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With nearly 30% of American homes underwater on their mortgage, where their house’s mortgage balance exceeds the fair market value, Mainers in all demographics face some tough decisions. Most feel trapped in houses they cannot afford, do not want to afford, or feel little desire to keep pouring money into an investment that has fallen as hard as the Dow Jones.

Is there a saving grace? Is there a magic bullet? Its starting to look like the Short Sale may be the best alternative to this situation.

A homeowner cannot sell their home without the Release of Lien from the property. A mortgage is a lien. Just like back taxes or a mechanic’s lien, this needs to be paid off in order to transfer a clean title. So what does a seller do when a prospective buyer wants their home but will not pay enough to cover the lien? The seller needs to appeal to the lien holder for relief in the form of Debt Negotiation or applying for a Short Sale.

But this ain’t no small balance credit card settlement! This is the biggest debt settlement of a homeowner’s life, and this is where they need a qualified Short Sale Expert who knows how to negotiate liens with banks, price the property “As-Is” and trouble shoot all the way to the closing table.

If done properly, a short sale can wipe $100,000 debt from a credit file, release the seller from future debt and tax liability and have junior liens paid off too. Also, the Federal Government has rolled out a new program that encourages banks to allow up to $3000 in relocation expenses if the seller’s qualify.

http://martymyrealtor.com/2010/05/25/marty-talks-about-the-hafa-program-streamlining-short-sales/

The short sale is not for the faint of heart, this can be a stressful process if not handled by a Real Estate Agent skilled in this practice. Most agents are not familiar with the ins and outs of the loss mitigation protocol that banks have established and simply give up when presented a difficult situation.

So when considering the thoughts of walking away from a property and leaving it to Foreclosure, the Short Sale is far and away a better option.

Provided By: www.examiner.com

For all your short sale needs, give us a call at 972-772-7029 or email us at debbie@debbie-brown.com!

Yes, verifiably, according to researchers in a recent working paper, “Forced Sales and House Prices”.

An MIT economist and two Harvard researchers analyzed 1.8 million home sales in Massachusetts (1987 to 2009), finding that “foreclosure reduces the value of a house by 27 percent, on average.”

Combine this with with their statistic that foreclosed homes make up roughly one in 12 houses with under $1 million left on the mortgage. Then consider a US Treasury statement that foreclosures can reduce surrounding home values up to 9 percent. This exposes the dramatic effect foreclosures are having on home prices?all home prices?across the country.

Is this really shocking? Perhaps the size of the decrease in value of foreclosures is shocking, but certainly not that it happens. Short sales, a transaction in which the property can avoid becoming vacant, is increasingly sought after as a solution not only for homeowners facing foreclosure, but lenders looking to recoup more of their investment. Today, CDPE-designated agents are helping to facilitate hundreds of thousands of these transactions nationwide. Already this is helping communities recover and prices stabilize. This is a movement that will continue to make a difference.

Provided By CDPE Forms

If you owe more than your house is worth and can’t afford your payments, you might be able to sell it for less than you owe — without having to pay the lender the difference.

If you can no longer make your mortgage payments and your home is now worth less than you owe on it, foreclosure may not be your only option.

A short sale, in real-estate terms, is the sale of a house for less than what the owner still owes on the mortgage. If the lender agrees to a short sale, the rest of the homeowner’s debt typically is forgiven. Lenders sometimes agree to the procedure in order to take a small loss and avoid the lengthy and costly foreclosure process.

While there are some significant negative consequences to a short sale, an ever-increasing number of properties are being advertised with that label.

Short sale: Win-win-win situation

The beauty of short sales is that they can be a win-win-win situation for seller, buyer and lender. Here’s how:

• The seller gets out of the mortgage liability without facing bankruptcy.
• The buyer gets the home at a reduced price.
• The lender agrees to a loss it considers minimal without going through a foreclosure and being saddled with an unsalable property.

While it may seem surprising that lenders would agree to accept less than what they are owed, they benefit from the process, too.

“The lender benefits by not having to go through the protracted process of foreclosing on the borrower and then having to put the property on the market and go through the whole marketing process,” says Stuart Wilson, a real-estate agent with Paragon Real Estate in San Francisco.

A market saturated with foreclosures can cost lenders billions — and as much as $50,000 per foreclosure — according to a study by the congressional Joint Economic Committee.

A buyer’s dream

For a buyer, a short sale is a boon since he or she is getting a property at a reduced price. However, the process of waiting for a lender to decide whether to agree to a short sale can make a lengthy home-buying process longer and more arduous.

Wilson, who has represented both buyers and sellers in short-sale deals, advises working with an agent who’s familiar with short sales.

He also suggests that buyers looking to negotiate a short-sale deal come armed with enough documentation to convince the lender that settling for the lower price is the best option.

If you need to short sale your home, or have questions about short sales. Give Debbie Brown & Associates a call at 972-772-7029 or email us @ debbie@debbie-brown.com.

Provided By Bankrate.com

McLean, VA – Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), with the 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages reaching record lows for this survey. (The 30-year fixed-rate survey began in 1971, and the 15-year began in 1991.) The 5-year adjustable rate mortgage also reached its lowest level since Freddie Mac began tracking it in 2005.

30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.49 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending August 5, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.54 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.22 percent.

15-year FRM this week averaged a record low of 3.95 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.00 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.63 percent.

5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.63 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.76 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.73 percent.

1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 3.55 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.64 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.78 percent.

Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac, said, “And yet again, interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages and now the hybrid 5-year ARM fell to all-time record lows this week following the second quarter GDP release. Annual revisions cut the cumulative GDP growth in half over the past three years ending in the first quarter of 2010 from 1.4 percent to 0.6 percent. This reduces inflationary pressures and allows longer-term rates room to ease.

“More recently, housing investment picked up in the second quarter of this year as the homebuyer tax credit spurred new and existing sales and low mortgage rates encouraged remodeling. Fixed residential investment added 0.6 percentage points to second quarter real GDP growth following two quarters of decline.”

Provided By Realty Times

Borrowers are being encouraged to negotiate a short sale to sale their home if they have a financial hardship and are upside down on their mortgage.  Click on the CDPE (certified distressed property expert) link to see if you qualify.  The new foreclosure alternative program is meant  to cut down on the amount of foreclosures that sit empty, cutting down on vandalism which depresses the value of the property ever more, as well as the value of the neighborhood.  Speak with a licensed real estate agent specializing in Short Sales to discuss your options.  Many times, the bank will postpone a foreclosure to give you and your real estate agent time to work a short sale, they ask you to stay in the home and keep up with the maintenance while the short sale is being negotiated.

Homeowners who are upside down on their mortgage, may have alternatives to foreclosure.  The government is allowing money to be given to the distressed homeowners themselves.  When a homeowner has an experienced real estate agent negotiate a successful short sale, the borrower will suffer less damage to his credit rating than a foreclosure or a bankruptcy.  The lender will also agree to assure the borrower that they will not be sued later for any unpaid mortgage balance or defiency.  Click on the CDPE link to see if you qualify for the new Loan Modification Program.

If you qualify for a Mortgage Modification Plan, in an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, homeowners could be paid to sell at a loss.  The new Mortgage Modification program will allow homeowners who are upside down on their mortgage to possibly sell their homes at a loss and the Government will pay the homeowners to successfully do a short sale on their home and settle the mortgage with the bank.  Allowing the homeowner to be relieved of the stress of the high mortgage payment, and be able to move on with their lives.  The banks do not want to foreclosure on properties, they are not in the business of owning  Real Estate, they are in the business of loaning  money.  So they are working with certified distressed property experts (CDPE) to negotiate a short sale and get the home sold and the loan settled.  Click on the CDPE Link to see if your loan qualifies for a Mortgage Modification Plan.

Facing foreclosure, know your options!  Today 1 out of every 6 homeowners is behind on their mortgage payments.  Now more than ever it is important to know your options.  Your financial future can be salvaged.  I have found that homeowners have more questions about their financial situation.  I have created this website to help you understand alternatives to foreclosure.  As a Certified Distressed Property Expert, CDPE, I can help you to make an informed decision.  Contact me or go to my website and click on the CDPE logo for more information.

Executive home on the golf course in Rockwall,  with gorgeous saltwater Swimming Pool, awesome golf course lot in The Shores of Rockwall,  located on Fairlakes Point in the Shores.  Just reduced, call today for private showing.  1280 Fairlakes Pointe Drive , Rockwall, TX  75032.  Close to the Lake, enjoy boating on Lake Ray Hubbard and golf at The Shores and nearby Buffalo Creek Golf Course.  Rockwall ISD, convenient to major Highways, close to downtown Dallas.  Visit www.rockwallshortsales.com for more information.