional lien holders, and mortgage insurance). This leads to a longer timeline than a traditional home sale. Here are some key factors that you can influence to help minimize delays.
1. Set appropriate expectations with sellers, buyers and buyer’s agents so that they understand the complexity and resulting length of time a short sale can take.
2. Have the homeowner call the Short Sale Customer Service (866-880-1232) to start the process and register in Equator. Prepare the homeowner to provide the complete financial hardship documentation, including all sources of income, assets and liabilities and have it updated regularly to Equator.
3. Ensure that the property is listed on MLS, and actively marketed for sale.
4. Negotiate external 3rd party fees prior to submission of HUD (for example, the following fees are typically not approved by investors: short sale negotiation, reconveyance, document preparation, notary, recording, courier, processing). Supply the complete HUD-1 that is valid for at least 60 days and includes all fees.
5. Review all documents & document images for accuracy and clarity prior to upload.
6. Ensure that the customer and agent tasks are completed as timely as possible (for example, accepting short sale assignment, submitting short sale offer, and uploading offer documents must be done within 7 days).
7. Work to get a purchase offer representing the best possible fair market value (with current detail on the market and activity) and highest net proceeds for the investors.
8. Submit fully executed purchase offers with all appropriate addendums signed by both buyer and homeowner, and include all supporting documentation.
9. Work to get a release on outside liens as early as possible.
10. The following situations will cause delays. Please notify us as soon as possible if:
 Change in buyer or agent or terms at any time during the process
 Customer files bankruptcy/divorce
 Any changes after the approval letter is issued (be conscience of the expiration date)

Is the Market Improving?

'Double dip' decline seen for housing

BY JONATHAN LANSNER

2010-06-17 16:06:05

Christopher Cagan is a veteran Southern California economist who is perhaps best known for his real estate analysis with title insurer First American. He now consults and operates the InvestmentMeasures.com investment-management Web site. We asked him what he's seeing in the cards for the real estate market ...

Q: What are your thoughts on real estate going forward?

A: In the short to near term, I expect a double dip. This is the logical aftermath of the sugar shot from the federal first-time buyer tax credit. It borrowed buyers from the future, and we are now going into that future. Also, we are not too far from the end of the traditional SoCal buying season. I have already seen asking prices reduced 5 percent or so in May from April.

But I don't expect a catastrophic drop. To a great extent, prices and mortgage rates are now governed by the authorities -- Fed, government, etc. This used to be called a "socialist" model. I really don't see how 30-year mortgage rates can stay at 5 percent, but there they are. But 96 percent of all mortgages are now made/guaranteed by the government in one form or another. Mortgage rates are low, what I would consider a steal. Hence social policy has supported home prices and insisted that interest rates be low. Since we're largely operating on a socialist rather than a market model, I don't see home prices going down much more.

Q: Will this hold up all values?

A: The only exception is the high end, which I expect to keep falling, because jumbo mortgages can't be passed on to Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac -- and also because there are fewer move-up buyers. For instance when someone buys a foreclosure there is no seller to move up. But I do see a long, draggy, and bumpy bottom, extending through 2011 or even 2012. This will be an inventory-driven bottom, as the current and especially shadow inventory gets worked through. It will take a while to work through all of this and get back to "normal" market conditions.

Q: And Orange County?

A: I believe that Orange County will be the first to recover in real estate. It is the "first choice" area, and recovered early last time. People only went to the Inland Empire after they were priced out of OC, and the inland areas didn't really catch on fire until 2003. That is, Orange County is the canary in the coal mine. A successful project will signal the beginnings of the next upturn. But we're not there yet.

Q: So when does the ugliness end?

A: I see significant price rises starting in -- or near -- 2013 and going on for several years after that. It will begin in first-choice areas such as Orange County in particular, with second choice areas (Inland Empire) not catching on until later.

There are two reasons for this upcoming bull market. First, home prices in Southern California are cyclically undervalued. They were clearly overvalued in the boom -- kept especially high by generous lending, which made such prices possible) --but now they are below the 20 to 30 year trend line. I am telling my friends to buy. For some of them, if they don't buy 2010-2012 they never will be able to buy.

Second, I see the return of inflation. With our huge budget deficits and outright money creation, not to speak of rising senior and other entitlements, inflation has to rise (that is, the dollar has to depreciate). Inflation, of course, will raise real estate prices.

Many people will simply not believe that good things will happen to real estate any time soon, if ever. They are burned out on that. They see bad news all the time. So I don't want to sound like "Here is that cheerleader again!" but there will be a recovery down the road.

Q: Don't you worry about mortgage rates?

A: True, mortgage rates will go up. But history tells us that home prices -- again, coming out of a deep bear situation, coming out of an undervalued situation -- will outpace inflation. Think of the 1970s, an inflationary period, when for six years in a row California single-family resale prices rose at 20%-plus per year, outpacing inflation every time. So by 2020 we could see some really high home prices, higher than 2006-07 boom prices, admittedly in inflated dollars.

Q: How bad could it get before recovery?

A: I think our general economy could well have a Japanese-style "lost decade." Some have argued that we have already had one -- stocks no higher than ten years ago, lower after inflation -- and that we are now going into a second one. Where are the engines of growth? Where are the jobs? I see a slow recovery and I also see inflation down the road.

© Copyright 2010 Freedom Communications. All Rights Reserved.

Great News for those with Short Sales on their credit

Fannie Mae Relaxing Rules

FNMA has recently announced the minimum waiting period to obtain a new mortgage after a short sale or deed in lieu foreclosure is being reduced. Effective, July 1, the wait will go from a minimum four to five years to two years. FNMA wants to encourage solutions for homeowners and to avoid foreclosure.

A minimum 20% down payment is required to qualify for the two year minimum payment. With 10% down the four year minimum will remain in place and less down will be longer. Foreclosures remain at a five year waiting period.

Extenuating circumstances, such as a job loss or a divorce, allows a two year minimum with 10% down. FNMA expects borrowers to reestablish their credit as well. Foreclosures and short sales generally have the same effect on a borrower’s credit score. Three active revolving or installment debt credit trade lines for a twelve month payment history will be required. Nontraditional credit will not be allowed.

FHA, with 3.5% down, is considering changes in their guidelines which currently requires a minimum of three years after a short sale or deed in lieu foreclosure.

Arnold Signs Bill extending tax credit!

I’m gratified to report that late this afternoon, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 183, the Homebuyer Tax Credit legislation, into law. His actions today are the result of our efforts in Sacramento over the last several weeks as members and our team in the capital worked for the bill’s passage before it landed on the governor’s desk.

AB 183 will provide $200 million for home buyer tax credits, allocating $100 million for qualified first-time home buyers of existing homes and $100 million for purchasers of new, or previously unoccupied, homes. The eligible taxpayer who purchases a qualified personal residence on and after May 1, 2010, and on or before Dec. 31, 2010, or who purchases a qualified principal residence on and after Dec. 31, 2010, and before Aug. 1, 2011, pursuant to an enforceable contract executed on or before Dec. 31, 2010, will be able to take the allowed tax credit. The credit is equal to the lesser of 5 percent of the purchase price or $10,000, in equal installments over three consecutive years. Under AB 183, purchasers will be required to live in the home for at least two years or forfeit the credit (i.e., repay it to the state).

The positive impact of the federal home buyer tax credit is clear. Nearly 40 percent of first-time home buyers said they would not have purchased a home if the federal tax credit for first-time home buyers was not offered, according to C.A.R. research conducted last year.

The state’s previous home buyer tax credit program was so successful that it ran out of tax credits by the end of June 2009, eight months before it was set to expire and just as housing markets appeared to be turning a corner. Unlike last year’s legislation, AB 183 adds a tax credit for the purchase of an existing home by a first-time home buyer.

AB 183 will significantly contribute to the effort to stimulate jobs-creation within California's housing market by helping to incentivize first-time home buyers to purchase homes that have been abandoned, foreclosed upon and returned to the lender, or have been sitting on the market for extended periods of time. It is these homes that will require substantial rehabilitation by the new owners, which will in turn generate a tremendous increase in jobs and accessory purchases connected to home improvement activities.

First Time Home Buyer Deadline drawing near!

The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, which was signed into law on Nov. 6, 2009, includes tax credit benefits for select homebuyers. Here are some of the details:

• First-time homebuyers, or buyers who have not owned a home in the past 3 years, may qualify for a tax credit of up to $8,000.

• Existing homeowners, who have owned and occupied the same principal residence for a period of five consecutive years during the last eight years, may qualify for a tax credit of up to $6,500, after buying a new principal residence.

• Homebuyers must enter into a written binding purchase contract by April 30th, 2010, and close on the purchase by June 30th, 2010.

• Maximum annual income limits are $125,000 for individuals and $225,000 for joint filers.

• Home purchase price cannot exceed $800,000.

Bleak on the Horizon

Harder to get an Uncle Sam mortgage
Rising defaults on loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) have led the agency to impose future policy changes to its home loan program. The FHA provides mortgage insurance on loans made by FHA-approved lenders. Borrowers must meet certain requirements established by the FHA to qualify for the insurance, but lenders bear less risk because the FHA will pay the lender if a homeowner defaults on his or her loan.

MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY FOR CONSUMERS

• The FHA is federally mandated to maintain reserve funds at 2 percent or greater. As of November, the agency reported that its fund had declined to .53 percent. The funding is used to cover losses on mortgages insured by the FHA that go into default.
  
  
• Loans insured by the FHA generally are less expensive to borrowers because of the lower down payment requirements. However, these loans also have fees, such as up-front mortgage insurance. To help the agency raise its cash reserves, the FHA is increasing the up-front mortgage insurance premium from its current 1.75 percent to 2.25 percent. HUD released a Mortgagee Letter today making the premium increase effective in the spring.
  
  
• The agency also is raising the minimum credit score requirements. Currently, borrowers with FICO scores as low as 500 have been approved for FHA-insured loans. Under the policy changes, new borrowers will be required to have a minimum FICO score of 580 to qualify for the FHA’s 3.5 percent down payment program. New borrowers with less than a 580 FICO score will be required to put down at least 10 percent. FHA expects this to take effect in early summer once it passes the normal regulatory process.
  
  
• The new policy also will reduce the amount of money sellers can provide to home buyers at closing to 3 percent, down from its current 6 percent, of the home’s price. The change brings the agency in line with industry standards and removes the incentive to inflate appraisals. The FHA expects this to take effect in early summer after it passes the normal regulatory process.

Foreclosure website and how home owners can cut spending

Talking Points
Here’s what's new...

• The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) offers an online guide to preventing foreclosure. The guide provides consumers with information such as how to contact a housing counselor; when and how to talk to their lender; how to find foreclosure resources; tips on avoiding foreclosure and foreclosure scams, as well as information for consumers who cannot keep their home. The guide to preventing foreclosure is available at http://www.hud.gov/foreclosure/.
  
  
• In today’s economy, many homeowners are looking for ways to reduce spending. One way to do so is by reviewing their homeowner’s insurance policy. Raising the deductible from $500 to $1,000, reducing coverage on the “household contents” portion of the policy, and installing home security devices could save as much as 25 percent every month on premiums, according to the Insurance Information Institute.