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Eileen Landau, Licensed Real Estate Broker, Naperville-Downers Grove, IL

Date: March 8, 2008

Hmmmmmmmmm...I seem to remember that private mortgage insurance insures the difference between the down payment and 80% of the loan.

In our area, attorneys figured out that if a buyer had less than 20% for a down payment that if they got both a first and second mortgage at the same time, they'd not have the added fee of private mortgage insurance. So, most of the sales that I was involved in in the past five years did not have PMI.

FHA, however, requires MIP (same thing) as long as you have the loan. That's why many people tried to re-fi a FHA loan as soon as they could get an appraisal that showed the value of their property had increased enough.

FHA just raised their limit in the Chicago Metro area to $410,000. While this will help some first time and condo buyers, many homes in Naperville are way over that figure.

Cordially,

Eileen Landau, ABR, CRS, E-Pro

Over 800 Homes Sold!

Realty Executives, Realtors

Naperville Il 60540

www.MoveUptoNaperville.com

www.EileenLandau.com

630-961-2600 & 630-961-2700

Editor's Note
Here's more information on [[private mortgage insurance]]http://www.realtown.com/words/private-mortgage-insuranceJohn

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Robert King Licensed Real Estate Broker, Saint Petersburg, FL

Date: March 8, 2008

As for Bruce's opinion on short sales:

"It is only going to get worse, as there are more foreclosures and more short sales in the pipeline than ever in history"!

It all boils down to who are you representing the DEED HOLDER or the LIEN HOLDER? When ever you have a "Short Sale" you have a property that isn't worth the balance of the Mortgage, which means either Foreclosure or accept a Short Sale. So what do you do when the Lien Holder refuses to cooperate? You write your offer in LIU of FORECLOSURE! That way your offer has the potential of being the first bid at a Foreclosure Auction. The Lender can accept a short or the buyer can take a walk! There are plenty of deals out there for buyers. Nobody has to put up with a belligerent lender. Since we started offering "short sales" the belligerence has increased more and more just like the foreclosures! Hey, let the lenders figure it out, it's their risk not ours! If you want to put up with Stone Walling go for it! Several of these lenders are in receivership anyway. They don't have a clue to what's going on. If they did they wouldn't be in receivership! Maybe the boneheaded Bank who buys off the bad debt will be more cooperative? It seems like the Banks are getting into the debt consolidation business. BAC and the likes are buying up all the defunct mortgage brokerage houses, the list is endless. From Countrywide to LaSalle, it's a real mess out there. I imagine by mid summer the pain and misery will be so wide-spread that eventually one of the Presidential Front Runners will take a poll and suggest some kind of Government solution like they plan to do with our Health Care along with the Illegal Aliens that are screwing up our economy we can't afford! I'm sure HUD will come to the rescue, they always have in the past. Why not now? They have been poised for the past 7 years waiting for their opportunity. Why wait any longer, isn't it time for the HUD nipple of relief? You see if buyer's would have secured their financing with HUD INSURED LOANS in the first place there would have been plenty of INSURANCE to cover the DEFAULTS the Banks are faced with! To hear our Central Banking System cry about all the sub-prime nonsense you'd think they would have made certain the sub-primers would have been INSURED! But being the Sub-Prime second mortgages that were used in place of HUD MIP didn't have INSURANCE COVERAGE the Banks have a problem. Maybe the Fed could ask the Treasury to print some more currency to cover the short fall? So I guess the Big Banks will cover their "hind end", by selling off the assets, or should I say Liability, of all the bad debt the sub prime market brought us? Doesn't do much for all the miserable home owners that will become displaced by this summer, but somebody has to take the bullet, why not the Home Owner, you don't think the Banking System is about to take that BULLET do ya? There will be a lot of displacement but who cares, didn't we all make a lot of money during this last RUN? I plan to follow the next Market Trend, "Displaced Homeowners". There will be millions of them. Doesn't everybody need a roof over their head!

Robert King

Broker/Consultant

Charles Rutenberg, Realtors

Clearwater, Florida

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John Muller Licensed Real Estate Agent

Date: March 8, 2008

Looking at the Short Sale issue from a different angle one of the most difficult issues involved is working with an agent that can't tell the difference from the truth and their truth. I am currently involved in another short sale as the buyers agent. Not the first and won't be the last. Over the last seven weeks we have been told almost every Friday or Saturday the lender acceptance will be in hand on Monday and that we should get our inspection and appraisel completed so we don' hold the closing back. All issues have been said to have been accepted from the lender verbally to include the 3% commission published in the MLS.

An actual escrow was opened as soon as the seller and buyer had acceptance but there was a five week battle to get the status in the MLS changed to back-up or pending as required by the board. Yesterday we recieved word from the escrow officer's manager that we finally had verbal approval for the deal and would have the paperwork in our hands by Wednesday. But now there are a couple of hitches which include a reduction of the commission. The listing agent has called me and demanded we move forward on the closing and schedule the appraisel which will spend my clients money prior to receiving the actual approval. She also said or informed me the lender will not pay or allow the seller to pay for the zone disclosure, the hoa documentation or the hoa transfer fees and the I would have to split the cost with her.

I am sorry but I don't feel it is my place to pay her clients required expenditures to satisify the contract we have which states the seller will provide these items for my client so she can complete her investigation of the property. I am already going to pick up the cost of the Home warranty to protect my client. This would not have been as big an issue as it is if the agent on the other side had been honest along the way. If you are going to work Short Sales from either side they are a very big pain normally. The more truth and working together involved, the less stress for all and the easier it can be for the buyer and seller.

John Muller - Realtor / Notary / CRS / E-Pro

First Team Real Estate

(714) 883-1836

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John Dupriest Licensed Real Estate Broker, Penryn, CA

Date: March 9, 2008

"Bruce Replies: We don’t get any respect because the people at the other end of the phones couldn’t care less about these homes getting foreclosed upon or not. If they set it up so there were people on commission who had to see short sales through to a close, then we would get somewhere, but these people are handed a zillion repo-ready homes, and a zillion short sales, and they don’t care! You have to remember that even though we as agents call and are polite and kind to the lender employees, most of the people they talk to are the homeowners who are in financial trouble and are usually not very nice on the phone!"

Right on target. I closed a short sale - 4BR, 3BA home in West Roseville CA. I had the buyer, highly qualified with $150k cash to a $375k purchase and 25 day close. Submitted offer on 8/6/2007, it closed 11/29/2007. Never got the official acceptance until 11/2/07 accompanied by the bank's demand that escrow close in fifteen days! Fortunately there are very few buyers with $150k cash to a $375k purchase so they allowed us to go by the contract. (Ain't that sweet of them?!)

All during the waiting period I kept asking the listing agent about the status so I could inform my Buyer and the reply was always "We better not bug them, they will send us to the bottom of the pile!" My buyer couldn't believe it and he almost ran out of patience. Fortunately (unfortunately?) 80 - 90% of the listings in this area are short sales so the alternatives were/are nil.

Shortly after we closed the November sale I had a SS conversation with a client of mine who is a high-ranking officer in a nationwide bank, proud owners of thousands of foreclosed properties. I related my August to November experience and he said; "John, the main problem is the sheer number of foreclosures but it is also a people problem - many of the banks have hired people who are not qualified nor well-paid and they have no incentive to move the pile." I then suggested that there were almost as many experienced agents and brokers whose business is in the tank. Why not hire those people and put them on commission. Bingo, motivation restored. And those agents/brokers understand the lending/foreclosure process, or will after a one-day orientation, and they are used to being on commission. My client friend was really jazzed by the idea, it had not occurred to him and he was going to propose it to his bank. He didn't see any downside. I have not talked to him since but plan to call.

Amazing. Bruce & I were connected in advance!

John F. DuPriest, Realtor®, e-PRO Certified Internet Expert

Direct: 916/933-2185, FAX:916/663-9366

Email: John@DuPriest.com, Website: www.DuPriest.com

Full time Real Estate Broker in the greater Sacramento area

and the beautiful Sierra foothills since 1972.

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John Chernesky

Date: March 9, 2008

I work with a company that has an 80% success rate in short saling a property if it qualifies. If anyone is in need of this service please call 610-960-5868 or email me directly. They do all the work and you still get a commission. It does not cost you anything to give it a shot.

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Patty Wood Licensed Real Estate Agent, Deer Park, TX

Date: March 9, 2008

Thank you Phil,

I often thought to myself "the lenders just don't
care". I've done one short sale in my short career
and believe me there was nothing short about it.

Thank goodness, my coop worked as hard as he did or my
buyer would not have gotten the home. We waited over
three months before we got an acceptance. After
acceptance we received instructions from the lender
that were off from what we agreed upon, that took
another month to rectify.

It's a good thing we started looking when we did. The
whole process left me flabbergasted and my buyer
frustrated. My buyer eventually got the home he
wanted.

I'm hearing things from other Realtors and lenders in
my area. The word is...we need to start worrying
about MIP going up because of all the insurance
claims. Now I get it...Thanks to you!

Patty Wood
RE/MAX BAY AREA
281-542-6300 Office 281-542-6333 Fax
website: http://PattysWorld.net
email: PattyWood@remax.net

Most of these loans have mortgage insurance, so the
bank is assured of getting 80% of that loan. If any of
your offers are for less than 80% of the loan, then
the bank has no reason to want the offer.... nor to
respond.

Have a Fabulous Day,
Patty Wood
RE/MAX BAY AREA
281-615-0168 Cell 281-542-6300 Office
website: http://PattysWorld.net email: PattyWood@remax.net

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Meg Burke Licensed Real Estate Agent, Leesburg, VA

Date: March 11, 2008

Robert wrote: "It all boils down to who are you representing the DEED HOLDER or the LIEN HOLDER? When ever you have a "Short Sale" you have a property that isn't worth the balance of the Mortgage, which means either Foreclosure or accept a Short Sale. So what do you do when the Lien Holder refuses to cooperate? You write your offer in LIU of FORECLOSURE! That way your offer has the potential of being the first bid at a Foreclosure Auction. "

Does anyone have any success stories of doing these deeds in lieu of foreclosure for short sales? Robert, could you provide more details of how to do this? In my area, the properties are usually substantially "short" (tens of thousands of dollars -- sometimes over a hundred thousand). Is there any chance a bank would accept a deed in lieu of foreclosure offer in these instances? Thanks to all for your suggestions!

Meg Burke, Re/Max Renaissance
Leesburg, VA, a wonderful suburb of Washington, D.C.
email: MegBurkeRealEstate@verizon.net
When you refer my services to your family, friends and acquaintances, I will be sure to take good care of them.
Thank you!

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Deb Cullen Licensed Real Estate Agent, FL

Date: March 12, 2008

Robert wrote:

"It all boils down to who are you representing the DEED HOLDER or the LIEN HOLDER? When ever you have a "Short Sale" you have a property that isn't worth the balance of the Mortgage, which means either Foreclosure or accept a Short Sale. So what do you do when the Lien Holder refuses to cooperate? You write your offer in LIU of FORECLOSURE! That way your offer has the potential of being the first bid at a Foreclosure Auction. "

Meg wrote:

Does anyone have any success stories of doing these deeds in lieu of foreclosure for short sales? Robert, could you provide more details of how to do this? In my area, the properties are usually substantially "short" (tens of thousands of dollars -- sometimes over a hundred thousand). Is there any chance a bank would accept a deed in lieu of foreclosure offer in these instances? Thanks to all for your suggestions!

Deb writes:

A ‘Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure’ is when the owner signs a deed over to the lien holder (Bank/Lender) before the foreclosure. (The owner just walks away). A Realtor would not get a commission. The banks are usually in agreement because they won’t have legal costs and usually the owner leaves the property in good condition.

These were popular back during our last market turn (late 80’s-early 90’s).

Short Sales are different and new phenomena where the owner hangs around and tries to get the best price they can for the bank.

Deb Cullen, GRI, ABR, e-PRO, SRES, RSPS

Century 21 Sunbelt

Serving SW Florida (Cape Coral….aka Paradise)

239-233-2322

deb@CapeDeb.com

www.CapeDeb.com

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Pam Duffy Licensed Real Estate Broker, TN

Date: March 12, 2008

"My office has submitted many many short sales offers.

My office has also experienced this attitude when dealing with the lenders. We have decided that the employees of the lenders get a regular paycheck and don’t have any vested interest in making the deal work out.

It is very frustrating to be told that yes your short sale offer is accepted and when you are ready to close only to be told the day prior to closing that no one was authorized to accept the offer.

Someone needs to give these folks a reality check. If the lenders get in trouble their employees may not have that regular paycheck very week and they could in the unemployment line like a lot of other folks.

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erahallmark@mindspring.com

Date: March 12, 2008

Reply to short sale,

Thank you for a very simple statement regards to what a short sale really is and what to look for, how to handle situation, etc.

Lucy Marshall

ERA Hallmark Properties,Inc.

Lynchburg VA 24501

Mailto:Lucy.Marshall@ERA.com

“Be Choosey – Call Lucy”

Buying? Selling? Relocating?