Worst to best with a flaw

Two years ago when a client told me they wanted me to short sale their home and their lender was Wells Fargo, I would visibly cringe. Dealing with Wells Fargo in those days was a nightmare. They didn’t have sufficient staffing to handle the requests, their process was weak and it took so long that when you got the approval the buyer had moved on so you had to start all over and nobody at Wells cared. Today they are one of the fastest, they make status update calls to you and often you can deal with the negotiator through email.

There flaw is bizarre. When they have more than one loan on a property they have not figured out how to let one negotiator manage their interest. You have to deal with two different departments, each with their own interest so they double the work for themselves and believe it or not the junior lien holder part of Wells Fargo often kills the deal because they demand more money than the other department is willing to pay for the lien release. They should be embarrassed!

If you want to read more about short sale negotiations, check out my weekly real estate column, “Getting Short Sales Done,” over at Rocklin and Roseville Today and reprinted at Sacramento Today.

Loan Mods and Good to Be Back

It seems like almost daily I am talking to a homeowner about short sales. When they are asking me to help them short sale their house to avoid foreclosure I always ask them if they tried getting a loan modification to stay in the house. The most common answer is that they called their current lender who politely said they were not interested. Okay, maybe it wasn’t so polite but they at least said call a Realtor and request a short sale. There are other avenues for help besides the current lender.

If you or someone you know is having trouble making their monthly mortgage payments and wants to keep their home, have them check out my column, “Homeowners, do you need to help?” over at Rocklin & Roseville Today and republished at Sacramento Today.

Other news: Over the past month my posts to the blog have not been as regular as I would like and although I have been busy it is because I have been focused on some other business issues that have now been successfully resolved and I am, again, committed to posting more frequently. For those of you who have sent me emails or called me, thank you very much and I appreciate your interest and very happy to know I have some loyal readers.

Kentuckyanna

It is always fun to get away for a few days and even better when you return and appreciate home. Last week we traveled to Elizabethtown, Kentucky to visit Michael’s son Mark and his family. I enjoyed spending time with them and seeing Kentucky.

I heard about the terrible ice storm they had this past winter but until I saw the devastation it caused I didn’t understand the impact. Kentucky is trees; almost every road is cut through a forest of trees or rolling green hills surrounded by trees. Almost every one of those trees was damaged. Now you see broken limbs jutting out in odd directions or piled high on the ground. The cleanup is going to take a long time and the effects will be seen for many years to come.

We did do some work on the Bourbon Trail and I enjoyed that but they need to learn from California wineries how to do tastings! I am not much of a bourbon drinker so was interested in learning what I tasted and why I enjoyed one more than another. Hard to do when you drive for 30 minutes and get one sip.

The real estate market where I was in Northern Kentucky or “Kentuckyanna” is doing alright. They didn’t have the huge run-up in the early 2000’s so have not seen the kind of large price declines we have had here in the Sacramento area. Interestingly, people there seem to take a longer view of real estate and their home values. They are not as concerned about the value today, because they, on average, live in the same house longer than we do in California.

More Good News for 1st Time Buyers

Starting tomorrow the California Association of Realtors will start a new program to help first time buyers who are worried about the economy and not being able to make their mortgage payment if they lose their job.

The program, C.A.R. Housing Affordability Fund Mortgage Protection Program is designed to give these new homeowners some peace of mind by providing them with up to $1,500 per month for up to six months in the event of a job loss. In addition a co-buyer can participate for a reduced benefit of $750 per month for up to six months in the event of a job loss. C.A.R. is spending $1 million on the program and estimates it could benefit as many as 3,000 families in 2009.

To qualify for the program the applicant must:
· Be a first-time home buyer – someone who has not owned a home in the last three years
· Open escrow April 2, 2009, or later, and close on or before Dec. 31, 2009
· Use a California REALTOR® in the transaction
· Purchase the property in California
· Be a W-2 employee (cannot be self-employed or military personnel)

If you are interested in this program please let me know, I can get you more information and an application. You can reach me at (916) 290-9339 or by email at juliej@jalone.com.

By the way, there is no cost to the home buyer to participate in this program.

If I had only known

These are words we never want to hear ourselves saying, especially as it relates to selling your home. I recently met a former homeowner who now has a very nasty tax issue as a result of not understanding the consequences of debt forgiven by a lender when they completed a short sale. Unfortunately he was not using an agent who had much experience. The agent told him about the law passed in 2007 which allows the IRS not to count debt forgiven by a mortgage lender as income. She did the right thing and told her client to talk to an accountant but she appeared knowledgeable and he confirmed with a friend that this was true so completed the transaction. This happens every day and if you or someone you know is considering a short sale please read my column, “Important Short Fall Lessons,” over at Rocklin & Roseville Today. It can also be found at Sacramento Today.

You have to love this spring weather; it makes me want to be outside. Home buyers are out and as the days get longer we can look at more than one house “after work.” I have been working with several buyers over the past few weeks and it never ceases to amaze me at how many homes end up with multiple offers in a market where we clearly have too many listings. Houses that are well maintained show well and when priced right sell quickly. The days when a buyer could think about making an offer for a week or two are gone!