Short Sales can be a sellers salvation or a sellers nightmare. Property owners in distress have a number of options. Sellers can elect to ignore the situation and let the property go into foreclosure or sellers can be pro-active and look at all their options. If a seller seeks to keep the property one of the best options is to attempt to create a work-out loan modification. The process of a loan modification is similar to steps on a short sale. The lender may seek a statement from the borrower proving that the home owner has a “hardship”. The lender will most likely request a letter of explanation as to why the the individual cannot make the current payment schedule. Lenders may then reduce the principal balance, reduce the payment and interest rate or some combination above. The current situation in most loss mitigation departments is chaos and overwhelm. In order to protect your interest a pay-or should document all conversations and correspondence. Lenders may request that you make a payment to prove your sincerety of completing a negotion and new payment plan. If a loan work out plan cannot be accomplished a seller may choose to do a short sale. A short sale is simply a reduction in the loan balance to faciltate a sale. In most cases the lender will not start the process of a short sale unless the sellers has a contract on the property.
If you are listing a property with a realtor the Bank will want to know that the property was priced at market and exposed to the market for a reasonable amount of time at market prices. This could be 10 days or 90 days depending on the lender. After the property has been listed at market price the listing agent may reduce the property at intervals from one week to 15 days . There is no set price reduction but a reduction of 10% will be acceptable for many banks to prove that the property has been tested on the market. Once an offer is obtained the bank may order one or more broker price opinions. It is not uncommon that a bank will reduce the loan balance by as much as 30% on a first mortgage. In the case of a second mortgage the second lien holder may accept as much as a 90% reduction on the balance. All decisions of the bank are made based on their evaluation of the market value of the property. If the market value is truly lower than the loan balance then the seller is in excellent position to negotiate a short sale contract.
In the event of multiple offers the seller may elect to select the offer with the highest probability of closing and at the highest price.
Tucson short sales are now at an all time high. It helps to have a team on your side. Seek out expert short sale negotiators. If you are a seller start the short sale nnegotaion as soon as you realize you are in trouble. Find a listing broker that is knowledgeable in short sale negotiations. Create your hard ship letter and document your file. Document your case with comparable sales. Have your realtor or short sale negotiator send the file in a highly organized manner. Find out the success rate of your short sale negotiator. The odds of a private party negotiationg a short sale on their own are very low. Even seasoned pros have only a success rate of 40 to 70%. Find out who in the loss mitigation department is handling your file. Keep in mind the individual assigned to your case may have hundreds of file. Do everything you can to make their job easy. www.invest-tucson.com
HUD puts on hold the 90 day property seasoning rule for FHA loans!
HUD announced today January 15, 2010 that it is temporarily relaxing its 90 day seasoning rule which currently prohibits FHA loans for properties owned by the seller for less than 90 days. See the HUD press release for more details.
HUD states today in its public notice that “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.”
The new rule will take effect February 1, 2010 and will be in place for one year. To try to avoid the use of the FHA financing for flipping HUD is putting certain restrictions in place. The new policy will only apply to sales meeting following guidelines
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. These condition include verifying that the property does not have a series of flips in the last year. In additon lender will have to verify that the propertyhas been substantially improved to raise the value of the property.
The waiver is limited to forward mortgages, and does not apply to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase program.
There is more detail on the HUD site which contains the specific requirements applicable.
This new change will be great news to investors that our renovationg neighborhoods and improving values. Many investors felt that the 90 day law slowed down their ability to renovate and re-sell plus increase addional risk of vandalism and holding cost. First time buyers will now have a bigger selection of renovated homes to choose from and this will stabilize the market. The retail market was affected dramatically by the 90 day law and in many cities reo’s dominated the selection availability of homes in many neighborhoods. Renovators that fix and flip homes will now be able to buy larger quantities of homes thus speeding up the process of rejuvenating neighborhoods. Those individuals that fix and flip homes would be wise to read the fine print on huds website.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: 2010, 90 day fha flip law, 90 day flip, Feb 1, flipping, fx and flip, hud, hud policy, stabilize market
With Bank REO and HUD Homes inventories increasing many buyers are having problems getting a winning bid. In Tucson and Pima County its not uncommon to have up to 15 offers on a hot REO property. Its frustrating for buyers to make what they believe is a competitive offer and still loose out. There are techniques to increase the odds of getting a winning bid. Understanding the true market value is a first step in determing what to bid. A competive market analysis of the subdivsion will give a buyer insight as to the true market value. Sometimes Agents will list a property substantially under maket to get a buyer frenzy and multiple offers on the property.
If you are not aware that this is a tactic that may be used then you may not realize that an offer may need to be thousands over the asking price to get in the running for an acceptable bid. Another idea to determine how much buyers are overbidding on a prospective property is to do a sold analysis and look at asking price vs sold price. If you find a Bank reo listing in specific subdivsion check to see the historical data as to how other properties have sold versus the list price.
An informative seminar Real Secrets Revealed is being offered in Tucson at Fidelity Title On thurs Oct 29th 2009 7-9pm..
L & G mortgage, The Biel team, and Fidelity title are sponsoring this seminar. Details are www.TucsonBankRepos.com
Bank reos and Hud homes can be great investments. Its important though to have knowledge on the bidding process and
inventories to insure a good investment. Investors and first time buyers can benifit from education on how to bid on Tucson Hud Homes and Bank REO properties. www.Bielteam.com
To get the latest hud list in Arizona go
to MCBREO.com This is a fantastic website that
will show you the actual bid statistics, weekly list,
and bid results. To bid on a hud home we recommend that you study the bid statistics to see what others are bidding on similar homes. On some homes you may want to bid more and some less than the asking price.
On Oct 29th thurs we will go over bid statistics and strategies on getting a hud or reo home.
plus we go over renovation loans. This event will be at Fidelity Title on thurs day 7-9pm .
L & G mortgage and Eric Oxman will be there.
The Biel Team will present the Hud strategies for getting winning bids and renovation loans.
203k loans be explained. Plus Your way home
grants wil be explained.
details at www.tucsonbankrepos.com
Hud homes are government owned homes offerd by an electronic bid on the internet. In Tucso reo hud homes are placed on the market each friday. At the time of this post approximately 23 hud homes are coming on the market in Pima county each week. Hud has a unique system in which the house price is reduced approximately every 10 days if not sold. An astute home buyer can get an absolute bargain if they know the inside secrets on how to bid on hud homes.
In addition Hud offers renovation loans on properties that have in excess of $5000 worth of repairs. Homes that have less than $5000 worth of repairs maybe offered by a repair escrow. Some homes are insured by FHA and some are uninsured. An insured home will be able to be financed with a FHA 203 b loan. Uninsured properties require cash or if 203k eligible then a renvoation loan can be placed on the property.
Its important to work with an agent and lender that understands the special requirements of a
Hud home loan and 203k loan. Bank reos may not offer a 203k option at the time of sale.
A free seminar on October 29th 2009 will communicate the process on how to bid on hud homes and get a renovation loan,
Details are at www.Tucsonbankrepos.com
Every Friday Hud will post a new list of homes. This week (October 15, 2009) there are 23 total homes in Pima County. The list reflects older homes that did not sell and new homes on the list. The key to tracking HUD homes is to watch this list weekly. Hud will reduce the price approximately in 15 days if the home has not sold. Owner occupants will have the first opportunity to bid on a HUD home. Hud also has a unique program for Firemen, Policemen and teachers. This program is by a a select home that is sold by lottey. Hud will forgive approximately 50% of the price if the buyer lives in the home for 3 years. The inventories of Tucson are expected to rise due to the high number of of foreclsoures in Pima county.
Hud homes can be the best value for individuals looking to buy a home with a low down payment. Currently Hud offers first time buyers a finance program with only $100 down. In many cases you can get your closing cost rolled into the loan.
to recieve a free list of current list of hud list and tucson bank reos check out this link
The deparment of HUD now offers $100 down on owner occupant homes and even offers $100 down for 2nd homes. The 2nd home must be 40 miles away from the owners primary residence.
VA offers 0 down finance at 4.5% rate as of Aug 4, 2009. Investors can get in with 5% downpayment. These are exceptional terms for first time buyers and investors.
In Tucson Arizona we are seeing a spike in the number of HUD and VA homes now on the market. During the boom the average homebuyer did not use HUD finance and instead used sub-prime loans or alt A loans to buy a home. Not that those programs are no longer available the loan of choice is FHA.
It is expected with the unemployment rates going up and the recession still in full force there will be a number of these loans that go into foreclosure. The procedure for buying a HUD home is different then a normal home. HUD homes in Arizona are sold by an internet bidding process. The homes are pre-inspected by HUD and the buyer will have access to the inspection. THe buyer though will not get the normal inspection period as if they were buying a home through mls. Frst time buyers are give a preference on this bidding process for the first few days. Its important that buyers due some time of due diligence up front becasue their is no formal inspection period.
For more information on HUD homes and VA homes and REO Bank Repos check out the information at this website.
www.bielteam.com
Everyone knows that there are tons of bank reo’s but the public is not aware in many cases of the unique programs that HUD offers owner occupants and VA special finance opportunities. HUD currently has a $100 down program if the buyer offers list price! VA has a special program of 0 down payment and a rate of 4.5% (rate subject to change apr 4.9% on 30 year finance)
Investors buying VA homes can also get VA vendor financing which is only 5% down and the same incredible 4.5% rate. To help get the word out the Biel team is offering a free seminar at Fidelity Title at 1630 E River road , Tucson AZ on August 6 at 7-9pm. At this event the team will share the bidding techniques they use for the HUD electronic bidding. In addition they will go over investor bank reo acquistion strategies. Fix and flip formulas will be shared. First time buyers can benifit on using the same systems the pros use to calculate a good opportunity. For more details check out www.BielTeam.com Find out why Tucson Hud homes and VA homes offfer finance opportunites not found with other bank reos.
Recent inventories of REO property once swelling in size now appear to be leveling off with rapid sales of well priced homes for investors and first time buyers. Banks now concerned about a new wave of foreclosures are pricing their homes to sell fast. We have noticed in our Real Estate business that many properties are getting multiple offers.
Investors and first time buyers are competing for this inventory. Also fix and flip artist are entering the market with the sudden realization that home buyers are entering the market. This recent activity is not to say that the market has bottomed out…its just an indication that the market is liquidating inventory by properly pricing. In some neighborhoods plagued by bank reos the lenders realize that if they price low the market will respond by multiple offers and a bidding war. The lenders favorite counter offer is ” Please give us your highest and best offer”
Savvy buyers give their highest and best offer going in. Of course it is tempting to raise your offfer and join a bidding war. For more information on Tucson Real Estate and reo’s go to www.invest-tucson.com
Investors in Tucson Arizona are selling homes in record time using a “Mega Open house technique” . By over marketing and doing an Extreme Renovation investors can sell a home in 48 hours from the time placed on the market. Biel Team in Tucson have created a system of sending out 15,000 flyers inviting the neighborhood to visit an “Extreme Make Over home” . This event wil typically feature a home priced slightly below market though in exceptional condition. Typical rehabbed homes feature new wood floors, new A/C and new windows. Price ranges retail are in the mid 100′s. Recently at a mega open the team had over 60 visitors.
Bank repos in the Tucson market can be purchased for under 100k and sold in the $170k range if the rehab is done in an exception matter. The combination of the extreme make-over and the mega marketing create the buzz that creates an immediate sale. The team has experienced multiple offers in the first 24 hours.
One of the problems though with the technique is that buyers going FHA cannot purchase a home until the seller has owned the homes for 90 days. The team will take non-binding letters of intent from the buyers agent and then write a contract on the 91st day. Lender sold homes renovated by pro investors make a great purchase for the first time buyer. With all new appliances and component replacement the buyer has the peace of mind of little or no maintenace on the home in the immediate future.
Real Estate agents can survive and thrive in a down market by using creative systems and specailizing in the bank reo market and lender owned homes.
