Victory !!! Chase Bank short sale approved!
Well, another short sale is approved. Another happy client, I am so glad that I could help her short sale the home. Avoid the foreclosure on the credit…. Chase hasn’t been the easiest bank to work with however the outcome is the important thing.
If you know of someone in this situation PLEASE help me, let me help them.
I was in Class yesterday and we talked about short sales, and the only way our market will ever recover is to Short Sale Homes… I know some agents don’t want to do it, it is toooooo much work, it is too hard, it is scary!!! Let me tell you when you can call the home owner and say Victory we have the approval letter, the burden that is lifted from them… no more threat of the TRUSTEE’s SALE. You hear it in their voice, you see it on their face.. And that is WHY I do it!

If you need help or know someone who does call or email me.
Lisa@abetterrealty.net 480-655-0904

Mood of the Market
By Tara-Nicholle Nelson                             Inman News™

Foreclosures are old news. Down real estate values? Been there, done that, right? Well, we might all have gotten tired of hearing bad news about the real estate market, but the facts show that in many areas, foreclosure rates will rise before they decline, and a number of other indicators point to things getting worse before they get better.
Reality check: A down market is not all bad news. Weak home values translate into opportunity for buyers — especially when the government keeps rates as low as they presently are to encourage homebuying. Many of the mortgages being foreclosed were toxic and could stand to be purged.
Today’s low prices and record-low interest rates also portend well for the future stability of the housing market in that new homeowners are much less likely to face the problems this last generation of homeowners did (i.e., spiking mortgage payments and plummeting home values).
In any event, the real estate market is likely to stay down or continue to decline, in terms of home values and sales activity, and increased foreclosures, before it improves, for the following reasons:
1. The massive foreclosure backlog. The New York Times recently reported that it would take lenders 62 years — years! — to repossess the 213,000 New York state homes currently in some stage of foreclosures. New Jersey homes? Forty-nine years. Illinois and Massachusetts? A decade.
While the foreclosure pipeline moves more quickly in states where homes can be foreclosed without a court’s involvement, like California (three years), Nevada and Colorado (two years each), the fact remains that there is a massive backlog of homes in mortgage default that will take years to work through.
And the trend is for these foreclosures to take more, not less, time than before — after the robo-signing scandal and related self-imposed freezes, courts and law enforcement have imposed more verification requirements, settlement conferences and more detailed audits of foreclosure files before they will allow repossession to take place.
Despite the fact that the rate of new foreclosure filings has slowed (some say this has more to do with banks being slower to file than any real change in the default rate of homeowners), the rate of foreclosures will increase and/or stay elevated for years to come.
2. Too-tight lending guidelines. How tight is too tight? Lending guidelines are too tight when they screen out creditworthy borrowers, which many industry insiders say today’s loan standards do.
Sixteen percent of REALTORS® reported a contract failure in July, which usually indicates that a borrower who was probably preapproved (i.e., had a good job and credit history) had her loan declined because she failed to pass tough underwriting standards, the property didn’t pass the lenders’ muster, or there was an appraisal problem.
Ron Phipps, president of the National Association of REALTORS®, described this number as “unacceptably high,” explaining that with “both mortgage credit and home appraisals, there’s been a parallel pendulum swing from very loose standards, which led to the housing boom, to unnecessarily restrictive practices as an overreaction to the housing correction.”
Loans originated in 2009 have a default rate right around 1 percent, compared with the 22-27 percent default rate on 2007 loans and the 3 percent default rate on 2003 vintage loans.
These numbers, taken along with the contract-failure numbers, suggest that today’s lending guidelines are a knee-jerk overcorrection that is prohibiting many worthy would-be buyers from becoming owners and limiting the much-needed absorption of the excess inventory of homes on the market.
3. Job market woes and transitions. The national unemployment rate of 9.1 percent is just barely better than the average 2010 rate of 9.6 percent — and job growth totally flat-lined from July to August of this year, the latest available figures.
And those numbers are, many feel, misleadingly optimistic, as many long-term unemployed have stopped being counted, and are underemployed in part-time jobs or working freelance gigs because they have no other option.
Clearly, none of these people will be buying homes anytime soon (most thriving freelancers will need to file two years of tax returns as self-employed before they can qualify to buy); and even some employed would-be buyers are hesitant to enter the market as long as jobs are scarce because they view their own positions as insecure. Job market health is a prerequisite to housing market health.
Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of “The Savvy Woman’s Homebuying Handbook” and “Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions.” Tara is also the Consumer Ambassador and Educator for real estate listings search site Trulia.com. Ask her a real estate question online or visit her website, www.rethinkrealestate.com.

You have Options.. Let me help you!

Mortgage default warnings surged in August
Report: Mortgage default warnings spiked in August, signaling potential new foreclosure wave

Alex Veiga, AP Real Estate Writer, On Thursday September 15, 2011, 12:29 am EDT
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Banks have stepped up their actions against homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments, setting the stage for a fresh wave of foreclosures.

The number of U.S. homes that received an initial default notice — the first step in the foreclosure process — jumped 33 percent in August from July, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.

The increase represents a nine-month high and the biggest monthly gain in four years. The spike signals banks are starting to take swifter action against homeowners, nearly a year after processing issues led to a sharp slowdown in foreclosures.

“This is really the first time we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of new foreclosure actions,” said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. “It’s still possible this is a blip, but I think it’s much more likely we’re seeing the beginning of a trend here.”

Foreclosure activity began to slow last fall after problems surfaced with the way many lenders were handling foreclosure paperwork, namely shoddy mortgage paperwork comprising several shortcuts known collectively as robo-signing.

Many of the nation’s largest banks reacted by temporarily ceasing all foreclosures, re-filing previously filed foreclosure cases and revisiting pending cases to prevent errors.

Other factors have also worked to stall the pace of new foreclosures this year. The process has been held up by court delays in states where judges play a role in the foreclosure process, a possible settlement of government probes into the industry’s mortgage-lending practices, and lenders’ reluctance to take back properties amid slowing home sales.

A pickup in foreclosure activity also means a potentially faster turnaround for the U.S. housing market. Experts say a revival isn’t likely to occur as long as there remains a glut of potential foreclosures hovering over the market.

Foreclosures weigh down home values and create uncertainty among would-be homebuyers who fret over prospects that prices may further decline as more foreclosures hit the market. There are about 3.7 million more homes in some stage of foreclosure now than there would be in a normal housing market, according to Citi analyst Josh Levin.

“This bloated foreclosure pipeline now presents the greatest obstacle to a housing market recovery,” Levin said in a client note this week.

Banks have been working through a backlog of properties that first entered the foreclosure process months, if not years ago. But the August increase in homes entering that process sets the stage for a host of new properties being targeted for foreclosure.

That’s bad news for homeowners who may have grown accustomed to missing payments for several months without the threat of foreclosure bearing down on them. In states such as New York and Florida, for instance, processing delays have helped some homeowners stay in their homes for more than two years before banks got around to taking back their properties.

In all, 78,880 properties received a default notice in August. Despite the sharp increase from July, last month’s total was still down 18 percent versus August last year and 44 percent below the peak set in April 2009, RealtyTrac said.

Some states, however, saw a much larger increase.

California saw a 55 percent increase in homes receiving a default notice last month, while in Indiana they climbed 46 percent. In New Jersey, where last month a judged ruled that four major banks could resume uncontested foreclosure actions in the state under court monitoring, homes receiving a default notice increased 42 percent.

Despite the increase in new defaults, the number of homes scheduled for auction and those repossessed by banks slowed in August.

Scheduled foreclosure auctions declined 1 percent from July and fell 43 percent from a year earlier, RealtyTrac said.

Auctions increased from July levels in several states, including Colorado, where they rose 51 percent, and Arizona, where they grew 20 percent.

Lenders repossessed 64,813 properties last month, a drop of 4 percent from July and down 32 percent from a year earlier. Home repossessions peaked September last year at 102,134.

Banks are now on track to repossess some 800,000 homes this year, down from more than 1 million last year, Sharga said.

The firm had originally anticipated some 1.2 million homes would be repossessed by lenders this year.

In all, 228,098 U.S. homes received a foreclosure-related notice last month, a 7 percent increase from July, but a nearly 33 percent decline from August last year. That translates to one in every 570 U.S. households, said RealtyTrac.

Nevada still leads the nation, with one in every 118 households receiving a foreclosure-related notice last month.

Rounding out the top 10 states with the highest foreclosure rate in August are California, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Michigan, Florida, Illinois, Colorado and Utah.

You have options to Foreclosure

AG HORNE WARNS HOMEOWNERS: MORTGAGE LAWSUIT SCAM HITS ARIZONA
PHOENIX (Monday, August 22, 2011) — Attorney General Tom Horne today issued a warning to consumers to be wary of any notices or advertisements that claim to offer homeowners facing foreclosure “complete forgiveness of the loan” or other monetary relief if they join a class-action lawsuit. Such ploys are likely a pretext to collect illegal up-front fees for foreclosure assistance.
In class action litigation, consumers generally do not have to pay to join, and most reputable firms will not charge a fee for attorneys to review your case or to determine if you are eligible to join a lawsuit.
“The mortgage crisis is only made worse by predators who take advantage of consumers who are already facing the loss of their home,” Horne said. “State and federal law ban almost all types of up-front fees for foreclosure assistance. I am committed to prosecuting anyone who engages in this type of consumer fraud, and it is just as important that consumers be vigilant against these types of scams.”
The California Attorney General recently filed a lawsuit against California lawyer Philip Kramer, the Law Offices of Kramer & Kaslow, plus 19 other lawyer and non-lawyer individuals and companies, for deceptively marketing class action or “mass joinder” lawsuits. The defendants in that case are believed to have taken over $7 million in fees from homeowners in 17 states – including Arizona – after sending out hundreds of thousands of flyers advertising the program. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants advertised nationwide settlements against lenders that did not exist and that many servicers were not provided by lawyers or legal staff.
Notices may be mailed to homeowners or posted on their doors. Typically, the business claims that the fee they are charging is for a forensic audit of your loan documents to see if you are eligible to join the class action litigation. However, the Federal Trade Commission’s Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule (“MARS Rule”) contains a broad ban on requesting or collecting up-front fees for almost all types of mortgage assistance, including forensic audits related to foreclosure relief. Arizona’s foreclosure consultant statute also prohibits companies from collecting an up-front fee for assisting homeowners in foreclosure.
Foreclosure rescue companies may promise to refund your fee if you are not eligible to join the litigation. However, the Office’s experience with guaranteed refunds indicates that they are very difficult to obtain, or the company may disappear before the refund is paid. If you are facing foreclosure, refuse to pay up-front fees and instead contact the Arizona Foreclosure Prevention Helpline at (877) 448-1211 for free assistance provided by HUD approved housing counseling agencies.
If you feel you’ve been a victim of a class joinder scam or any other type of consumer fraud, please contact the Arizona Attorney General’s Office Consumer Information & Complaints Unit at (602) 542-5763 / (520) 628-6504 / (800) 352-8431. You can also file a consumer complaint online at: http://www.azag.gov/consumer/complaintform.html

Foreclosures Sink To 4-Year Low

Posted: 12 Aug 2011 05:47 AM PDT

Foreclosure concentration July 2011Foreclosure activity continues to slow.

According to RealtyTrac, a national foreclosure-tracking firm, the number of foreclosure filings nationwide fell 35 percent as compared to July 2010, a statistic suggesting that the housing market continues to improve.

“Foreclosure filing” is a catch-all term encompassing default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions.

Filings fell to a 44-month low in July 2011.

For all the improvement, though, activity remains concentrated in just a few states. More than half of all bank repossessions last month occurred in just a handful of states.

In July, 6 states accounted for 52% of activity.

1. California : 19% of all repossessions

2. Georgia : 8% of all repossessions

3. Florida : 7% of all repossessions

4. Texas : 6% of all repossessions

5. Michigan : 6% of all repossessions

6. Arizona : 6% of all repossessions

At the other end of the spectrum is Vermont. With just 11 repossessions for all of July, Vermont accounted for 0.016% of repossessions nationwide.

Distressed homes are in high demand with today’s home buyers. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, they account for 30% of all home resales. That’s no surprise, either.

Distressed homes typically sell at 20 percent discounts as compared to non-distressed ones.

But, if buying a foreclosure is in your agenda, be sure to do your homework. Buying bank-owned homes is different from buying from “people”. The contracts are different, the negotiations are different, and the homes are sometimes sold with defects.

If you plan to purchase a foreclosure in Scottsdale, Gilbert, Chandler,Mesa, or Apache Junction including Gold Canyon , therefore, be sure to speak with a licensed real estate agent first. There’s plenty of available information online but when it’s time to buy, have an experienced agent on your side.

Make sure you have a HUD agent if you are looking at HUD homes, have an experienced HUD agent on your side.

Thank you, Mark for sharing this with us. That is mark@awesomerates.com

Lisa Hanawalt

A Better Realty.Net

480-655-0904

Lisa@abetterrealty.net

B of A Donates, Demolishes Houses to Cut Glut
By Lindsey Rupp – Jul 27, 2011 7:43 AM MT

The oversupply of homes once prompted Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), to quip in February 2010 that one solution was to “blow up a lot of houses — a tactic similar to the destruction of autos that occurred with the ‘cash-for-clunkers’ program.’” Photographer: Ronda Churchill/Bloomberg

Bank of America Corp., faced with a glut of foreclosed and abandoned houses it can’t sell, has a new tool to get rid of the most decrepit ones: a bulldozer. Photographer: Jay Mallin/Bloomberg
Bank of America Corp. (BAC), faced with a glut of foreclosed and abandoned houses it can’t sell, has a new tool to get rid of the most decrepit ones: a bulldozer.
The biggest U.S. mortgage servicer will donate 100 foreclosed houses in the Cleveland area and in some cases contribute to their demolition in partnership with a local agency that manages blighted property. The bank has similar plans in Detroit and Chicago, with more cities to come, and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), Citigroup Inc. (C), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Fannie Mae are conducting or considering their own programs.
Disposing of repossessed homes is one of the biggest headaches for lenders in the U.S., where 1,679,125 houses, or one in every 77, were in some stage of foreclosure as of June, according to research firm RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, California. The prospect of those properties flooding the market has depressed prices and driven off buyers concerned that housing values will keep dropping.
“There is way too much supply,” said Gus Frangos, president of the Cleveland-based Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corp., which works with lenders, government officials and homeowners to salvage vacant homes. “The best thing we can do to stabilize the market is to get the garbage off.”

BofA’s 40,000
Bank of America had 40,000 foreclosures in the first quarter, saddling the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender with taxes and maintenance costs. The bank announced the Cleveland program last month, has committed as many as 100 properties in Detroit and 150 in Chicago, and may add as many as nine cities by the end of the year, said Rick Simon, a company spokesman.
The lender will pay as much as $7,500 for demolition or $3,500 in areas eligible to receive funds through the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Uses for the land include development, open space and urban farming, according to the statement. Simon declined to say how many foreclosed properties Bank of America holds.
Ohio ranked among the top 10 states with the most foreclosure filings in June, according to RealtyTrac. The state has 71,617 foreclosed homes, Cuyahoga County 9,797 and Cleveland 6,778, RealtyTrac said.
The tear-downs are in varying states of disrepair, from uninhabitable to badly damaged. Simon said some are worth less than $10,000, and it would cost too much to make them livable.
Unwanted Homes
“No one needs these homes, no one is going to buy them,” said Christopher Thornberg, founding partner at the Los Angeles office of Beacon Economics LLC, a forecasting firm. “Bank of America is not going to be able to cover its losses, so it might as well give them away and get a little write-off and some nice public relations.”
Donating a house may create an income-tax deduction, said Robert Willens, an independent accounting analyst based in New York. A bank might deduct as much as the fair market value if a home wasn’t acquired with the explicit intent of knocking it down, he said.
Wells Fargo and Fannie Mae already started donating houses and demolition funds in Ohio. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, the biggest U.S. home lender, gave 26 properties and $127,000 to the Cuyahoga land bank, said Russ Cross, Midwest regional servicing director for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Since 2009, Wells Fargo made more than 800 donations, the bank said.
Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae, the mortgage-finance company operating under U.S. conservatorship, made its first deal with the Cuyahoga land bank in 2009, and sells houses to the organization at a “very nominal value,” or about $1 and an additional $200 in closing costs, said P.J. McCarthy, who heads alternative disposition programs.
Fannie Mae sold 200 foreclosures to the Cuyahoga organization in 2010 and has similar programs in Detroit and Chicago. Cleveland is the only city where Washington-based Fannie Mae contributes $3,500 toward demolition, McCarthy said.
“It’s an economically justifiable transaction,” McCarthy said. “Holding on to a property that might sell for $1,000 or $2,000 or $5,000 for several hundred days is not in anybody’s best interest.”
JPMorgan, the second-biggest U.S. bank, has donated or sold at a discount almost 1,900 properties valued at more than $100 million in more than 37 states since late 2008, including 22 in Cleveland, said Jim O’Donnell, manager of community revitalization. The majority aren’t demolished, he said.
Nonprofit Role
Citigroup has been donating foreclosures since 2008 through the National Community Stabilization Trust, according to an e- mailed statement from Natalie Abatemarco, managing director for the bank’s office of homeownership preservation. The New York- based company, ranked third among U.S. lenders, is part of the Washington-based nonprofit trust’s pilot program that starts in late August to provide funds for purchases in distressed neighborhoods, and the money can be used toward demolition, Abatemarco said.
Demolishing all of Cleveland’s foreclosed and abandoned properties might cost $250 million, Frangos said. There are as many as 13,000, according to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and Neighborhood Progress Inc., a nonprofit organization working to counter the effects of foreclosures in six Cleveland areas, according to its website. The Cuyahoga County land bank owns about 899 properties and will demolish about 700 in the next six to seven months, Frangos said.
Blow Them Up
The oversupply of homes once prompted Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), to quip in February 2010 that one solution was to “blow up a lot of houses — a tactic similar to the destruction of autos that occurred with the ‘cash-for-clunkers’ program.’”
Still, the knockdowns aren’t likely to outpace foreclosures, said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s senior vice president. Foreclosures may accelerate as banks clear a backlog caused by soft real estate markets and legal disputes over tactics used to seize homes.
“These sorts of programs will basically only be nibbling on the edges,” Sharga said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lindsey Rupp in New York at Lrupp1@bloomberg.net

Lisa Hanawalt

A Better Realty.Net

480-655-0904

Called Bank of America today, wanted to see if they had uploaded the third party authorization form. They did, so they can talk to me. The loan my Sellers have is an FHA loan; FHA cannot go through the Equator system… Bank of America REALLY!!
This one will have to be done long hand…. with the fax machine.
Yes, the fax machine… oh, I am going to have fun..

Remember if you or someone you know is late on their house payments there are options for them. Give me a call or email me.
480-655-0904 lisa@abetterrealty.net

North Scottsdale AZ home for sale in the sought after Gated community of Sonoran Heights. Lovely 4 bedroom 2.5 bath.

Entertainers Home Features:

cul-de-sac lot, north south exposure, large covered patio, private sitting area outside of the master bedroom includes Chiminea, and low maintenance salt water pool. The covered patio and flow of the home create endless areas for entertaining including: a wet bar and wine rack between the formal dining area and family room. The  fireplace in the family room is perfect for the cool desert evenings. French doors in the living room open to the spacious patio, with built in barbeque. French doors open into the kitchen where all appliances remain. Move in and enjoy your new home. Scottsdale School District, Anasazi

Elementary School, Mountainside Jr. High, Desert Mountain High School

This home is a short sale, we have an approved price from the bank!  The bank price is $399,000.00  this is fantastic for this home!

Lisa Hanawalt

A Better Realty .net, Designated Broker

44 South 83rd Place, Mesa, AZ 85208

480-655-0904  fax 1-888-456-4097

Just wanted to remind everyone that we have a Mastermind group that meets once a month on the second Weds at 11:00 am, we meet at Great American Title 1630 S Stapley Dr. Ste 131
Mesa, Arizona, 85204,
Come join us we talk about what is working with Short Sales and what doesn’t work. We share forms, ideas, and help.
Lisa Hanawalt
A Better Realty .Net
480-655-0904

I have been asked this question many times, I thought I would just put it out on the website to help people understand a short sale. It has nothing to do with a quick sale.

From :Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary
short sale
A sale of a house in which the proceeds fall short of what the owner still owes on the mortgage. Short sales usually occur when the homeowner is facing foreclosure. Many lenders will agree to accept the proceeds of a short sale and forgive the rest of what is owed on the mortgage when the owner cannot make the mortgage payments. By accepting a short sale, the lender can avoid a lengthy and costly foreclosure, and the owner is able to pay off the loan for less than what is owed.

If you have any questions or if I can help you or someone you know, please do not hesitate to call or email.. 602-390-4329 lisa@abetterrealty.net