by Vincent Bindi on February 20, 2009
There are some great bargains in the Aliso Viejo marketplace today. Due to the nations financial crisis, and the severe real estate recession that started in 2007′ here in Aliso Viejo, has resulted in a selection of Bank Owned REO homes for sale at bargain basement prices.
One of these newly listed properties we will feature herein is located at: 17 Rue De Chateau, Aliso Viejo, Ca. This 3 bedroom detached home was built in 2000′ and listed for just $409,000 (subject to change at any time). This home is located in the Soleil Tract, and is close to the intersections of Aliso Creek Rd and Liberty street. For more details about this home for sale, click on the Link above. The home is being sold in it’s “As Is” condition and should sell fast at this price. Aliso Viejo boasts of some of the areas finest public schools and this home is a short walk to the Aliso Canyon Regional Park.
Interest rates are at an all time historic low, and there are plenty of FHA loans available that allow you to buy this home with 3% to 3.5% down payment. Our mortgage banks also offer the 203K FHA rehab loan which will let you borrow additional funds for renovation at very low fixed interest rates amortized over 30 years.
If you would like to view all Bank Owned REO homes currently listed for sale in Aliso Viejo, CA., please click on the Link in this sentence. If you would like to view the above featured home for sale at 17 Rue De Chateau, or any other Bank Owned home for sale, fell free to give us a call at: (949) 388-3396 or drop us an email at: Info@OCBankREO.com
by Vincent Bindi on February 7, 2009
We are excited to announce a new feature to our ever improving website. Users can now view a newly listed homes for sale in Orange County, Ca without having to register. the newly updated and improved website of eVantage Real Estate offers many other features as well such as: Bargain Home email Alerts which will send users an email of new Bank Owned REO and Short Sale listing as they come on the market for sale. Other valuable services are area Map searches of all homes listed for sale. In addition, a user can also obtain a no cost and no obligation evaluation of the current market value of their home.
Soon to be added to to the eVantage Real Estate website, will be housing Tract webpages. Each subdivision in south Orange County will be outlined with the name of the tact, the types of homes, the name of the builder, the number of homes in the subdivision, the names of each street with each of these subdivision, and a list of homes for sale. We hope to have this new feature up and running by mid March.
This real estate blog is also going through major re-development and which will be soon to be released. To view, click on the following link to view every home listed for sale in Orange County. If you have any questions regarding the local real estate market conditions, home prices, or to view some homes for sale, please feel free to drop us an email at Info@eVantageRE.com or give us a call at: 949-388-3396. eVantage REal Estate is a full service residential real estate firm located in Laguna Hills and servicing all of Orange County, Ca.
by Vincent Bindi on January 29, 2009
Loan Modifications are becoming more and more common in California due to the severe real estate recession, rising unemployment, and political pressure being applied to mortgage banks to seek loan workouts instead of foreclosure. We are often asked what are the basic guidelines that mortgage banks look at in order to determine if a homeowner should be granted a Loan Modification.
There are three basic criteria that mortgage banks use, which are; a valid hardship, financial duress which has caused, or soon to cause delinquency on the mortgage payments, and a debt to income ratio within certain guidelines. This article will focus on the 3rd criteria of debt to income ratio guidelines.
Although the actual debt to income ratio criteria will vary from one bank to another, most all banks view this important ratio in a similar fashion. First of all, the definition. Mortgage Banks want to know a homeowners total debt which includes; mortgage payment (whether being paid or not), property taxes, insurance, utilities, telephone, groceries, auto payments, auto gas, eating out, entertainment, clothes, child support, education, etc. The income is simply the total family income after taxes if you are W-2 employed. The debt to Income (DTI) ratio is simply the total debt divided by the total family income. Most mortgage banks want this ratio to be between 60% to 95%, prior to the loan modification being granted.
The logic of this ratio is as follows. If a homeowners DTI is higher then 95%, then from the Banks point of view, even a loan modification is granted, there is a high probability that the modification will not be enough to prevent the homeowner from being delinquent in the near or mid term future, in most cases. So they will usually decline a Loan Modification request if this ratio is to low, and suggest a Short Sale instead. On the other hand, if a California homeowners debt to income ratio is lower then 65% or so, then the Bank has an entirely different point of view, which is “Why is the homeowner asking for a Loan Modification in the first place ?” From the Banks perspective, if there DTI ratio is this low, the homeowner should be able to keep up with their loan payments without a Loan Modification.
There is another ratio that the mortgage banks look to achieve after a loan modification is completed. Most mortgage banks would like to see the homeowners Mortgage Debt to Income ratio be about 38% after the loan modification is completed. Note, this the just the mortgage debt, not the homeowners entire debt as defined above. This final ratio assures the mortgage Banks that there is a high probability that the homeowner will be able to keep up with the mortgage payments under the current financial duress, and thus prevent future foreclosure. For questions, visit our loan modification affiliates website, Ca Loan Mod Lawyer, or call them at: 1-888-530-1212.
by Vincent Bindi on November 29, 2008
This is another interesting Short Sale success story that closed in September 2008′, that was completed by the OC Short Sale Team. The property was located in Ladera Ranch in the prestigious community of Covenant Hills. The house comprised of 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, with 3 car garage and 3,600 square feet of living area.
This property sold for $1.2 Million in December of 2006′, right around the peak of the market, and was worth about $890,000 in September of this year. The first Mortgage was hald by EMC mortgage, and the second Mortgage was with Homecomings. The balance on the 1st loan was approximately $870,000 and the 2nd trust deed note balance was $240,000, for a total loan balance of $1,110,000. That means the property was upside down by $220,000 at the time the homeowner came to us requesting a Short Sale.
EMC was very difficult to work with on this short sale for the BPO they ordered came in high. The 2nd mortgage bank, Homecomings, also was requesting a 10% pay-off for their 2nd trust deed note, which was $24,000. We received an offer for $850,000, and after several counter offers, were able to bring the buyer up to $875,000.
After several months of back and forth negotiations, we persuaded EMC to conduct another BPO, which came in at a more realistic price of $900,000. During the same time, we were able to convince the 2nd mortgage lender to accept just 5% of their outstanding balance, equal to $12,000. EMC agreed to pay the back property taxes of $6,000 and they ultimately accepted a discounted pay-off of $795,750. This resulted in a pay-off of 91.5% to the 1st mortgage lender.
Everyone was better off in this short sale transaction as compared to a foreclosure. The 1st mortgage bank received 91% of the original balance. If they denied the short sale, they probably would have only received 80% from an REO sale 8 months into the future. The 2nd mortgage lender received $12,000, and if the 1st foreclosed, the 2nd would have been wiped out. The homeowner avoided foreclosure, and was able to sell their home without Bank Foreclosure signs posted all over the property. In addition, their credit will be more easily corrected/improved down the road, compared to foreclosure. And within 2 years, FNMA will underwrite a new mortgage loan, versus having to wait 5 years for such a privilege if they chose foreclosure.
The ShortSalesASAP group of professionals specialize in short sales in Orange County and throughout southern California. We are determined to close each short sale we take on and are great negotiators. We know what banks expect in terms of negotiations, packaging, settlements and more. For questions abut short sales, or other possible solutions such as deed in leu of foreclosure, loan modifications, and more, please give us a call at: 949-388-3396.
by Vincent Bindi on November 24, 2008
NPR Radio reported today that only 2 out of 10 Loan Modifications are being issued in California to homeowners who directly contact their Mortgage Bank. While some expert Loan Modification companies in California are achieving success rates as high as 90% plus. With all of the buzz and political pressure on banks to forestall foreclosure and conduct Loan Modifications, one would expect the homeowner unassisted success rate to be much higher then this. There are several reasons why many California homeowners are being denied Loan Modifications as explained below.
One, many homeowners do not realize that nearly all Mortgage Banks have basic income qualification parameters. A home owner cannot make to little compared to their total living expenses, for the Mortgage Bank assumes that there is no a severe enough hardship that is negatively affecting the borrowers income in order to justify the Loan Mod. On the other hand, the homeowners income can’t be too low, for the Mortgage Bank will assume that even after a Loan Modification is successfully completed, there is still a high chance that the borrower will default on the loan in the near future, and therefore is not worth the effort of a short sale.
Second reason why borrowers fail to obtain a Loan mod, is that the Loan Modification package is not correctly completed. Mortgage Banks today are being bombarded with both loan Modification and Short Sale applications, and do not have time to process incomplete or incorrect applications. So these packages are simply tossed out and the homeowner is required to start over again, often times without any feedback as to what was wrong with the previous application.
Third reason that many Loan Modifications in California are rejected by the Banks, is the current loan program and interest rate is not onerous enough. This is often a vague criteria, for it depends on the bank, loan amounts, area within California, political pressure, and other factors. So many borrowers contact their lender, spend many hours preparing the Loan Mod package, and then weeks of calling, waiting, FAXing, only to find out that the Mortgage Bank denied their package because the current loan terms and rates are determined to be “good enough”
Fourth reason causing Loan Mod denials in California, is a poorly written hardship letter. Many times the Mortgage Bank will place much emphasis on this document, which can make a break the deal, or highly determine how much of an loan improvement the borrower will achieve.
An expert Loan Modification company can help the homeowner seeking a Loan modification avoid many of these pitfalls. Our team of professionals at CaLoanModAttorney.com have a Loan mod success rate of over 92%. Our Customer Consultants work with the homeowner at the beginning of the process to access the probability of a successful Loan Mod, and gathering the required documentation, packaging the documents, and consult with the borrower in the writing of the hardship letter. Our processing department then begins the laborious task of submitting the package, numerous phone call follow-ups, supply additional information if requested, until the Loan Mod request reaches the final decision stages. Our staff of 5 attorney’s is supervising this process along the way. They step in during the Mortgage Bank analysis process to impact the negotiations in order to obtain the most favorable terms for the borrower. This is another great advantage of using a professional Loan Modification company such as ours versus a homeowner trying to do it on their own. For the 20% of the homeowners who go it alone who obtain a Loan Modification, they usually don’t get the best possible terms available. The Mortgage Bank negotiator on the other end of the phone is usually paid a small bonus based upon their results, and are fighting on behalf of the Mortgage Bank.
If you have any questions about Loan Modifications in California, please feel free to contact us at: 888-530-1212, or drop us an email at: Info@CaLoanModLawyer.com
by Vincent Bindi on November 11, 2008
Today, CitiMortgage announced a new loan modification plan that will benefit many California homeowners who are in need. This new plan will reach out to about 500,000 homeowners who have loans with the bank. Citibank expects that about 135,000 will qualify for the new loan mod program, resulting in about $20 billion in loan workouts.. The unique aspect of this plan, is that CitiGroup is going to look at modifying loans for homeowners who are not delinquent on the loan payments. Heretofore, most banks would not seriously consider a loan modification unless the borrower has missed at least one mortgage payment. The goal of the program will be attempt to modify the loan terms for homeowners who have a hardship. This will be accomplished by either extending the mortgage term, or reducing the interest rate so that the homeowners total mortgage debt is about 38% of the income.
Another unique feature of the new Citibank loan mod program, is that it will not focus on whether the borrower has a risky negative amortization loan, or adjustable rate mortgage. But will look at whether the borrower may be at risk of falling behind on their loan payments because they live in an area with high unemployment or declining home prices. The other important part of this new program, is that Citigroup will also continue to extend their foreclose moratorium practice in California and other states.
For more information about Loan Modifications in California, or to learn how a professional Loan Mod company that is Attorney based can increase your chances of acquiring a successful Loan Modification, please drop an email to our Loan Modification affiliate at: Info@CaLoanModLawyer.com
by Vincent Bindi on November 10, 2008
We are show casing one of our many Short sale successes in Orange County, CA. The exact address and buyer seller details will not be published to protect their privacy.
The home was located in Coto De Caza and was a beautiful 5 bedroom, 3 bath, 3 car garage estate with a golf course view. At the time, this home was worth $910,000 (April 2008′). There was a 1st Mortgage with Saxon Mortgage with a total outstanding loan balance $1,140,000, and this lender had filed Foreclosure about 4 months earlier. There was also a 2nd Mortgage with Homecomings with a total outstanding loan balance of $150,000 on the property as well, plus $9,000 in back property taxes. This resulted in a total outstanding debt of just about $1.3 Million The homeowner first came to us on a Thursday afternoon, desiring a Short Sale, and he told us that the Foreclosure Trustee Sale was next Tuesday at 1PM at the Courthouse steps in Santa Ana – just 3 working days away.
We told the homeowner, that we could not guarantee success, for we had very little time left to work with the mortgage banks, but we would give it our bet efforts. To make a long story short, in the first few days, we were able to convince the 1st mortgage bank to postpone the foreclosure sale for 1 month. During the next 3weeks, we gathered and packaged the short sale documents for both the 1st and 2nd mortgage banks – submitted these packages and got the negotiators assigned – we obtained the BPO/appraisal for both lenders. The week before the postponed foreclosure sale, we obtained a good offer to purchase from another buyer, this time for a fair price of $900,000. We were again able to postpone the foreclosure sale one more month.
During that next month, we conducted expert negotiations in order to get the loan balances reduced to allow the purchase of the property. The 1st Lender, Saxon, eventually agreed to a discounted settlement of $800,000, which represented a 29% discount from the total outstanding loan balance owed… plus we convinced the 1st Mortgage to pay all of the back property taxes. The 2nd lender, Homecomings, agreed to a settlement of just $15,000, for an outstanding loan balance of $150,000, which represents a 90% discount. Sounds hard to believe I know, but the 2nd mortgage was faced with the tough decision of either accepting this massive discount, or receiving nothing from the eminent foreclosure sale.
The grand total outstanding mortgage debt was $1.3 Million before the short sale, and after our expert negotiations were completed, were able to negotiate this debt down to $815,000 plus misc costs, in order to close the short sale purchase escrow. It was a win win for all. The 1st mortgage bank got 70% of the original balance plus arrears. If they were to foreclose, they probably would have only received 65% from an REO sale 6 months down the road. The 2nd mortgage lender received $15,000, and if the 1st foreclosed, the 2nd would not have received a dime…
The homeowner also won, in that they were able to sell their home in a relatively dignified manner, versus being evicted by the sheriff in a bank foreclosure. Plus the credit will be more easily corrected/improved down the road as compared to a foreclosure. Plus within 2 years, FNMA will underwrite a mortgage loan for them, if they so choose, versus having to wait 5 years for such a privilege if they chose foreclosure.
The Team at ShortSalesASAP is one of the leading short sale experts in Orange County. To be great at short sales, a firm needs to be dedicated full time plus, to this endeavor, for bank negotiations are very trying frustrating and time consuming. Also, an expert short sale team must be cunning negotiators and know what banks expect in terms of negotiations, packaging, settlements and more. Plus there is no substitute for results. Our team at ShortSalesASAP.com has over a 90% success rate for all short sale clients we have accepted.
by Vincent Bindi on November 4, 2008
Good news for California homeowners who may be having trouble keeping up with their home loan payments. JP Morgan announced this past Friday that they are going to greatly increase their Loan Modification programs, and are also going to put a 90 day moratorium on Foreclosures. This expanded Loan Mod plan is earmarked for approximately $70 Billion in mortgage loans, which could help approximately 400,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure. Since 2007, JP Morgan already has completed negotiating Loan Modifications on about $40 Billion in loans for about 250,000 homeowners.
This a great news for California homeowners who may have recently experienced an adjustable rate reset, or had a financial hardship. The Loan Mod program will also apply to homeowners with mortgage loans with Washington Mutual and EMC. JP Morgan acquired Bear Sterns companies which EMC was a part of, and WAMU was acquired by JP Morgan in September.
Bank of America has also stated that it is starting a new program this December 1st, to conduct about 400,000 loan modifications that were loans with the newly acquired Countrywide Mortgage. In August, the FDIC also increased their Loan Modifications plans after they took over Indy Mac Bank.
These loan modifications will possibly include rate reductions, extending terms, moratorium on payments, and in some cases totally replacing the loan with a new loan. California homeowners who are having difficulties making their mortgage loan payments and have a hardship, should consider a Loan Modification. A professional Loan Modification company that is Attorney backed, or better yet, Attorney lead, can negotiate more favorable terms and conditions in most cases. Also, these Loan Mods companies can save homeowners many hours of frustrating work. For more information regarding Loan Mods or for questions, visit the website of our Loan Modification Affiliate: CaLoanModLawyer.com
by Vincent Bindi on October 21, 2008
There is lots of worry in the residential marketplace today in Orange County, Ca. Prices have dropped about 30% to 35% from their peak values that occurred in the summer of 2006′. But I see some signs that we may be reaching the bottom of this pricing downturn. How you may ask ?
First sign… I have been tracking the internal market stats for residential real estate in south Orange county, CA since July of 2002′ on a weekly basis. I’ve been charting Months of Inventory, Active vs Pending and Price per Square Foot using our own proprietary indicators which are more time responsive by about 4 to 6 months then what is published by the traditional sources.(ie: Major Banks, Title Co’s). The Months of Inventory is a very sensitive indicator that is a leads the movement of prices by about 6 months. The Months of Inventory dramatically dropped about 4 months ago, and if the rate holds, I expect prices to bottom out by the end of this year. Now this indicator does not have any long term predictive powers, and if interest rates where to dramatically rise, of the lending markets where to freeze up and become illiquid then all bets are off. (See Chart Below)
Second Sign — I know a little bit about the stock market, and one of the signs indicating that a bottom may have been reached is if the stock price does not react negatively upon the release of negative news that should have affected the stock. I’ve noticed this phenomena in real estate prices. Albeit the price movement in real estate move at a much slower pace then stocks. During the tragedy of 9-11-01, the Orange County, Ca real estate market slowed done, but prices did not budge. Then at the beginning of the following year, prices continued to rise. During the the financial meltdown that started about 3 weeks ago, in which many financial advisers where fearful that this may have started a Great Depression II, the number of homes under contract (In Escrow), hardly changed. Sure we new of a few clients here and there, who backed out of their transactions, but I was expecting a large number of contract cancellations… but it didn’t happen. Evidently, the vast majority of buyer in escrow during this time feel confident that they are buying property at bargain basement prices. That I say is a sign of an approaching pricing bottom. See the graph below that shows that the number of homes in escrow, has essentially held steady for the past 6 months. In addition, the number of homes in escrow has nearly tripled since the 20 year low set in January of this year, while the number of homes Active for sale has dropped considerably. (see graph below)
by Vincent Bindi on October 17, 2008
Fannie Mae (FNMA) recently passed a new policy which makes a Short Sale a better solution for homeowners compared to Foreclosure.
Fannie Mae is a shareholder-owned company whose charter is to make sure mortgage loan funds are made available to mortgage lenders who make loans to home buyers. They don’t make loans directly to homebuyers, but work with mortgage banks via the secondary mortgage market. FNMA purchases mortgages from lenders and hold those mortgages in their portfolio, and they also issue Mortgage-Backed Securities. These basic financial services help to bring liquidity to the residential mortgage banking marketplace. .
Fannie Mae recently changed their underwriting policies for new mortgage loans for homeowners who have been caught in the recent mortgage loan crisis. Starting in August of 2008, the new guideline requires that a Orange County homeowner must wait five-years after the completion date of a foreclosure, before they will underwrite a new loan with such a home buyer. The previous requirement was only 4 years.
On the other hand, FNMA added a new guideline for Short Sales. Fannie Mae is now stating that a homeowner who conducts a successful short Sale, only needs to wait 2 years to reestablish credit prior to buying another home, compared to 5 years for a Foreclosure. This further adds to the other advantages that a Short Sale has compared to Foreclosure.
This is a huge advantage compared to Foreclosure. In 2 years, the local real estate market here in Orange County will have bottomed out, and possibly start to slightly appreciate. Whereas, 5 years from now, the market will probably be in full swing recovering mode and possibly appreciated substantially from the bottom of the market values.
For more information or questions regarding Short Sales in Orange County, please visit our website by clicking the previous link. Or feel free to email us at: Info@ShortSalesASAP.com or call: 949-388-3396
