Orlando Short Sale Expert specializing in Pre Foreclosures in the Orlando Florida area

If you are in the Orlando area, and would like to find a real estate agent that has experience handling short sales, we can help.

Avoid Foreclosure, what are your options?

Avoid Foreclosure

 

 

 

 

If you fall behind in your mortgage payments you will receive a lot of mailers offering to help you get out of your unfortunate situation. Many of these people are looking to take advantage of someone in a difficult situation. Often, the reason someone falls behind on their mortgage is due to a situation they had little control of. Jerry LaRose is here to work with you and make sure that before you do anything, you know all of your options. We have helped many clients work through difficult issues with their home and help them find the solution that makes the most sense.

The # 1 thing you need to make sure you never do is sign anything you are not familiar with. DO NOT SIGN anything with ANYONE offering a service that seems too good to be true. Many people are forced into doing something they don’t understand and it often puts the homeowner in a very vulnerable position. Don’t Do It, Don’t Sign Anything!

Options to Consider When Facing Foreclosure

   

 

Option # 1    Sell Your Home

Depending on the market and area you live in, you may consider selling you home if you have enough equity to pay off your existing liens. However, you may not be able to do a regular sale if you owe more than what your home is worth. Using an experienced Realtor that works closely with banks will give you the time needed to sell your property at the highest price possible. We can help with this process and provide our many years of real estate experience.

Option # 2    A Short Sale – Not a Typical Sale

Refinancing your home and paying off the existing loan sounds easy and it may be an option that you have already pursued. In this current real estate market it has become almost impossible to refinance your home if you have less than 10-20% of equity. We may be able to show you some loan options that you have not been presented with but it’s probably likely you have already explored this option and will not have many if any refinancing options available. Jerry LaRose works with many different lenders and has access to many different types of loan programs but the refinance market has become very limited. Contact Us today, we would be happy to provide you a quick, accurate loan quote. If your ultimate goal is to stay in your home and you can’t refinance your home your best option may be a loan modification.

Option # 4    Negotiate a Forbearance Agreement

 

The advantages for the homeowner are to avoid foreclosure and not go through the difficult process that it entails. It will release all or most of the liability from the homeowner and allow the bank to turn around and sell the property much sooner without the bank having to spend additional time and money going through the foreclosure process. This would be a good option to consider if you feel that there will be no benefit from you selling your home or doing a short sale.

Option # 6    Do Nothing – Just Let it Go

You can always let your home go into foreclosure and do nothing. Sometimes the situation seems so overwhelming and this may be a good option. We don’t recommend that you do this, and would suggest that you talk to someone so you can determine if any of the options above would make more sense. Please feel free to ask any questions you have in our real estate forum. We have agents that will provide you with answers to all of your real estate questions. You can also contact us if you feel more comfortable. It’s important that you talk to someone that you can trust, and not someone that is looking to take advantage of someone in a difficult situation. There are many real estate scams and you don’t want to become a victim because you didn’t seek a second opinion. You may have some options that you are unaware of.

Please call us today if you have any additional questions.

 

Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of real estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area. Please visit www.JerrySellsOrlando.com for your real estate needs, or visit OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com for information on Short sales and Pre Foreclosures.  Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

 Jerry LaRose, P.A., ABR, GRI, e-PRO, CLHMS, REALTOR® 407-580-7011

 

 

 

 

jerrylarose Loan Modification, MOrtgage Foregiveness Debt Relief Act, Short Sales Avoid Foreclosure Orlando, BPO, HR 3648, Orlando Foreclosures, Orlando Short Sales, Short Sale Expert in Orlando, Windermere FL. Short sales & foreclosures specialist

Just Receive the following notice today from a local lender…..

HUD Secretary Donovan and FHA Commissioner testified that they expect FHA to announce major changes to esure FHA’s long-term financial soundness.  Some examples are as follows:

1)      Increase the down payment required from 3.5% to 5%

2)      Raise the upfront premium from 1.75% to as much as 3%

3)      Eliminate the ability to roll in to loan that up front premium

4)      Increase monthly MIP from .55%

5)      Reduce seller concessions from 6% to 3%

6)      Raise minimum FICO score

7)      Possible LTV maximums by FICO score

8)      Increase accountability of FHA Lenders for fraud

Timing:  “We expect these changes to be announced soon and could be implemented within a couple months.  None of these changes requires congressional approval and can be made administratively and therefore can be implemented quickly.”

This is of course going to make it tougher and more expensive for borrowers to obtain FHA loans and therefore reduce the number of eligible borrowers.

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Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area. Please visit http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com for your real estate needs.  Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange or Osceola County Florida and Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden,  Kissimmee or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. Call us at 407-580-7011 to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales.

jerrylarose Uncategorized

The news is spreading fast…  As reported out from FHA on January 15, 2010

HUD TAKES ACTION TO SPEED RESALE OF FORECLOSED PROPERTIES TO NEW OWNERS

Measure to help bring stability to home values and accelerate sale of vacant properties, perhaps this will start clearing the glut of homes in the Orlando area.

In an effort to stabilize home values and improve conditions in communities where foreclosure activity is high, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced a temporary policy that will expand access to FHA mortgage insurance and allow for the quick resale of foreclosed properties.

The announcement is part of the Obama administration commitment to addressing foreclosure. Just yesterday, Secretary Donovan announced $2 billion in Neighborhood Stabilization Program grants to local communities and nonprofit housing developers to combat the effects of vacant and abandoned homes.

“As a result of the tightened credit market, FHA-insured mortgage financing is often the only means of financing available to potential homebuyers,” said Donovan. “FHA has an unprecedented opportunity to fulfill its mission by helping many homebuyers find affordable housing while contributing to neighborhood stabilization.”

With certain exceptions, FHA currently prohibits insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days. This temporary waiver will give FHA borrowers access to a broader array of recently foreclosed properties.

“This change in policy is temporary and will have very strict conditions and guidelines to assure that predatory practices are not allowed,” Donovan said.

In today’s market, FHA research finds that acquiring, rehabilitating and the reselling these properties to prospective homeowners often takes less than 90 days. Prohibiting the use of FHA mortgage insurance for a subsequent resale within 90 days of acquisition adversely impacts the willingness of sellers to allow contracts from potential FHA buyers because they must consider holding costs and the risk of vandalism associated with allowing a property to sit vacant over a 90-day period of time.

The policy change will permit buyers to use FHA-insured financing to purchase HUD-owned properties, bank-owned properties, or properties resold through private sales. This will allow homes to resell as quickly as possible, helping to stabilize real estate prices and to revitalize neighborhoods and communities. “FHA borrowers, because of the restrictions we are now lifting, have often been shut out from buying affordable properties,” said FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens.

“This action will enable our borrowers, especially first-time buyers, to take advantage of this opportunity.” The waiver will take effect on February 1, 2010 and is effective for one year, unless otherwise extended or withdrawn by the FHA Commissioner.

To protect FHA borrowers against predatory practices of “flipping” where properties are quickly resold at inflated prices to unsuspecting borrowers, this waiver is limited to those sales meeting the following general conditions: * All transactions must be arms-length, with no identity of interest between the buyer and seller or other parties participating in the sales transaction.

* In cases in which the sales price of the property is 20 percent or more above the seller’s acquisition cost, the waiver will only apply if the lender meets specific conditions.

* The waiver is limited to forward mortgages, and does not apply to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase program. Specific conditions and other details of this new temporary policy are in the text of the waiver, available on HUD’s website.

If you enjoy reading legalese, the waiver of 24 CFR 203.37a(b)(2) may be found here:

http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/waivpropflip2010.pdf

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Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area. Please visit http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com for your real estate needs.  Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange or Osceola County Florida and Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden,  Kissimmee or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. Call us at 407-580-7011 to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales.

jerrylarose FHA - seasoning requirement, Mortgages, Short Sales FHA lifts 90-day seasoning, Orlando Short Sales

The Obama administration’s $75 billion program to protect homeowners from foreclosure has been widely pronounced a disappointment, and some economists and real estate experts now contend it has done more harm than good.
Since President Obama announced the program in February, it has lowered mortgage payments on a trial basis for hundreds of thousands of people but has largely failed to provide permanent relief.

Critics increasingly argue that the program, Making Home Affordable, has raised false hopes among people who simply cannot afford their homes.
As a result, desperate homeowners have sent payments to banks in often-futile efforts to keep their homes, which some see as wasting dollars they could have saved in preparation for moving to cheaper rental residences.

Some borrowers have seen their credit tarnished while falsely assuming that loan modifications involved no negative reports to credit agencies.
Some experts argue the program has impeded economic recovery by delaying a wrenching yet cleansing process through which borrowers give up unaffordable homes and banks fully reckon with their disastrous bets on real estate, enabling money to flow more freely through the financial system.

“The choice we appear to be making is trying to modify our way out of this, which has the effect of lengthening the crisis,” said Kevin Katari, managing member of Watershed Asset Management, a San Francisco-based hedge fund. “We have simply slowed the foreclosure pipeline, with people staying in houses they are ultimately not going to be able to afford anyway.”

Mr. Katari contends that banks have been using temporary loan modifications under the Obama plan as justification to avoid an honest accounting of the mortgage losses still on their books.
Only after banks are forced to acknowledge losses and the real estate market absorbs a now pent-up surge of foreclosed properties will housing prices drop to levels at which enough Americans can afford to buy, he argues.

“Then the carpenters can go back to work,” Mr. Katari said. “The roofers can go back to work, and we start building housing again. If this drips out over the next few years, that whole sector of the economy isn’t going to recover.”
The Treasury Department publicly maintains that its program is on track.

“The program is meeting its intended goal of providing immediate relief to homeowners across the country,” a department spokeswoman, Meg Reilly, wrote in an e-mail message. But behind the scenes, Treasury officials appear to have concluded that growing numbers of delinquent borrowers simply lack enough income to afford their homes and must be eased out.

In late November, with scant public disclosure, the Treasury Department started the Foreclosure Alternatives Program, through which it will encourage arrangements that result in distressed borrowers surrendering their homes. The program will pay incentives to mortgage companies that allow homeowners to sell properties for less than they owe on their mortgages — short sales, in real estate parlance. The government will also pay incentives to mortgage companies that allow delinquent borrowers to hand over their deeds in lieu of foreclosing.

Ms. Reilly, the Treasury spokeswoman, said the foreclosure alternatives program did not represent a new policy.
“We have said from the start that modifications will not be the solution for all homeowners and will not solve the housing crisis alone,” Ms. Reilly said by e-mail. “This has always been a multi-pronged effort.”

Whatever the merits of its plans, the administration has clearly failed to reverse the foreclosure crisis. In 2008, more than 1.7 million homes were “lost” through foreclosures, short sales or deeds in lieu of foreclosure, according to Moody’s Economy.com.
Last year, more than two million homes were lost, and Economy.com expects that this year’s number will swell to 2.4 million.

“I don’t think there’s any way for Treasury to tweak their plan, or to cajole, pressure or entice servicers to do more to address the crisis,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “For some folks, it is doing more harm than good, because ultimately, at the end of the day, they are going back into the foreclosure morass.”

Mr. Zandi argues that the administration needs a new initiative that attacks a primary source of foreclosures: the roughly 15 million American homeowners who are underwater, meaning they owe the bank more than their home is worth.
Increasingly, such borrowers are inclined to walk away and accept foreclosure, rather than continuing to make payments on properties in which they own no equity.

A paper by researchers at the Amherst Securities Group suggests that being underwater “is a far more important predictor of defaults than unemployment.”
From its inception, the Obama plan has drawn criticism for failing to compel banks to write down the size of outstanding mortgage balances, which would restore equity for underwater borrowers, giving them greater incentive to make payments.

A vast majority of modifications merely decrease monthly payments by lowering the interest rate.
Mr. Zandi proposes that the Treasury Department push banks to write down some loan balances by reimbursing the companies for their losses.

He pointedly rejects the notion that government ought to get out of the way and let foreclosures work their way through the market, saying that course risks a surge of foreclosures and declining house prices that could pull the economy back into recession.

“We want to overwhelm this problem,” he said. “If we do go back into recession, it will be very difficult to get out.”
Under the current program, the government provides cash incentives to mortgage companies that lower monthly payments for borrowers facing hardships.
The Treasury Department set a goal of three to four million permanent loan modifications by 2012.

“That’s overly optimistic at this stage,” said Richard H. Neiman, the superintendent of banks for New York State and an appointee to the Congressional Oversight Panel, a body created to keep tabs on taxpayer bailout funds. “There’s a great deal of frustration and disappointment.”
As of mid-December, some 759,000 homeowners had received loan modifications on a trial basis typically lasting three to five months.
But only about 31,000 had received permanent modifications — a step that requires borrowers to make timely trial payments and submit paperwork verifying their financial situation.

The government has pressured mortgage companies to move faster. Still, it argues that trial modifications are themselves a considerable help.
“Almost three-quarters of a million Americans now are benefiting from modification programs that reduce their monthly payments dramatically, on average $550 a month,” Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said last month at a hearing before the Congressional Oversight Panel. “That is a meaningful amount of support.”

But mortgage experts and lawyers who represent borrowers facing foreclosure argue that recipients of trial loan modifications often wind up worse off.
In Lakeland, Fla., Jaimie S. Smith, 29, called her mortgage company, then Washington Mutual, in October 2008, when she realized she would get a smaller bonus from her employer, a furniture company, threatening her ability to continue the $1,250 monthly mortgage payments on her three-bedroom house.
In April, Chase, which had taken over Washington Mutual, lowered her payment to $1,033.62 in a trial that was supposed to last three months.
Ms. Smith made all three payments on time and submitted required documents, Chase confirms.She called the bank almost weekly to inquire about a permanent loan modification.

Each time, she says, Chase told her to continue making trial payments and await word on a permanent modification. Then, in October, a startling legal notice arrived in the mail: Chase had foreclosed on her house and sold it at auction for $100. The purchaser? Chase. “I cried,” she said.“I was hysterical. I bawled my eyes out.”
Later that week came another letter from Chase: “Congratulations on qualifying for a Making Home Affordable loan modification!”

When Ms. Smith frantically called the bank to try to overturn the sale, she was told that the house was no longer hers. Chase would not tell her how long she could remain there, she says. She feared the sheriff would show up at her door with eviction papers, or that she would return home to find her belongings piled on the curb. So Ms. Smith anxiously set about looking for a new place to live.

She had been planning to continue an online graduate school program in supply chain management, and she had about $4,000 in borrowed funds to pay tuition.
She scrapped her studies and used the money to pay the security deposit and first month’s rent on an apartment.
Later, she hired a lawyer, who is seeking compensation from Chase. A judge later vacated the sale.
Chase is still offering to make her loan modification permanent, but Ms. Smith has already moved out and is conflicted about what to do.

“I could have just walked away,” said Ms. Smith. “If they had said, ‘We can’t work with you,’ I’d have said: ‘What are my options? Short sale?’ None of this would have happened. God knows, I never would have wanted to go through this. I’d still be in grad school. I would not have paid all that money to them. I could have saved that money.”

A Chase spokeswoman, Christine Holevas, confirmed that the bank mistakenly foreclosed on Ms. Smith’s house and sold it at the same time it was extending the loan modification offer.

“There was a systems glitch,” Ms. Holevas said. “We are sorry that an error happened. We’re trying very hard to do what we can to keep folks in their homes. We are dealing with many, many individuals.”

Many borrowers complain they were told by mortgage companies their credit would not be damaged by accepting a loan modification, only to discover otherwise.
In a telephone conference with reporters, Jack Schakett, Bank of America’s credit loss mitigation executive, confirmed that even borrowers who were current before agreeing to loan modifications and who then made timely payments were reported to credit rating agencies as making only partial payments.
The biggest source of concern remains the growing numbers of underwater borrowers — now about one-third of all American homeowners with mortgages, according to Economy.com.

The Obama administration clearly grasped the threat as it created its program, yet opted not to focus on writing down loan balances.
“This is a conscious choice we made, not to start with principal reduction,” Mr. Geithner told the Congressional Oversight Panel. “We thought it would be dramatically more expensive for the American taxpayer, harder to justify, create much greater risk of unfairness.”

Mr. Geithner’s explanation did not satisfy the panel’s chairwoman, Elizabeth Warren.
“Are we creating a program in which we’re talking about potentially spending $75 billion to try to modify people into mortgages that will reduce the number of foreclosures in the short term, but just kick the can down the road?” she asked, raising the prospect “that we’ll be looking at an economy with elevated mortgage foreclosures not just for a year or two, but for many years. How do you deal with that problem, Mr. Secretary?”

A good question, Mr. Geithner conceded.
“What to do about it,” he said. “That’s a hard thing.”
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Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area. Please visit http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com for your real estate needs. Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.
P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange or Osceola County Florida and Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. Call us at 407-580-7011 to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales

jerrylarose Foreclosures, Loan Modifications, Mortgage Relief

Navigating the U.S. Treasury’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP)

Walnut Creek, CA, November 19, 2009 /PRNewswire/ — PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., (NYSE: PMI) today introduced a new video to help homeowners experiencing financial hardship understand the benefits of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and how they can take advantage of this important program. HAMP is the national loan modification program offered in the Obama Administration’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan which mortgage servicers are implementing broadly to bring long-term affordability to homeowners struggling to keep their homes. Navigating the Home Affordable Modification Program, one of the first videos available for homeowners, explains the benefits, eligibility requirements and types of adjustments that can be made to mortgage loans. The video also provides a realistic example of a couple’s experience before-and-after receiving a HAMP modification.

“Foreclosure prevention is critical to the U.S. housing market and the stability of communities,” said John Jelavich, head of PMI’s Homeownership Preservation Initiatives group. “Distressed homeowners who are facing the prospect of losing their home need to know that help is available for those truly interested in saving their homes. This instructional video leverages the growing popularity of internet-based video to give homeowners an overview of how HAMP works and their important role in the process.”

Navigating the Home Affordable Modification Program is divided into two parts. Part I is a basic orientation for viewers who may not have heard of HAMP, the objectives of the program, how to determine if your loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and how to find out if you qualify. Part II discusses the information homeowners need to provide their mortgage servicer, demonstrates how affordability is achieved through a realistic example, and the steps homeowners need to take to ensure success in modifying their loan.

Additional information about alternatives to foreclosure can be found on www.HomeSafePMI.com. Sponsored by PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., the site offers a Mortgage Options Assessment Tool that enables homeowners to organize, calculate, and produce reports on their current financial situations prior to meeting their servicer or counselors to discuss solutions to foreclosure. This free tool is available to anyone.

About PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.

The PMI Group, Inc. (NYSE: PMI), headquartered in Walnut Creek, CA provides credit enhancement solutions that expand homeownership while supporting our customers and the communities they serve. Through its wholly and partially owned subsidiaries, PMI offers residential mortgage insurance and credit enhancement products. For more information: www.pmi-us.com.

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Orlando Short-sale sellers and their agents have plenty to think about, and it is understandable if they are annoyed by the reams of paperwork that may come their way. Nonetheless, it really is important not only to pay attention to what is in the paperwork but also to be sure to retain it for possible future use. This is because of bad consequences that the seller may experience sometime after the sale has taken place.

Bad enough that a Orlando short sale involves the loss of one’s home with no equity to show for it, and a credit negative that may last for years; it also has the potential to produce two very bad after-effects. One is that the lender, or the lender’s assignee, may continue to pursue the beleaguered seller for the remainder of the debt. The other is that the I.R.S. may come knocking on the seller’s door, seeking tax on the amount of debt that was unpaid.

The first possibility is often contained in the paperwork that goes along with the seller’s ok of the short sale. The borrower may be required to sign a promissory note for the difference between the debt owed and the short sale proceeds received by the lender. Or, a lender may require the borrower to sign a paper acknowledging that the lender reserves its right to pursue the borrower for this amount.

The second possibility resides in the fact that, if a debt is forgiven, the borrower may be taxed on the amount he didn’t have to pay back. (see I.R.S. publication 4681). To be sure, there may be short sales where the debt that is unpaid is not taxable. For those exemptions, see a tax accountant.

The point here is that the short-sale seller may suffer one of those unpleasant consequences; but he ought not to suffer both.

The point is raised because here is what can happen: In allowing the short sale, the bank requires the borrower to sign a note for the difference, or to acknowledge that the bank has the right to take action to collect that amount. Also, probably sometime later, the bank sends out a 1099-C, informing the I.R.S. that a certain amount of debt had been cancelled.

NO ONE who has dealt with a short sale would raise the question: “How could this happen? The two actions contradict each other!” That is because anyone who has been through the process knows that it is common for the right hand of the bank not to know what the left hand is doing. Indeed, it is not uncommon for the right hand not to know what the right hand is doing.

This is why it is important for the seller to be sure to keep his paperwork. If he signed a document to the effect that the bank was going to pursue its unpaid interest, he should hang on to that. Then, if he receives a 1099-C saying that the debt was forgiven (and, therefore, taxable), he will have support for the claim that the 1099-C is incorrect.

Conversely, suppose that there was no specific release of the debt and that the paperwork contained no reference to it. Then, if the seller receives a 1099-C, saying the debt was cancelled, he should keep that, just in case the bank, or its assignee, comes calling a year or so later, trying to collect the debt.

None of what has been said here should be construed as tax or legal advice. I am not certified to do that sort of thing. But I hope this little piece will encourage short-sale sellers to consult with their appropriate advisors about these matters.

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Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area. Please visit http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com for your real estate needs.  Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange or Osceola County Florida and Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden,  Kissimmee or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. Call us at 407-580-7011 to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales.

jerrylarose Seller Advise, Short Sale Tax Consequences, Short Sales Short Sales & Taxes

Members of the military who find themselves in a short-sale situation now have a new tool via the Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP) through the Department of Defense (DoD).

Congress expanded HAP when they passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; and now nearly every military personnel involved in a short sale can get financial help through HAP if they find themselves upside down when they must sell because of a mandatory permanent transfer.

The HAP website (http://hap.usace.army.mil) contains several brochures for military personnel and for real estate professionals to help understand the expanded guidelines for those using the program.

Authorized under Section 1013 of the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966, HAP is a law that is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “to assist eligible homeowners who face financial loss when selling their primary residence homes in areas where real estate values have declined because of a base closure or realignment announcement.” The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act expands the legislation temporarily for DoD employees caught up in the mortgage crisis. Those who can apply for assistance include:

• service members and DOD employees who are wounded, injured or become ill when deployed;
• surviving spouses of service members or DOD employees killed or died of wounds while deployed;
• service members and civilian employees assigned to BRAC 05 organizations; and
• service members required to permanently relocate during the home mortgage crisis.

The assistance is limited to employees who were reassigned within about a 5-and-a-half year period between 2006 and 2012 and the house being considered must have been the applicant’s primary residence. Some of the criteria for eligibility include:

1. Permanent reassignment requires move of more than 50 miles.
2. Reassignment ordered between 1 February 2006 and 30 September 2012.
3. Property purchased (or contract to purchase signed) before 1 July 2006.
4. Property was the primary residence of the owner
5. Owner has not previously received these benefit payments.

An online brochure, which can be printed via a PDF file, is available here.

This next paragraph is very important for purchasers of houses where the HAP program is being used.

The execution of this program requires the assignment of the contract to the Department of Defense, via the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In essence, the seller conveys the house over to the USACE and then the purchaser buys the house from the USACE all at the same time at the same settlement or escrow table. Your state laws may require a few differences, but this is how it’s executed on the ground level.

Many Realtor contracts contain paragraphs that will not allow the assignment of a contract, so military sellers using HAP may need to strike this paragraph to allow the contract to go through without any hiccups.

An “assigned” contract is one where one party in a sales contract can assign their interests over to a third party before settlement. It would say something like: “this contract is between ‘Mr. and Mrs. Seller’ and ‘Mr. and Mrs. Buyer and/or assigns.’”

With this language, it allows Mr. and Mrs. Buyer to slip in Mr. and Mrs. Buyer-2 at some point in the performance of the contract. It’s legal, and is usually used via a pre-foreclosure contract where one party is finding houses for sale and selling them to a secondary buyer once they get the terms of the contract in place.

Thus, in the use of the DoD’s HAP program, the purchaser needs to understand that at the end of their contract, before they go to settlement, the seller will no longer be Mr. and Mrs. Seller, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

For details on how the HAP program works, visit here.

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Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area. Please visit http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com for your real estate needs.  Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange or Osceola County Florida and Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden,  Kissimmee or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. Call us at 407-580-7011 to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales.

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In an attempt to try to keep my Orlando area homeowners updated below you will find a list of Government Funded Programs in which you may qualify for. You may be asking yourself why are we offering this information if it could potentially lose us customers/business. Simply put, we are in the business of helping homeowners not taking advantage of them. Every time a homeowner reaches out to us for help, we give the customer all available options and let THEM decide what’s best for their current situation.

We will NEVER make this decision for you. If you are facing foreclosure and have exhausted all options, and just want to move on with your life, contact us IMMEDIATELY so we can work with the lender, on your behalf, to STOP the foreclosure process and help preserve your credit. Remember, it is imperative that you do everything possible to avoid a foreclosure.  A foreclosure will drastically reduce the chances of you obtaining financing in the near future. 

 

 

Information and Resources for individuals facing Foreclosure:

 

• HUD (Department of Housing & Urban Development) Foreclosure Resources
• HOPE for Homeowner(s) Program
• Making HOME Affordable Program

President Obama’s Housing Plan: (see if you may qualify)

• White House.Gov Website
• Financial Stability.Gov Website

Help for homeowner(s) with the following loans:

• Freddie Mac Loans Facing Foreclosure
• Fannie Mae Loans Facing Foreclosure
• VA Foreclosure Assistance

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Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area. Please visit http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com for your real estate needs.  Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange or Osceola County Florida and Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden,  Kissimmee or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. Call us at 407-580-7011 to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales.

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What is foreclosure?

Foreclosure is when a property owner defaults on a mortgage loan and the lender/lienholder obtains a court order allowing them to seize and resell the property. Once a foreclosure is issued the homeowner no longer has equitable rights to the property. Foreclosure notice is typically issued when a property owner is 90 days late on their mortgage payments.

Negative Affects of Foreclosure 

A foreclosure can be devastating not only to your life, but especially your credit. A foreclosure should be avoided at all cost. A foreclosure can damage your credit for up to 7 years, making it virtually impossible to get any type of conventional financing. Even if you qualify for traditional financing your interest rate, in most cases, will be so high you may end up paying double the amount of what your mortgage is actually worth.

How to STOP Foreclosure

If you are currently facing a foreclosure in Orlando, we urge you to ACT NOW! It is imperative to discuss all options that you have available to stop this process to prevent further damage. Before your home is foreclosed on it must go through the pre-foreclosure process. This will be the stage in which we can best assist you. The worst thing you can do is nothing or wait until it is too late! There may even be government funded programs or other options which would allow you to remain in your home. Please contact us immediately so that we can discuss all of your possiblities!

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Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area. Please visit http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com for your real estate needs.  Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange or Osceola County Florida and Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden,  Kissimmee or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. Call us at 407-580-7011 to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales.

jerrylarose Foreclosures, Seller Advise Avoiding Foreclosure in Orlando

 

If the latest numbers on credit card delinquency is any indicator, U.S. consumers are starting to get a handle on their credit card debt. In the 3rd quarter of this year, according to data from TransUnion, a credit reporting agency, the delinquency rate dropped to 1.1 percent.

The Associated press reports: “The decline is significant because of its timing. Delinquency rates usually rise in the third quarter from the prior period as people spend on summer vacations and back-to-school shopping,” said Clifton O’Neal, a TransUnion spokesman.” How you handle your debt affects your credit score and rating, which is what affects your ability to get a loan to purchase a home. The good thing about credit scores is that they are merely a snapshot of your credit at a given time. Missed payments, high credit vs. limits, too much credit, et. al., can all be corrected and cleaned up and your credit score return to a new high level.

Tim McLaughlin, senior vice president of Weichert Financial Services, answers the question – what dings on your credit affect your score and why it seems all the good loans (low rates, low/zero point, and even product availability), seem to favor those with good credit.

The Fair Isaac Corporation maintains the most popularly used score (referred to as the FICO score) and it ranges from 300 to 850. They also have a great resource on how to understand the score: What I like about McLaughlin’s information from his Market Monitor newsletter is that he provides the number of points your score will drop or increase with these items in place or cleaned up.

“There are five major ‘dings’ that impact your DCS (Decision Credit Score, or FICO score) the most, some obvious, some not so obvious: Maxed out credit cards: Doesn’t seem like a big deal in the grand scheme of things, right? Oh, it is: a maxed out credit card can reduce your DCS anywhere from 10 to 45 points, according to Fair Isaacs, a hefty price to pay for accumulating debt.

30 Day late mortgage payment: In addition to the late fees, this occurrence adversely impacts your DCS by 60 to 110 points … a whopping impact for being late on your mortgage.

Debt settlement: Also known as debt arbitration or debt negotiation, it is an approach to debt reduction in which the debtor and creditor agree on a reduced balance that will be regarded as payment in full. The downside, a 45 to 125 point drop in your DCS.

Foreclosure: Unfortunately, an occurrence we are seeing far too often as of late. In addition to the event, it will reduce your DCS 85 to 160 points.

Bankruptcy: The event that would have the single biggest negative impact on your DCS, reducing your score 130 to 240 points; an almost irreparable event.”

FICO has its own web site dealing with the scoring prices and it’s a good starting place for those trying to repair their credit rating.

Here are the three credit reporting agencies that use the FICO score:

Equifax (www.equifax.com)

TransUnion (www.TransUnion.com)

Experian (www.Experian.com)

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Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area. Please visit http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com for your real estate needs.  Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange or Osceola County Florida and Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden,  Kissimmee or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. Call us at 407-580-7011 to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales

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With all the stimulus packages being floated out there at costs of up to $5,000 per tax payer (per program), the question comes begging about the Homebuyer Tax Credit.

“At $8,000 for each first-time homebuyer and now $6,500 for move-up buyers – how much is that going to cost the American taxpayers?” Good question. Not knowing how many people will be able to take advantage of it, we’ll have to start with some guestimates.

Keep in mind, first, that about 4.5 million existing home sold in 2008 altogether and we have been on track to sell roughly the same in 2009.

For 2009, the tax credit was only for first-time buyers and up to $8,000 (10% of the sales price, not to exceed $8,000). So not everyone received the $8,000 if they purchased a house less than $80,000 – but let’s go ahead and say they did for argument sake.

If the stats hold true, and that is about half of all buyers are first-timers, then there were 2.25 million buyers that qualified (assuming they didn’t go beyond the income limits – which many did). But for simplicity, we’ll say they all qualified.

Simple math puts the tax credits at $18 billion for 2009 that doesn’t have to be paid back. For all the money that’s being floated out there to stimulate the economy, this is probably the best plan in play.

Now, before all my conservative friends blow a vein behind their eyeballs that are now popping, here’s what happens when a homeowner purchases a house (vs., say when someone buys a car or some other depreciating asset). They spend money on it. Lots of money.

The foreclosures/short sales that have made up most of the market for the last 2 years are mostly in paltry condition and need paint, carpet, appliances, countertops, cabinets, windows, landscaping, rot replacement, sump pumps, mold remediation, heat pumps, etc.

Unless you saw these houses, you just wouldn’t understand. I’m not talking “updating” homes that would otherwise be in good living condition, but making them inhabitable altogether. In fact, regular home buyers like you and me can’t even finance many of these houses because of the condition they’re in.

People get into a tizzy about home flippers swooping in and making “all this money” by flipping a house. Let me tell you – without the flippers some of these houses would completely fall apart. Remember, that lenders WON’T LEND MONEY on a house without complete bathrooms, that are mold invested, lack certain appliances, etc. And the REO banks WON’T fix them up to sell them. They just let them deteriorate while they wait for a buyer.

Enter the investor/rehabber who purchases the house with either cash or off-line financing, then fixes it up to pristine condition, sells it at a fair price and moves on to the next project. They are providing a much-needed service to even make the houses salable, much less inhabitable.

Now, as the market turns around in city after city (that’s what the increase in pending sales is all about across the country), we’ll see an increase in sales and a use of the home buyer tax credit to fix up the housing pool.

The tax credit for home buyers has played its role and now it will go away April 30, 2010. The question for consumers is will they recognize and act on a good deal when they see it?

 

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Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area. Please visit http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com for your real estate needs.  Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange or Osceola County Florida and Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden,  Kissimmee or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. Call us at 407-580-7011 to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales.

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