Word is that the federal government will soon be coming out with guidelines meant to standardize and streamline how short sales work.

For the record, nothing could make most real estate agents (and short sale buyers and sellers) happier than a better process.

Unfortunately, I have absolutely no faith that it will happen. The guidelines, like most of the government plans around foreclosures thus far, is going to take a carrot approach, with incentives for banks to cooperate. I'd be willing to wager a fair amount of money that the banks could care less about any incentive offered. The money involved is likely to be miniscule from the banks' perspective.

Let me also say that I'm a little offended by the concept. So these banks have billions of our tax dollars to save them from their own stupidity (and to keep us from going over the cliff with them) and now we have to bribe them to play nice?!

Seems to me California has a better idea here. They've passed new regulations that a bank that has gotten all the documents on a short sale, including the draft HUD1, must produce an answer in four days! And, if they don't there are penalties.

To give you some sense of perspective, if I get a response from a lender within 6 weeks, I do a dance of joy! Everyone has stories of banks that didn't respond for well over four or five or six months!

There has to be a better way. And I'd love to believe that the Federal Government is about to roll that out. I'm just not that gullible any more!

With property values falling in our area, many of you have been astonished that according to the county your property value actually increased.

You should know that nothing is written in stone and that these things can be appealed. First, you should contact your county immediately to find out what the process is for an appeal. It's different in each county.

Now you need to start gathering data to support your contention. One source of help can be your real estate agent. I've helped clients in the past by putting together a current analysis of the market, including comparable home sales.

If you're doing this on your own, you're going to need to get information on what has recently sold in your neighborhood, and what it sold for. The homes you're using for comparison should me as much like yours as possible.

You should talk to neighbors about their assessments. There are a surprising number of clerical errors. If your assessment is completely out of line compared to neighbors with similar homes you've got good grounds for appeal.

Take into account factors that may decrease your homes value. What's going on in the neighborhood? Is there a heavy increase in traffic that impacts the value of your home? How abour rezoning?

Are there factors unique to your home that might affect the assessment? Do you have structural issues? Is there, for example, a crack in the foundation?

There are resources in the web that can help as you prepare your case. The Federation of Tax Administrators site has good background information on the appeals process for each jurisdiction. The American Homeowner's Association has a kit to help with this process. You can download it for free on their web site. And, the National Taxpayer's Union has a guide ($6.95) on fighting property taxes.

Lastly, I'd also urge you to remember that these same property taxes are the ones that pay for policemen, firemen, schools and school teachers, etc. If no one pays property taxes you might find you don't like the place you end up living in!