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I recently acquired my Certified Distressed Property Expert (C) (CDPE) designation. A CDPE is a real estate professional with specific understanding of the complex issues that confront homeowners in distress. Through comprehensive training and market experience, CDPE’s are able to provide real solutions for homeowners facing hardships in today’s market. My goal with this designation is to shorten the legal section in our local community newspapers here in the North Georgia Mountains with each passing week. In doing so, I will simply be helping families to stay in their homes, helping them to realize that there are many options other than walking away and ultimately facing Foreclosure. However a successfully negotiated Short Sale has consequences, and I would like to share with you 7 possible pitfalls or legal risks that you and your agent need to be aware of.
1. Misrepresenting tax consequences.
Although it’s true that the federal government passed a law in 2007 directing the IRS not to count mortgage debt forgiven by a lender as income, the provision is limited. It applies only to purchase money; it doesn’t apply to debt on a cash-out refinancing, and it doesn’t apply to second homes. There’s also a dollar limitation, albeit a generous one ($1 million for married couples filing separately, twice that for joint filers). “A lot of associates are telling people there are no tax consequences,” says Lance Churchill, a short sales specialist and trainer who operates in Boise, Idaho, and San Diego. “But it’s a limited law and you just need to be accurate about it.”
2. Misrepresenting how secondary debt is treated.
Practitioners might mistakenly tell sellers that all the house debt is forgiven once the primary lender approves a short sale. But that might not be the case, Churchill says. Holders of second deeds of trust don’t typically forgive the debt. More commonly, they accept a partial payment, like $2,000; and rather than write off the balance, they sell the balance to a collection agency for another few thousand dollars. In many states, these second loans are recourse, so sellers can be caught by surprise when the collection agency contacts them a year later seeking payment of the debt.
3. Acting on inappropriate lender requests for seller contributions.
It’s not uncommon for lenders to go after money that the sellers have in the bank or in a retirement account before they approve a short sale request. They’ll sometimes seek to put the onus on the real estate practitioner to get sellers to sign over a note for the amount they have in the bank as a condition of sale. But in states where mortgage debt is nonrecourse, lenders have no right to the money, and associates that suggest otherwise to the sellers might be later sued for negligence.
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A “Short Sale” is when a home seller sells his home for a lesser amount than what is owed on his mortgage, and the mortgage lender agrees to accept the lesser amount in lieu of a full payoff.
By way of example, a Short Sale may be appropriate for someone Selling a Home in Blairsville whose mortgage balance is $250,000 but whose home wouldn’t sell for more than $220,000. Rather than pay the $30,000 difference to the lender at the time of sale, the seller enters into an agreement with the lender by which all sale proceeds are paid to the bank and the deficient balance is forgiven.
Short Sales are a preferable alternative to foreclosure but the process still harms both parties. For one, the seller is penalized with a derogatory tradeline on credit for not fulfilling a mortgage obligation. And, two, the lender is forced to take a loss on a mortgage loan. Versus an executed foreclosure, however, Short Sale damages are relatively limited on both sides.
For this reason, Short Sales are sometimes considered “the economical alternative” to default.
The process of getting a Short Sale approved varies from lender-to-lender and can be time-intensive. Home sellers should not go at it alone — speaking with a real estate agent about the proper protocol is usually the best place to start. And sellers should be aware of how a Short Sale on their credit can impact future borrowing.
Current Fannie Mae guidelines prevent short-selling homeowners from obtaining new mortgage financing for a period of 2 years.
Click Here to see a Home For Sale in Blairsville that I currently have listed as a Short Sale. If you are facing a hardship such as your home’s value being less than what you owe on your mortgage, or if you are possibly facing Foreclosure, I may be able to help, but you need to call me at 706.994.8686 before it is too late.
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Foreclosures stories dominate the national housing news. It seems at least one foreclosure-related story makes its way to the front page or the nightly news every week.
But for as much as the foreclosure filing statistics can be astounding — over 300,000 homes were served last month alone — the prevalence of foreclosures depends on where you live.
As reported by RealtyTrac, just 4 states accounted for more than half of the country’s foreclosure-related activity last month.
1. California : 22.7 percent of all activity
2. Florida : 14.9 percent of all activity
3. Arizona : 6.7 percent of all activity
4. Illinois : 5.7 percent of all activity
The other 46 states (and Washington D.C.) claimed the remaining 49.9%.
However, just because foreclosures are concentrated geographically, that doesn’t make them less important to home buyers in Ellijay, cabin buyers in Blue Ridge, and other places around the country. There’s been more than 1.4 million foreclosure filings in the last 12 months and that’s a figure that can’t be ignored.
Distressed properties now play a role in one-third of all home resales.
Therefore, if you’re in the market for a foreclosed home, here’s a few things to keep in mind.
1. Properties are most always sold “as-is” and may not be up to living standards. Be sure to physically inspect the home before buying it.
2. Buying a home from a bank is rarely as streamlined as buying from an individual homeowner. Be prepared for delays and long closings.
3. Foreclosures aren’t always listed for sale publicly. Contact Me for access to our complete foreclosure inventory here in the North Georgia Mountains.
In order to use the federal home buyer tax credit, you must be under contract for a home by April 30, 2010 and closed by June 30, 2010. That doesn’t leave much time to find a bank-owned home and make it to closing. If you’re serious about buying foreclosures, it’s probably best to start your search soon.
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Like real estate, it appears that foreclosure activity is a local phenomenon, too.
As reported by RealtyTrac.com, more than half of all foreclosure-related activity in 2009 came from just 4 states:
1. California
2. Florida
3. Arizona
4. Illinois
More than 1.4 million filings made in 2009 are attributed to the above states. Furthermore, each ranks in the Top 10 for 2009 Foreclosures Per Capita.
The other states are Nevada, Utah, Georgia, Idaho, Michigan and Colorado.
Versus 2008, foreclosures are up 21 percent nationwide and that’s a big number, but a deeper look at RealtyTrac’s annual reports reveals a more positive undertone on the housing market.
1. 40 states fell below the national Foreclosures Per Capita average in 2009
2. Foreclosure activity fell on an annual basis in 10 states as compared to 2008
Foreclosures are still prevalent, though, and buying homes in foreclosure in Blairsville, Blue Ridge, and Ellijay Georgia continues to be big business. First-time buyers, move-up buyers, and real estate investors each are bidding aggressively.
Distressed homes account for one-third of home resale activity, according to an industry trade group.
That said, buying foreclosures can be tricky.
First, properties are often sold “as-is” and the cost of repairs may unwind the home’s status as a “value buy”. Furthermore, a lender may require specific fixes to be made prior to closing and that, too, costs money.
Second, buying a foreclosed home in Georgia isn’t as streamlined as buying a “normal” home. Closing on a foreclosure can be a 120-day process or longer. A 4-month time-frame may not fit your schedule.
And, third, finding foreclosures can be difficult. Despite the growth in foreclosure search engines, it still takes a good real estate agent to uncover the best homes at the best prices.
Read the complete foreclosure report and take a peek at RealtyTrac’s foreclosure heat maps. If you like what you see, Contact Me or give me a call at 706.994.8686.
There’s still good deals in the foreclosure market — you just have to know where to find them
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Foreclosure Activity Falls For The 4th Straight Month
Since peaking in July 2009, national foreclosure activity has dropped through 4 consecutive months.
On a month-to-month basis, November’s foreclosure activity fell another 8 percent.
However, national foreclosure activity continues to be dominated by a minority of states.
As reported by RealtyTrac.com, more than half of November’s foreclosure-related activity sourced from just 4 states:
1. California
2. Florida
3. Illinois
4. Michigan
These are the same 4 states that topped October’s foreclosure activity despite three of them posting month-to-month declines last month.
The remaining Top 10 states in terms of total foreclosure activity include Arizona, Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Nevada and New Jersey.
If you’ve been actively looking at REO lately, you’ve likely noticed that true bargains are harder to find. This is because buyers of all types — first-timers, move-ups, and investors — are purchasing bank-owned homes aggressively and getting better at identifying the “best ones”.
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For the eighth straight consecutive month, national foreclosure activity in the U.S. was dominated by a small set of states.
As reported by RealtyTrac.com, more than half of October’s foreclosure-related activity came from just 4 states:
- California
- Florida
- Illinois
- Michigan
The remaining Top 10 states in terms of total foreclosure activity included Arizona, Georgia, Texas, Ohio, New Jersey, and Maryland.
Foreclosures are up 19 percent from last October, but a deeper look at the RealtyTrac report revealed two positive developments for the housing market.
- Foreclosure activity is down 3 percent from last month
- Foreclosures per Household decreased in 9 of the 10 most heavily concentrated states
Furthermore, Nevada’s foreclosure pace is down 4% from last year. This is a big deal because Nevada has long led the nation in foreclosure-related activity. Until last month, Nevada’s year-to-year foreclosure rate hadn’t fallen in more than 4 years.
It’s too soon to say that the foreclosure market is drying up, but bargains are getting harder to come by. First-time buyers and bona fide investors alike have been snapping up property at a furious pace.
According to an industry trade group, distressed homes account for nearly one-third of home resale activity.
That said, buying foreclosures isn’t for everyone.
For one, properties are often sold as-is and may be defective. The cost of repairs may negate “the deal” or “the steal” — depending on the cost of the home.
Secondly, closing on a foreclosed home can be a 3-month long process. This is because banks rarely process home sale paperwork as fast as a “person” would. A 3-month timeframe may not fit your schedule.
In the end, fundamentally, buying a foreclosed home is the same as buying a “regular” home — there’s a contract and a closing. Most of the steps in the middle, however, are different.
Read the complete foreclosure report and take a peek at the foreclosure heat maps on the RealtyTrac website. If you like what you see, talk to your real estate agent about what to do next.
There’s still good deals in the foreclosure market, but based on October’s data, they may not last through the winter.
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Much like the Fannin County Residential Market Report, we have some positive news as well as some not so good news. I would like to begin with the not so good news and end this post on a positive note. Seller’s are continuing to be plagued with the Foreclosure and Short Sale Markets. The median Sold Price for Union County is down 25%. That is a change of almost $50,000 from October of 2008. Our average days on market for the Homes For Sale In Blairsville, GA. is up 35%. Since August of this year, we have seen a decrease each month in the number of days on market which is again mostly due in part to the number of Foreclosures and the aggressive pricing that the Banks are placing on their REO’s.
That’s all for the negative, isn’t that nice? Now for some good news. The number of Homes Sold in Blairsville Georgia continues to climb. Union County home sales are up 18%, which sounds a lot better than if I were to say 4 more than October of 2008. It is still positive news any way you slice it. The Residential Inventory in Union County is decreasing each month, down 15% or 137 fewer Homes For Sale this October. The number of Homes that are Under Contract or that have gone Pending is also up 7%, a change of 2 from last October. With new construction still very slow, our number of new properties listed are way down, 37% which is 40 less new listings than we had a year ago. This may not sound like good news, but I actually believe it is. We have a lot of old inventory that we desperately need to get rid of so that more and more new construction can begin again. Finally, our Absorption Rate is down 17%. This tells us the number of months that it would take to sell all the Residential Inventory that we currently have at current market conditions. Right now that number is 23 months.
Thanks so much for coming up on “The Porch” for another North Georgia Mountain Market Report. I really appreciate it and hope that you do come back again real soon. If you know of someone looking to Buy or Sell North Georgia Mountain Real Estate, I would be grateful if you would pass along to them My Contact information. Even better, forward them this post or a link to The Front Porch View.
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Well there is some Good and Bad news for the 3rd Quarter Residential Sales in the Fannin County Real Estate Market. Some Good News, the number of Homes Sold in and around Blue Ridge are up 26% from September a year ago according to the sales data from our Northeast Georgia MLS. Also the number of Homes that have gone Under Contract year over year is up a whopping 62%, a change of 15 more Homes. Another bit of Good News is that our inventory is slowly coming down as well. We have experienced an 11% decrease in the number of Homes For Sale in Blue Ridge, GA. to only 995 on the market compared to 1,118 in September 2008.
Now for the Bad News which actually isn’t all that bad. We continue to fight against the Banks and the troubles that they are causing as well. Home values continue to be driven down mostly due in part to the Short Sales and Foreclosures. I have mixed emotions about that actually. Some of our local Banks are really working hard to involve the local Realtors, while yet others seem to want to do it all on their own. Either way, they didn’t ask to be in this Real Estate Crisis either. Yes we all know they issued a lot of Bad Loans, but if we all would have had a Crystal Ball, I am sure most of us, if not all of us, would be in a different situation. The Median Sales Price of Fannin County Residential Homes is down 15%. That price is $208,000, which is much higher than the neighboring counties such as Union County and Gilmer County. The Average Days on Market is also up 31% to 132 days. This is the average number of days that a Home is on the market before it actually sells. I firmly believe that Pricing is 80% of Marketing these days, and if you are not priced right, and I mean aggressively against the competition, you are likely to see your Days on Market to be even higher than that.
Below you will find detailed Graphs and Charts gathered through our Northeast Georgia MLS. Feel free to Call Me at 706.633.8186 or Contact Me if you have any questions or concerns about anything I have said in this Market Report. If I can assist you with any of your North Georgia Mountain Real Estate needs, I would be grateful for the opportunity to speak with you about that.
Thanks so much for visiting me on “The Porch,” and I hope you come back and visit me again real soon.
Make it a GREAT day!
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While there is some good news with Vacant Lot sales in and around the Blue Ridge area located in Fannin County, there is still good reason to be concerned. Median Sales Price is up 25%, up $8,000 dollars from $32,000. Now it is questionable to me whether or not it is good news that the Supply has dropped 37%. This is obviously not from sales or we would see that in these reports. So where did all of the lots go? Well, they could have been withdrawn from the MLS to simply wait out the market and be offered by the developer, however my fear is that they are probably going into Foreclosure, if not now in the very near future. It is a major concern of myself and that of my associates that if we see a major wave of Foreclosures on these developments, it could yet again be another devastating blow to our North Georgia Real Estate Market.
It seems so dramatic to report that Vacant Lot Sales were down 22%, whereas if I told you that there were only 7 Lot Sales this month compared to 9 that Sold last month it wouldn’t sound near as bad! There were 8 Vacant Lots under contract in the month of July, and that is a decrease of 11% from the previous year. We have seen a significant decrease in the amount of Vacant Lots available on the market. In July of 2008 there were 1,573 Active Listings in Fannin County, in July of 2009 there were only 994. That is a difference of 579 or 37%. What is comforting is that the number of new listings hitting the market is down a whopping 68%. There were only 32 new Vacant Lots that hit the market in Fannin County in July 2009.
The average Days On Market (DOM) has climbed immensely to 344 Days, up 114% and still on the rise. As mentioned earlier with the decrease of Inventory, we have also experienced a decrease in our Month Supply of Inventory (MSI). MSI is down a change of 26%, from 158.6 to 118 months.
So as you can see, we are still experiencing a rough market for Vacant Lot Sales. It is so hard for these developers to hold on during these trying times. The biggest thing that I have experienced in talking with these developers is that they have suffered such significant depreciation in there developments, most more than 50%, that by the time that the market for Vacant Lots starts to come back around, they will have paid more interest than they will ever get out of the proceeds of the sale. That is a tough pill to swallow.
I you have any questions or concerns about this report or would like additional information, please Contact Me, or you can call me at 706.994.8686. I appreciate you taking the time to stop by The Front Porch View.
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Foreclosure-tracker RealtyTrac reports that the number of foreclosures nationwide rose 7 percent on a month-to-month basis last month.
However, 3 states dominated the foreclosure list, tallying more foreclosures between them than the rest of the country combined.
- California : 30.0 percent
- Florida : 15.7 percent
- Arizona : 5.4 percent
On a per-household basis, the states ranked 2, 3 and 4. Only Nevada’s foreclosure rate was higher.
Now, we point out these statistics for two reasons.
The first is to remind you that foreclosures can be highly local. For all of the foreclosure-related stories that run in the papers and on TV, defaults make a much larger impact on home values in some areas versus others.
And, second — foreclosures can represent a terrific buying opportunity. Not every foreclosed home is in pristine condition, but there is a plethora of affordable housing out there, suitable for first-time buyer, move-up buyers and investors, too.
Furthermore, as banks get better at disposing of foreclosed homes, the process of buying one isn’t as challenging as it was, say, 12 months ago.
As part of its research, RealtyTrac.com catalogues a lot of foreclosed homes and lists them online. However, you may find it better to start your search with a local real estate agent that knows the foreclosure market.
So long as buying foreclosures is a high-touch process — and it is a high-touch process — you may want to have a human face and agent to guide you through it.
The complete RealtyTrac report is available online.
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