Archive for March, 2010
Negotiating Short Sales in Las Vegas Nevada
Posted by: | CommentsIn the State of Nevada, short sale negotiating falls under the category of “loan modification or foreclosure consultant” as defined in Assembly Bill 152 which modified NRS Chapter 645F. You can read AB152 here: Download AB152_LoanMod_ForeclosureConsultant
In summary there are three options for negotiating short sales in Nevada
- Attorneys may handle short sale negotiations because they are exempt under NRS645.380(1).
Here is a list of recommended Real Estate Attorneys. - A licensed real estate agent as a part of a real estate transaction and as evidenced by being on the “Duties Owed.”As excerpted from the RE Division position statement:
Download NVRED_MortgageLending_Position Statement_101509
There may be no separate or distinct payment or compensation for performance of activities defined as loan modification, foreclosure consulting or providing of covered services outside of a real estate transaction.Activities that by definition might include aspects of “Loan Modification Consultant,” “Foreclosure Consultant,” or “Provider of Covered Services” must be part of a real estate transaction. As such, a commission paid to a licensee through a real estate brokerage as a result of those activities defined in NRS 645.030 and/or NRS 645.040 shall serve as evidence that the activities engaged in by the real estate licensee were “acting under the authority of their license. - Properly licensed companies/3rd party negotiators per the Mortgage Lending Division
Click Here for Licensing Requirements.
Check Here for the List of licensees and applicants who are eligible for conducting Pre-Foreclosure and Loan Modification activities, according to the Nevada Mortgage Lending Division
Are you a Las Vegas Homeowner facing a possible foreclosure or considering a short sale?
The Serra Group is here for your confidential, no obligation consultation
regarding your options – there are solutions! Call Kathryn at 702-348-7191.
Looking to buy property in the Las Vegas Area? Start your free property search now.
Prudential Announces Top Office in North America
Three Americana Group branch offices were recognized in PREA’s Top Ten, with the nation’s number one spot going to its Sahara branch. “Our Sahara office was recognized as the most productive office throughout Prudential’s North America network,” said Mark Stark, CEO of Prudential Americana . “Nearly 300 sales associates worked from this office to achieve the honor.”
I w
as excited to receive this National Award as the managing broker of the top office in the Prudential Network of over 1500 branch offices and 600 companies.
I am honored to work with an elite group of professionals serving the Las Vegas Real estate community including three of the top producing teams in the country.
We look forward to another tremendously successful year in 2010.
This is part 4 in a 5 part series on HAFA. HAFA is the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program from the U.S. Treasury effective April 5, 2010. HAFA is designed to complement the HAMP program and is expected to streamline and standardize the short sale process for qualified homeowners.
Here are some other HAFA program guidelines to understand:
- The deal must be “arms length.” Borrowers can’t list the property or sell it to a relative or anyone else with whom they have a close personal or business relationship.
- The amount of debt forgiven might be treated as income for tax purposes. Under a law expiring at the end of 2012, however, the tax may not apply. Forgiven debt will not be taxed if the amount of forgiven debt does not exceed the debt that was used to acquire, construct, or rehabilitate a principal residence. Check with a tax advisor.
- The servicer will report to the credit reporting agencies that the mortgage was settled for less than full payment. There will be a negative effect on credit scores.
- 90 day “No-Flipping” term: Buyers may not sell and transfer title of the property within 90 days after closing.
The U.S. Treasury announced new enhancements to the HAMP and HAFA program on March 26, 2010:
Enhancements to the Incentives portion of HAFA:
- Increases incentives to provide more homeowners with foreclosure alternatives
- Doubles the relocation assistance payment for borrowers successfully completing a foreclosure alternative (HAFA short sale) to $3,000 from $1,500.
- Increases servicer incentive payments from $1,000 to $1,500 to increase use of foreclosure alternatives and encourage additional outreach to homeowners unable to complete a modification.
- Increases payoffs to subordinate lien holders who agree to release borrowers from debt. The new payoff schedule allows servicers to increase the maximum payoff to subordinate lien holders to 6 percent (it was 3%) of the outstanding loan balance and doubles from $1,000 to $2,000 the incentive reimbursement that is available to investors for subordinate lien payoffs, subject to an overall cap of $6,000.
Read the rest of the series on HAFA:
- HAFA Series Part 1 – What is the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program?
- HAFA Series Part 2…Who is eligible for HAFA?
- HAFA Series Part 3 – Which loan servicers are participating and review of the timeframes
Are you a Las Vegas Homeowner facing a possible foreclosure or considering a short sale? Contact us today to discuss your options and/or to see if you qualify for HAFA.
Call Kathryn at 702-348-7191 or Stephanie 497-7705.
Is Now The Time to Buy a Short Sale Home in Las Vegas?
Posted by: | CommentsMany people have been waiting for the bottom of the market to hit to take full advantage of buying a home. Based on the following article by HousingWire,Wednesday, March 24th, 2010… Las Vegans waiting to buy should take note.
The Las Vegas real estate market got a small reprieve in February; with sales volume at a four-year high for the month and a dip in foreclosure resales helping prices increase slightly from January.
A total of 3,698 new and existing houses and condos were sold in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area in February, according to MDA DataQuick. That’s up 9.8% from January and 10.5% from one year ago. A 5.7% increase from January to February is the average, dating back to 1994, DataQuick said.
The February 2010 total was the highest for the month since 2006, when 6,065 homes were sold, but 2% below the 16-year average February sales total. It’s the 18th straight month that total sales rose year-over-year.
Existing home sales totaled 3,311, up 7.1% from January and up 9.5% from last year. It’s the highest total for February existing sales since 2005. Existing home sales are on a 22-month-long run of monthly year-over-year increases.
Foreclosure resales accounted for 59.6% of all resales in February, down from 62% in January and down from 70.6% last year. After peaking in April 2009 at 73.7%, foreclosure resales have declined every month.
While foreclosure resales were down, foreclosure proceedings were up. In February, 1,756 homes and condos were foreclosed on in Las Vegas, up 5.3% from January, but down 52.8% from 3,718 foreclosures last year.
New home sales totaled 387 in February, up 40% from January and up 20.2% from last year, but it was one of the slowest February sales totals in DataQuick’s 16 years of records, second only to last year.
The decline in foreclosure resales and the increase in new home sales helped the median price increase from January, but only slightly.
The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Las Vegas metro area in February was $126,197, up 0.4% from $125,750 in January but down 17.2% from $152,500 a year earlier. DataQuick said the year-over-year decline was the smallest since March 2008, when the median dropped 16% from a year earlier, to $247,925. In addition, sales of homes over $200,000 made up 22.4% of total sales, up from 21.3% in January but down from 30.8% a year earlier.
The median sales price is on a 34-month-long run of monthly year-over-year declines and in February 2010, was 59.6% below the peak median of $312,000 in November 2006.
The median price for single-family homes was $133,800 in February, down from $135,000 in January and down from $157,000 last year. The median condo sales price was $69,000, even from January, but down 9.2% from $76,000 last year.
Absentee buyers, usually investors, but anyone who indicates at the time of sale that the property tax bill will go to a different address, accounted for 44.6% of all Las Vegas area home sales. However, house flipping declined. Homes sold in February that had previously sold in the past three weeks to six months accounted for 3.7% of all sales, down from 5% in January, but up from 2.6% last year.
HAFA Series Part 3 – Which loan servicers are participating and review of the timeframes
Posted by: | CommentsThis is part 3 in a 5 part series on HAFA.
HAFA is the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program from the U.S. Treasury effective April 5, 2010. HAFA is designed to complement the HAMP program and is expected to streamline and standardize the short sale process for qualified homeowners.
What Loan Services (Banks) are participating?
According to HUD, over 100 loan servicers have signed up for the Making Home Affordable program covering more than 89% of mortgage debt. To see if your lender is on the list, go to http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/contact_servicer.html and click on “show all servicers.”
What is the Timeline of the HAFA short sale process?
14 Days- The lender must notify the borrower of their options in writing and give the borrower 14 days to respond. If the borrower does not respond that ends the lenders duty to give a HAFA offer.
30 Days- Servicers must consider borrowers for the HAFA plan within 30 days of one of the following:
- If the borrower does not qualify for a HAMP trial period,
- or does not successfully complete a HAMP trial period plan,
- or is delinquent on a HAMP modification,
- or requests a short sale
14 Days- The loan servicer will prepare and send a Short Sale Agreement to the borrower/seller. The Seller has 14 days to return a fully executed Short Sale Agreement to the lender. The short sale agreement will contain a variety of terms including:
- Acceptable list price and/or net proceeds from the sale
- 120 Days-The lender must give the Seller 120 days to sell the short sale the house (extensions up to 12 months possible).
- Requirement that the property be listed with a licensed real estate professional who is regularly doing business in the community
- Amount of closing costs or other expenses servicer will permit
3 Days-Within 3 days of receiving an offer, Seller (via the real estate agent) must submit a completed Request for Approval of Short Sale (RASS) to the lender along with the complete purchase agreement and additional information per the short sale agreement.
45 Days-The lender may not ask the Seller (borrower) to close before 45 days unless Seller/Buyer agrees.
10 Days-Lender must release the first mortgage lien from receipt of short sale proceeds.
HAFA Series Part 1 – What is the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program?
HAFA Series Part 2…Who is eligible for HAFA?
Are you a Las Vegas Homeowner facing a possible foreclosure or considering a short sale? Contact us today to discuss your options and/or to see if you qualify for HAFA.
Call Kathryn at 702-348-7191 or Stephanie 497-7705.
HAFA Series Part 2…Who is eligible for HAFA?
Posted by: | CommentsThis is part 2 in a 5 part series on HAFA.
HAFA is the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program from the U.S. Treasury effective April 5, 2010. HAFA is designed to complement the HAMP program and is expected to streamline and standardize the short sale process for qualified homeowners.
The borrower (homeowner) must meet the basic eligibility criteria for HAMP in order to be considered for HAFA:
- Must be the owner-occupant and be your principal residence.
- First lien (mortgage) originated before January 1, 2009.
- Mortgage delinquent or default is reasonably foreseeable.
- Unpaid principal balance no more than $729,750 (higher limits for 2 to 4 unit dwellings).
- Have a mortgage payment that is not affordable due to a financial hardship that can be documented.
- Have a monthly mortgage payment (including taxes, insurance, and home owners association dues) greater than 31% of your monthly gross (pre-tax) income
HAFA alternatives are available to all HAMP-eligible borrowers who:
1) do not qualify for a Trial Period Plan;
2) do not successfully complete a Trial Period Plan;
3) miss at least two consecutive payment during a HAMP modification; or,
4) request a short sale or deed-in-lieu.
HAFA Series Part 1 – What is the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program?
HAFA Series Part 3 – Which loan servicers are participating and review of the timeframes
Are you a Las Vegas Homeowner facing a possible foreclosure or considering a short sale? Contact us today to discuss your options and/or to see if you qualify for HAFA.
Call Kathryn at 702-348-7191 or Stephanie 497-7705.
HAFA Series Part 1 – What is the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program?
Posted by: | CommentsThe Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) Program provides additional options to avoid foreclosure and offers incentives to borrowers, servicers and investors who utilize a short sale or deed-in-lieu (DIL) to avoid a foreclosure.
In a short sale, the loan servicer allows the borrower to list and sell the mortgaged property with a licensed real estate agent with the understanding that the net proceeds from the sale may be less than the total amount due on the first mortgage. In other words, a homeowner’s lender allows the property to be sold at a loss where the lender initially takes all or part of the loss. Generally, if the borrower makes a good faith effort to sell the property but is not successful, a servicer may consider a DIL. With a DIL, the borrower voluntarily transfers ownership of the property to the servicer – provided title is free and clear of mortgages, liens and encumbrances.
Under normal circumstances a short sale can take several months and ongoing work to complete. HAFA is designed to simplify and streamline the short sale process by providing a standard process flow, minimum performance timeframes for lenders, sellers and agents and standard documentation.
If the program works as proposed, here are some highlights and benefits of HAFA for the qualified homeowner:
- Complements HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program – www.makinghomeaffordable.com) by providing a viable alternative for borrowers (the current homeowners) who are eligible for a potential home loan modification through HAMP but nevertheless unable to keep their home.
- Uses borrower financial and hardship information already collected in connection with consideration of a loan modification under HAMP.
- Allows borrowers to potentially receive pre-approved short sales terms before listing the property (including the minimum acceptable net proceeds).
- Requires borrowers to be fully released from future liability for the first mortgage debt and if the subordinate lien holder receives an incentive under HAFA, that debt as well (no cash contribution, promissory note, or deficiency judgment is allowed).
- Provide financial incentives: $1,500 for borrower relocation assistance; $1,000 for servicers to cover administrative and processing costs; and up to $1,000 match for investors for allowing a total of up to $3,000 in short sale proceeds to be distributed to subordinate lien holders (on a one-for-three matching basis; up to 3% of the unpaid principal balance of each subordinate loan).
HAFA Series Part 2…Who is eligible for HAFA?
HAFA Series Part 3 – Which loan servicers are participating and review of the timeframes
Are you a Las Vegas Homeowner facing a possible foreclosure or considering a short sale?
The Serra Group is here for your confidential, no obligation consultation
regarding your options – there are solutions! Call Kathryn at 702-348-7191.
Short Sale Advice for New Guidelines (HAFA)
Posted by: | Comments
Short Sales and the new government guidelines taking effect April 5th through the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) are a current buzz in the media. I was recently contacted by the Wall Street Journal who wanted information on the pulse of the Las Vegas Market and market conditions for distressed properties. The article entitled New Program to Speed ‘Short’ Sales was published Sunday, March 14, 2010.
Here’s an excerpt and my words of advice:
Short sales are a valuable tool for struggling homeowners. But they’ve been notoriously difficult to complete, with buyers and sellers often playing a long waiting game before hearing back from lenders.
Now, however, a new government program plus some lender initiatives may make for shorter wait times and a smoother process. “Any structure is better than what we’ve had,” says Kathryn Bovard, a broker/manager for Prudential Americana Group in the Las Vegas area.
Lenders “have finally gotten on board with the fact that short sales will be a large part of the market over the next 24 to 36 months,” says Ms. Bovard.
While the popularity of short sales differs by market, in the Las Vegas brokerage that Ms. Bovard runs, 70% of pending sales are now short sales, she says.
For homeowners considering a short sale, Ms. Bovard says it’s important they speak to their trusted advisers, including their attorney and tax accountant, as well as a real-estate agent who has a short-sale designation.
For buyers, a lot of patience is required to finish one of these deals, says Ms. Bovard. “It’s a long, involved process. But the payoff is getting a tremendous value.”
Are you a Las Vegas Homeowner facing a possible foreclosure or considering a short sale?
The Serra Group is here for your confidential, no obligation consultation
regarding your options – there are solutions! Call Kathryn at 702-348-7191.
Looking to buy property in the Las Vegas Area? Start your free property search now.
The Las Vegas Real Estate Market Condition Report for February 2010, courtesy of Nevada Title Company with chart breakdowns of short sale and REO (Bank-owned) closings is presented here for your review.
Overall, the supply and demand schedules are little changed from previous month. Supply is relatively tight, especially for REO (61% of demand/16% of supply). Prices continue to show weakness for all types, more so for Short Sale and Standards. High price point properties, while showing increasing levels of activity, are still relatively slow exhibiting depressed Percent Selling/and Market Speed outcomes relative to lower priced offerings (about half the Percent Selling and half the Market Speed).
Note from the market history table that February 2009 demand is about equal to February 2010 while supply is greatly reduced. The reduction in supply relative to demand has shifted the price schedule to the current level where it appears to be “hovering.” Large changes in the price schedule are no longer occurring in favor of relatively small tentative up and down movements from month to month. This is characteristic of proximity to market bottom in terms of price.
Once again, short sale closings are continuing to climb. From January 10 to February 10, 2010, short sales were 23% of total single family residential properties.
Are you a Las Vegas Homeowner facing a possible foreclosure or considering a short sale?
The Serra Group is here for your confidential, no obligation consultation
regarding your options – there are solutions! Call Kathryn at 702-348-7191.
70% of Nevada Mortgaged Properties Have Negative Equity Position
Posted by: | CommentsNevada leads the nation with the highest percentage of negative equity properties according to the First American Core Logic 4th Quarter 2009 Negative Equity Data Report released 2-23-10. More than 70% of mortgaged properties in Nevada are in a negative or near-negative equity position.
Negative Equity (“underwater or upside down”) refers to the fact that the borrower owes more on their mortgage than the current value of the property. Negative equity occurs due to a decline in value, an increase in mortgage debt or a combination of both.
The following chart shows the five hardest hit states (Nevada, Arizona, Florida, California, and Michigan). The average “underwater” mortgage in Nevada is over 50% negative equity.
Here’s an excerpt from the report:
Negative equity continues to be concentrated in five states: Nevada, which had the highest percentage negative equity with 70 percent of all of its mortgaged properties underwater, followed by Arizona (51 percent), Florida (48 percent), Michigan (39 percent) and California (35 percent). Among the top five states, the average negative
equity share was 42 percent, compared to 15 percent for the remaining 45 states. In numerical terms, California (2.4 million) and Florida (2.2 million) had the largest number of negative equity mortgages accounting for 4.6 million, or 41 percent, of all negative equity loans.The rise in negative equity is closely tied to increases in pre-foreclosure activity and is a major factor in changing homeowners’ default behavior. Once negative equity exceeds 25 percent, or the mortgage balance is $70,000 higher than the current property values, owners begin to default with the same propensity as investors.
Of the over 47 million homeowners with a mortgage, the average loan to value ratio (LTV) is 70 percent. More than 23 million, or 49 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage, have at least 25 percent equity in their home and over 12 million have at least 50 percent equity in their home.
Here is a real-world example illustrates the severity in Las Vegas, Clark County. Borrower / homeowner owes a total of $325,000 on a first and second lien and property is currently valued at $160,000.
If you are a Las Vegas area homeowner facing a potential short sale of foreclosure,
contact Kathryn Bovard today for a no obligation consultation to discuss your options.
702-348-7191
