Short Sales—Pre-foreclosures Effect the Long Beach Real Estate Market

Many home owners are having trouble making their mortgage payments which may lead to stress and embarrassment of foreclosure of the home that they love.  In Long Beach, as of 2/23/2011, there are 37.52% of the homes that are on the market for sale, are short sales…that is 284 home owners.

A “Short Sale” also referred to as a “pre-foreclosure” is when you sell your home for less than what you owe on the property.  The difference needs to be negotiated with your bank so that they release you from the lien and debt on the property.  We have a short sale company that does that for our clients.   There is no cost to you for that service.  Call Stella Frize, Realtor® at 714-336-7554 for more information.

What Are Your Options If You Are in This Situation?

There are two options to explore: (1) is a loan modification to reduce your monthly payments and the keep the house or (2) is to short sale your home.  For option 1, call your bank and ask them what information do they need for a loan modification.

How Long Does the Short Sale Process Take?

• It can take 3 to 6 months to get an answer from your bank.

What are the Benefits to You of Doing a Short Sale on Your Long Beach Home?

• It has less impact on your credit than a foreclosure
• It statisfies a debt that you owe to your lender in most cases.

New California Law SB 931 Benefits Home Owners Considering a Short Sale

Senate Bill 931 (SB 931) is a new law that covers California Short Sale Deficiencies.  It was signed by the Governor on September 30th, 2010.  As of  January 1st, 2011, first mortgages that accept a short sale will not be able to obtain a deficiency judgment against a home owner after the close of escrow of a short sale.   If a lender provides written consent to a short sale on a first mortgage, the lender must accept the sales proceeds as full payment and discharge the remaining balance due on the loan.

The new law will apply to all first mortgage loans secured by a single family home, condo or income property up to four residential units.   The new law does not prevent the lender from seeking damages for fraud by the borrower.

• For more information about Senate Bill 931, go to Legal Information for Senate Bill 931

What Should I do Next?

If you or someone you know are in this type of mortgage situation,  call Stella Frize, an experienced Short Sale Consultant and local Realtor to consult with you about your short sale real estate options at 714-336-7554 or email her at Stella@redwagonteam.com.  The real estate consultation is free and a community service.

The above information is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended to be definitive legal advice.  Anyone going through a short sale or foreclosure should obtain legal counsel from a licensed real estate attorney and talk to you accountant.

“This just in from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration): a tsunami warning is in effect for the state of Hawaii and Southern and Central California — along with all countries with a Pacific Ocean-facing coastline.  The tsunami was generated by a devastating 8.8 earthquake in Central Chile (which has left at least 100 dead) and it could cause damage along coastlines of all west coast countries and all islands in the state of Hawaii.  Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property.”

• This is a widespread warning and watch from Hawaii to the California coastline.  It always good to be prepared.  A Tsunami is a series of waves generated by earthquakes, underground volcanic activity.  It may start as a small wave and increase in size and become faster as it moves a shore.
• Hawaii is taking this warning very seriously (see video below):

• Southern California weather updates

I just text messaged and emailed our clients that live along the coastline from Long Beach to San Clemente.  Although Long Beach has a breakwater out about 2 miles from shore, that’s why we don’t have high surf here in Long Beach, CA.

God Bless You,

Jay & Stella
The Red Wagon Team
www.RedWagonTeam.com

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/JlqPykEoJok" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Happy Long Beach Realtor® named to Top 50 List for Twitter

Each month Roost.com, a leading residential real estate search engine. comes out with their Top 50 Real Estate People to follow on Twitter.com.  Jay Valento, Co-Founder of The Red Wagon Team that covers Long Beach real estate, as hometourjay …I made the list for December 2009….”that’s so cool.”

http://blog.roost.com/2009/12/31/roost’s-50-people-follow-twitter-december/

• Follow Jay on Twitter.com/hometourjay

What will I say in 2010 on Twitter?

What will happen in 2010?….inquiring minds want to know

May God Bless You and Your Family this day….

Jay Valento & Stella Frize,

The Red Wagon Team at Main Street Realtors

The California Association of Realtors® has a new program called “Housing Affordability Fund’s Mortgage Protection Program”. It enables first time home buyers who lose their jobs due to layoff or job loss are entitled to receive $1500 towards their mortgage payment.  If there is a co-borrower, they too are eligible to receive up to $750 toward the mortgage payment.  Those payments can come in handy, wouldn’t you agree?

Is there a cost for you to be apart of this program?  No.

Here’s how it works….

When you purchase a home, you have to give your California Realtor® permission in writing to enroll you into the program at the close of escrow.  A few documents are mailed in for your file.  Once you are approved for free, you are in the program.   If you experience a layoff after a being in the program for six months, then you would be eligible to receive the mortgage payments.  The program is good for up to 6 months and you must also be a W2 employee…not self-employed.  You must purchase a home between April 2, 2009 to close escrow by December 31, 2009.   The program is excellent and I think it will help first time buyers with the jitters of buying their home.   Learn more about this free California program by downloading the “Housing Affordability Fund’s Mortgage Protection Program” flyer in Adobe PDF.

• What do you think about this program?

Author: Stella Frize, California Realtor, 18 years of experience.  http://www.redwagonteam.com/sfrize.htm

714-336-7554  stella@redwagonteam.com

Belmont Shore residents on Roswell noticed all of thier lights going out for a few minutes.  This caused local residents to reset their computers, modems, vonage boxes and so on.  Where were you?  Belmont Shore.

There was no earthquake, tidal wave or rain downpour to cause the problem.   Local media have not announced it.

Long Beach Home Sales Report – March 2009

In March 2009,

• 182 homes were purchased by families to individuals in Long Beach.
  
• Average price city wide for a single family home was $338,410.
  
• Highest priced home in March that sold was $1,225,000 that was located in the Belmont Park neighborhood just north of Belmont Shore.
• An average of 74 days on market before the seller accepted an offer

While the $15,000 tax credit was appealing to home buyers, it also increased the overall stimulus package that the Congress is working on…so what did they do?

According to an article in the Associated Press:

“Working to accommodate the new, lower overall limit of the bill, negotiators effectively wiped out a Senate-passed provision for a new $15,000 tax credit to defray the cost of buying a home, these officials said. The agreement would allow taxpayers to deduct the sales tax paid on new car purchases, but not the interest on loans for the same vehicles.”

It has been adjusted to $8,000 for first time buyers who qualify.

Regardless of the actual tax credit, homes are more affordable for first time buyers of Long Beach homes and condos as well as move up or relocating home buyers…and we have found some great buys for investors too during this time.

A “Short Sale” means that the owner owes more than the home is listed for and is trying to sell it short of what they owe.  The lender who holds the mortgage would have to approve the lower amount in order for the sale to go through.  In addition to that, the seller would have to provide the lender documents proving that they have suffered a financial hardship.

The process can take up to 3 months or as long as 6 months from the time an offer is submitted to a decision is made on a property by the bank…occasionally it is less time.  It just depends on the bank.  Some banks are offering the seller the option to have their loan modified instead of selling it short.  The risk for the buyer who makes in an offer is that if escrow was opened on the purchase and the buyer has incurred costs like an appraisal or home inspection and the seller chooses to modify their loan with the bank, then the seller may want to cancel.  That may raise legal issues.

To summarize:

• Short sales can take up to 3 months or as long as six months to close escrow, so you need a lot of patience.
• Some banks are willing to grant the seller a short sale and some are not
• The seller may decide to accept the loan modification from their bank

Focus on Southern California foreclosures and properties that are not short sales or “pre-foreclosures”.