Archive for Short Sale Tips
How to Make The Most on a Las Vegas Short Sale
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When it comes to selling your home, the little things count too, and they can count big, especially if you are considering a short sale in Las Vegas. A new article by Christine Haughney in The New York Times gives some pretty unbelievable examples of small changes that home owners made to increase the value of their home. Here are a few of them:
1. If your home is cluttered, subtract 5% to 15% off the asking price. Homes that are cleared out of too many books, toys, etc. generally sell faster and for up to 15% more.
2. Buy a closet full of expensive shoes. No, seriously. They will end up paying for themselves and more. Potential buyers often unknowingly want to live the life they envision a new home will provide. And if the seller is able to maintain a lifestyle that includes a closet full of expensive shoes, the buyer will want a piece of that life.
3. Get rid of any old, dirty, or worn rugs. No potential buyer wants to move into a home that they envision is dirty. Replacing a prominent, old rug with a new $400 rug can up the asking price by up to $5000.
4. Get professional lighting advice. It may cost somewhere between $100 and $200 but the pay off on a $900,000 home is an additional $32,500 on the original asking price.
5. Buy new, fresh towels and pillows. After spending $700 on both, one home’s original asking price went from $450,000 to being sold for $475,000. That’s an increase of $25,000!
Some of these ideas might sound like flukes that the home owners just happened to be lucky to benefit from. But when it comes to selling your home in Las Vegas or considering a Las Vegas short sale, it’s good to have an agent that will think outside the box to get you the best value for your home. Kathryn Bovard is experienced with the often lengthy and sometimes stressful Las Vegas short sale process. If you are contemplating a Las Vegas short sale, she can assist and navigate you through the entire process. Call Kathryn direct at 702-348-7191 to schedule a short sale consultation today.
Is now the time to buy or sell a Las Vegas home?
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How common are housing bubbles? In a recent article from The New York Times, Robert J. Shiller, professor of economics and finance at Yale, explores the question of how common housing bubbles are, and what’s more, if we should expect another one soon.
Schiller argues that the most recent housing bubble and burst is unlike any other housing cycle in history, nationally or internationally. Prior to our current market, housing bubbles had been smaller and more regional. But by examining past booms and busts in the market, Shiller hopes to give us insight into our present situation as well as guidance for the next decade.
The 1970′s sets itself apart as the only decade in the early 20th century to have a bubble of national significance. The cause? An increasingly growing belief that the earth would not be able to sustain the growing population and in turn land would be in greater demand, thus raising its value. Then the Federal Reserve came down hard on credit in the U.S., bursting the bubble and leading to the recessions of the early 1980′s. Although there were scattered housing bubbles prior to this, they were infrequent, usually decades apart. The larger bubbles, such as the farmland bubble that Schiller mentions, were also either infrequent or unprecedented, and many of these occurred in times of less regulation aimed at stopping bubbles. This all suggests that the current housing bubble will also be rare.
Ultimately Shiller maintains that given the history of land bubbles combined with the new policy restraints, a new housing bubble looks unlikely to happen again anytime soon. Though it will take some time for the housing market to recover, the ultimate source of bubbles is the way the public thinks about a market. With bubbles, the culprit is unfounded enthusiasm. And since most people, Schiller says, view housing as an investment, we won’t likely hear any “pops” in the future.
If you are a Las Vegas area homeowner facing a possible foreclosure and wanting to learn more about your options – including a Las Vegas short sale, contact us today for a no obligation short sale consultation.
Strategic Defaults in Las Vegas Real Estate Market
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According to a recent survey conducted in August by the Nevada Association of Realtors, nearly one in four Nevada homeowners who went through foreclosure stated that they walked away from their mortgage despite their ability to pay. Surveyors interviewed 1,000 homeowners by telephone in August for the report, including 500 who had received at least one foreclosure filing during the previous year. The survey also found that most of these homeowners didn’t know about state and federal programs available to them, and those who did, found them unhelpful with only 3% helped in any way by by the Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Program.
Despite calling their decision to walk away from their mortgage as a strategic default, a good business decision advised to them by people they trusted, Linda Rheinberger, last year’s president of the Realtors association, disagrees. She claims agents should do more for homeowners to let them know what resources are available to them, perhaps like the $103 million allocated to Nevada through Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative, a federal program created under the $700 billion bailout in 2008 that rescued banks, automakers and other institutions. ”It also reinforces our belief that lenders would do well to speak to their customers before foreclosing and to continue streamlining their short sale processes, since short sales are one viable alternative to foreclosures,” she said. With 65% of respondents reporting spending at least one-third of their income on housing when they received a notice, hard-working home owners do deserve to be made aware of all the alternative options that are available to them, like a short sale, for example.
If you are a Las Vegas area homeowner facing a possible foreclosure and wanting to learn more about your options, including a Las Vegas short sale, contact us today for a no obligation short sale consultation.
Las Vegas Short Sale Time Frame
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the most often asked question that I get asked from Las Vegas 
homeowners who are thinking of short selling their home is “How long does it take?”
There are many variables such as condition of the home, pricing and location but once the seller has accepted an offer and that offer has been submitted to the bank for approval, the short sale time frame really depends on two things for the banks response time. Is it a delegated or non-delegated loan?
What this means is if it is a delegated file/loan the the bank has the ability to make a decision on the investor’s behalf without sending the investor a complete package for review. If it is a non-delegated file/loan then the bank cannot make the decision without a complete document review by the investor. The investor makes the decision in a non-delegated arrangement.
So basically the time frame for a short sale usually falls within the following:
INITIAL REVIEW AND SUBMISSION:
Delegated loans: 5 weeks
Non-delegated loans 12 weeks
Valuation stage 1-3 weeks
Held stage or negotiations 4 weeks
AFTER FILE HAS BEEN REVIEWED
Approval for delegated 2 weeks
Approval for Non-delegated 4 weeks
Your Realtor or short sale negotiator will be able to determine from the bank asset manager what type of loan you have once a file has been opened.
Kathryn Bovard is experienced with the often lengthy and sometimes stressful Las Vegas short saleprocess. If you are contemplating a Las Vegas short sale, she can assist and navigate you through the entire process. Call Kathryn direct at 702-348-7191 to schedule a short sale consultation today.
Will Bank of America Lawsuit Affect the Las Vegas Short Sale Market?
Posted by: | CommentsCatherine Cortez Masto, the attorney general of Nevada filed a lawsuit against Bank of America accusing it of engaging in “widespread fraud” by misleading customers with “false promises“. “Bank of America’s callous disregard for providing timely, correct information to people in ther time of need is truly egregious” stated Ms. Masto.
Former employees said that Bank of America’s modification staff was “chaotic, understaffed and not oriented to customers”, according to a news release. One former employee said, “The main pupose of the training is to teach us how to get customers off the phone in less than 10 minutes”. Another employee said, “When checking on a borrower’s status, I often found that the modification request had not been dealt with or was so old that the request had become inactive. Yet, I was instructed to inform borrowers that they were ”active and in status”. One time I complained to a supervisor that I felt I was always lying to borrowers”
Will this debacle with their loan modifications allow more short sale approvals from Bank of America-one can only surmise that the continued build up of customers who cannot make their payments will only bring more pressure on a already overtaxed system.
Kathryn Bovard is experienced with the often lengthy and sometimes stressful Las Vegas short sale process. If you are contemplating a Las Vegas short sale, she can assist and navigate you through the entire process. Call Kathryn direct at 702-348-7191 to schedule a short sale consultation today.
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