$171,900 :: 219 Oakridge Dr, Stafford VA, 22556

3 beds, 2 baths
Home size: 0 sq ft
Lot Size: 10,202 sq ft
Added: 02/12/10, Last Updated: 03/02/10
Property Type: Residential for Sale, Detached for Sale
MLS Number: ST7256180
Tract: Oakridge / Country Ridge
The price of this listing was last reduced on 3/2/2010 by 2%

“Reduced Price” “Price Reduced” GET Foreclosure Price FOR AN ABSOLUTE DOLL HOUSE. PERFECTLY MAINTAINED AND WAITING FOR A NEW OWNER. WATER HEATER, ROOF ETC. ALL 4 YEARS OLD. PELLA WINDOWS THROUGH OUT THIS HOME. OVERSIZED ASPHALT DRIVEWAY. HUGE BACK YARD WITH TRIPLE SIZED SHED. MOVE IN READY HOME. FENCED BACK YARD. MINUTES TO I-95 AND SHOPPING CENTER.Hurry, this will not last at this price.

Listed with Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc.

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Brought to you by Jeannette and Bruce Lemieux, RE/MAX Metropolitan Realty. Call me today at 301-527-9079, or visit my website at MoCoRealEstate.com!

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The Maryland housing marketplace is modifying every second, so make sure to come back to our site weekly for more Maryland real estate tools and home MLS listings.

Here you can acquire out more about Maryland shortsale homes and reo properties along with bank-owned holdings that you can find for a great price.

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$399,000 :: 13903 Alex Landing Dr, Humble TX, 77396

5 beds, 4 full 1 part baths
Home Size: 4,633 sq ft
Lot Size: 13,921 sq ft
Added: 02/05/10, Last Updated: 03/01/10
Property Type: Single-Family
MLS Number: 12137028
Community: Northeast
Tract: Fall Creek

New Home Foreclosure – Never Lived In! Huge Cul-De-Sac lot, 2 balconies, 2 bedrooms down and 4 full baths! Formals down w/wood floors, family room & master w/handscraped wood floors. Kitchen/breakfast have an additional sunroom. Kitchen w/custom fit cabinets, granite counters & SS appliances including double convection ovens! Master bathroom with granite counters and oversized shower with marble wall surrounds & whirlpool tub. Huge media room upstairs plus a game room w/large closet.

Listed with Texas Home Group, Realtors

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Brought to you by James Wheelock, ERA Silver Star Realty LLC. Call me today at 281-979-0793, or visit my website at houstonhousingmarket.org!

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The Texas housing market is evolving each second, so make sure to come back to our site weekly for much more Texas realty breaking news and home real estate listings.

Here you can learn out more about Texas short sales and reo properties along with bank owned props that you can find for a low cost.

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Click on the link to see more pictures about the $399,000 :: 13903 Alex Landing Dr, Humble TX, 77396.

Obama Foreclosure Plan: Is It Working?

President Obama’s foreclosure plan was put in place to help first-time homebuyers make that first home purchase, get more people modified in their current loan through their current lender, and make it easier for people that can refinance their mortgage to get that done. The key element of this act which was called helping families save their homes was approved in May of 2009.

The Obama foreclosure plan was put together to help combat the slew of foreclosures that the United States is facing right now. When we do this is to make sure that homes that are currently occupied by their owners, can stay occupied by their owners. So loan modifications is a great way to do that.

Part of the plan was to give bonuses to banks they were able and willing to modify their loans with their current customers. Another part of the plan was to give additional funds to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to help stimulate some new loans.

The making homes affordable program has had some effect on the market at this point time but we will have to see what happens when the first-time home buyer tax credit ends in June of 2010. Much of the buying activity has been due to the fact that first-time home buyers can receive up to $8000 as a tax credit when they purchase a home for the first time. They also extended this tax credit to those that have owned a home before and put a limit on that tax credit up to $6500.

Those that criticize the Obama plan to help stimulate housing market have pointed out that only a small percentage of those that really want and need a loan modification have gotten one. Part of the problem is that many of the loans that are at risk of being delinquent are insured through FHA. I think that this makes lenders less likely to work with homeowners who need to modify their loan or do a short sale. Why would they mess with all the issues that go into modifying a loan or the paperwork that goes into doing a short sell on the home when the government is just going to foot the bill in the end anyway with mortgage insurance.

We will just have wait and see what happens as time goes on. One good part of all this is that if you are in a position to purchase a home, you are going to be in a very good position when you go to negotiate on offer and you will have the upper hand as you start your home search. It is definitely a buyers market.

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Process of Buying A Short Sale Home

If you are looking for a home these days, you probably better brush up on the process of buying a short sale home.  If you look on the available homes in your local MLS, you will probably find that many of them are listed as a short sale.  (Short Sale is when the owner is selling it for less than what is owed to the bank or banks.)

Lets talk about the process a bit.

First, the home is usually in default or in position to be in default.  Usually called a pre-foreclosure property.  If the sellers don’t see a way to keep the home or get their loan modified, they can list the home with a local real estate agent to see if they can sell it.  With the downturn in the real estate market, many sellers can’t sell their homes for what is owed on the home or more, so they have to sell it as a “short sale”.

Second, the real estate agent lists the home and discloses to the public or to the agents that the home is a short sale listing.  They usually price them fairly agressive on the MLS to get looks and eventually offers.

Third, home buyers look at the home just like a typical home.

Fourth, the sellers receive and offer and typically will sign it unless they feel the offer is way too low and the bank won’t accept the offer.

Fifth, the listing agent will compile a short sale package which includes the signed offer, seller financial statements, bank authorization letters, the listing agreement, and more to the bank in 1st position and to the bank in 2nd postition on the home if applicable.

Sixth, once the complete package is submitted to the lender or lenders, it is a waiting game in most cases.  The banks must calculate their proceeds of the short sale vs the proceeds if they have to foreclose on the home.  Keep in mind that they have to work with the 2nd lien holder and mortgage insurance as well to get approval.  Some of the large banks are taking up to 4 months for this process.  It is a real stressful time if you are a buyer putting your search on hold waiting for an answer from the bank.

Seventh, the bank either approves, rejects, or counters the offer.   If there is acceptance of the short sale offer, you should expect to close within 30 days from the acceptance.

The banks and the US government are working to streamline short sales this year so that these homes can be purchased faster and in turn help the economy get a jump start.  We will see what happens.

I personally try to find my buyer clients REO properties instead of short sales upfront to help lessen the stress.

Buying A House With Bad Credit

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• New FHA Requirements: Party On! (usnews.com)

Facing Foreclosure

There are more and more homeowners facing the threat of foreclosure these days. The numbers seem to be getting worse too. Homeowners today that are facing foreclosure need to contact their real estate professional. There are tools and reasons that can prevent foreclosure from actually happening. Some of these reasons might be job loss, divorce, medical bills, or other reasons that might help homeowners keep their home.

One of the things that’s you can do if you’re in that position of being close to foreclosure is a home loan modification. A home loan modification is when you go to your current lender and asking them to reduce your monthly payments.  If you can work with the bank, and afford your new loan modification payment, this can help prevent you from having to do a short sell or go into foreclosure.

Watch this  video for more information about the short sell and foreclosure process...

Millionaires Default On Their Mortgages More

Even millionaires these days are having a hard time getting their hands on money.

Even if those millionaires want to refinance their home to put their money elsewhere they are having a hard time finding a lender that will loan out that money even if they have some equity.  Even if they have six-figure incomes, exceptional credit scores, and tons of assets, they are still getting turned down for loans.

“It’s amazing really,” said Susan Bruno, a financial planner with Beacon Wealth Consulting in Rowayton, Conn., “but it makes sense when you think about it.”

One reason is that many people considered “rich” have fallen behind on their loans. Over 12% of mortgages in the United States over the $1 million loan amount were actually late during this past fall. This 12% is twice the rate of loans that are under $250,000 and almost triple the number of mortgages in the million-dollar range from only 12 months ago. So, even the rich are having a hard time making their mortgage payments.

I think we are running into one of those scenarios where homes over $1 million have depreciated at a much higher percentage rate than starter homes. How would you like it if your home was once worth $2 million, and now is worth $1 million? That’s a big chunk of change that most likely makes people in that scenario not want to make their mortgage payments even though they may have enough money to make the payments.

Not to mention, that jumbo loans are harder to qualify for and obtain financing for than traditional conventional or FHA loans. When you throw the default rates into the mix, you can see why lenders are a little bit apprehensive about making these large loans.

Foreclosure Stats in 2010

New numbers.  13.2% of homeowners in the US are either behind in their payments or in foreclosure.  That is one 1 out of every 7.5 homeowners.  This is according to Lender Processing Services or LPS.  Total mortgage delinquencies that exclude forclosures  rose to 9.97% which shows a month per month increase of just about 5.46%.

So, foreclosures are still on the rise.  What does that mean for the real estate market?  Well, take a look at your particular numbers in your local area.  These numbers we are looking at are national numbers but they do show a trend that everyone should be watching.  Rising foreclosures typically mean that prices should continue to fall ab bit.  How much they fall, we won’t be able to tell for a while.  But I don’t think we have quite hit bottom yet.

Does this mean that I shouldn’t buy a house yet?

If you plan on buying a house and see yourself  living in that house or keeping that house for 7 years or more, then I think that buying should be a fairly safe bet.   Those that wait and wait for the absolute bottom of the housing prices tend to wait to long and miss out.   You won’t ever know if you purchased at the bottom of the market until 3-6 months later when you can look back at the real estate market numbers, both locally and nationally.

Here are some more numbers that matter for the foreclosure and real estate market in 2010.

Other key results from LPS’ December Mortgage Monitor include:

• 5.01 % of Loans Rolled to More Delinquent Status vs.1.52 Percent That Improved

• Total U.S. loan delinquency rate is 10.0%

• Total U.S. foreclosure inventory rate is 3.2%

• Total U.S. non-current* loan rate is 13.2%

• States with most non-current* loans are Florida, Nevada, Mississippi, Arizona, Georgia, California, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois

States with fewest non-current* loans are North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Vermont, Colorado, Oregon and Iowa

Foreclosure Process Steps

If you are looking to purchase a home anytime soon, it is very important for you to understand the real estate foreclosure market. It is important to know how the foreclosure market works and what the process is. Once you understand the foreclosure flow, you can be one of those buyers that can snag a great deal.

Another point to understand is that just because a home is a foreclosure home does not mean that it is a better deal than a regular home that is active on the market. Foreclosure homes can sometimes be worth less that what the bank is asking or less than it sells for at auction.

Here are the steps to the typical foreclosure:

1. The homeowner stops paying their minimum mortgage payment.

2. Lien holder(s) file a notice of default typically after 90 days

3. Notice of sale date. Lien holder gives notice of when they will auction the property.

4. Foreclosure Auction.

5. If the home does not sale at the auction, it is “bought” back by the bank and now is considered an REO or bank owned property.

6. Bank will typically re-list the property on the MLS with their REO agent in the area.

Mortgage Assistance Program – Does It Work

Pres. Obama’s plan called Making Homes Affordable was designed to help homeowners that have been greatly affected by the recession. When the recession hit, many Americans incomes reduced dramatically, which made it very hard for a lot of people to afford their current home that they were in. For many Americans, the foreclosure process is just around the corner.

Making Homes Affordable was put in place to help reduce some of the current payments on loans for people that were in risk of defaulting on their home. In theory, the program sounds great, and could be a great stabilizer for the economy. But, if the plan working?  The answer in most cases is, no.

What is happening all across America is banks giving homeowners the runaround when it comes to modifying their homeland. And in some cases, the banks are trying to force homeowners into other loans that they can’t afford either. They’re even asking homeowners to waive their legal rights.

The most common complaint from people trying to get modifications on their home loan from their bank is: banks are losing the paperwork required, dropping the calls, or claiming they did not receive the paperwork via fax so the homeowner has three fax the document several times. All of this when time is of the essence for the homeowner has foreclosure looms near.  It just goes to show, that when you get the government involved in fixing the private sector, you’re going to run into a lot of problems, inconsistencies, and programs that just don’t work like they’re supposed to.

What Is A Short Sale

Here’s the question that started coming in to us about two years ago as short so properties started to become more more prevalent. Their are a lot of common misconceptions about what a short sell it and how they occur.

First, let’s talk about what a short sale is not. A short sale is not a home that night needs to be sold in a short amount of time. It is not a home with a small amount of square footage, or a home that is short in stature. A short sale is when the owner of the property essentially owes more than what the property is worth and they are trying to get the bank take less than what is over the property when they sell it. This typically happens during these foreclosure process.

So in a short sell property negotiation, you are working with a buyer, seller, and a bank. Once an offer is accepted between a buyer and seller, it then has to be fully approved by the bank before the transaction can occur. Depending on the bank, this can be a very frustrating process. I have worked several short cells that take months to even hear back from the bank on whether they will approve the price or not. The seller also needs to prove that they are not able pay off the remaining balance because of market conditions or their financial stability.

With that being said, buyers of short sale properties can get a very good deal when they purchase one of these properties because the banks definitely do not want to take properties back through foreclosure. The foreclosure process just cost the banks too much to do. But, if they don’t get an acceptable offers through the short so process they will foreclose on the property and then try to re-list the house as a REO property. Also known as bank owned.

If you’re looking to purchase property and looking at short sales or foreclosures, make sure that you work with an agent that knows that market. Otherwise, you might be in for a long frustrating process.

Obama’s Foreclosure Plan

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention program is open for business.

The multipronged fix calls for companies to help as many 4 million struggling borrowers by modifying loans so monthly housing payments are no more than 31% of monthly gross income. Separately, homeowners who haven’t missed a payment can refinance into lower-cost loans even if they have little or no equity. This is expected to help up to 5 million homeowners.

The $75 billion loan modification plan will provide incentives to borrowers and loan servicers and investors to spur mortgage modifications. The government will also subsidize interest rate reductions to get borrowers to affordable monthly payments.

“This plan will help make home ownership more affordable for nine million American families and in doing so, help to stop the damaging impact that declining home prices have on all Americans,” said Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan.

Borrowers can now contact their servicers to see whether they are eligible for assistance. Federal officials will promote the program at homeownership events nationwide.

The administration Wednesday released additional eligibility criteria and program guidelines.

The loan modification plan focuses on people who are behind in their payments or are at risk of default.

Federal officials clarified the definition of “at risk” as those: suffering serious hardships, declines in income or increase in expenses; facing an interest rate hike; having high mortgage debt compared to income; owing more than their house is worth, or demonstrating other reasons for being close to default.

To participate in the loan modification plan, borrowers must:

* have obtained their mortgage before Jan. 1, 2009;
* have a primary mortgage of less than $729,500;
* live in the property;
* fully document their income by providing tax returns and pay stubs;
* sign a statement of financial hardship; and
* go for counseling if their total household debt – including auto loans, credit cards and alimony – totals more than 55% of their income.

The modification program will be in effect until the end of 2012, but loans can only be adjusted once.

Officials also unveiled more details on how servicers will modify the loans. First, they must reduce interest rates so that borrowers’ total house payments are not more than 38% of their monthly income. The government will then subsidize servicers dollar-for-dollar to lower that ratio to 31% – but the interest rate can’t go below 2%.

The new interest rate would then remain in place for five years, after which it will increase by 1 percentage point a year until it reaches either the original rate or the prevailing mortgage rate at the time of the modification, whichever is lower.

If rate reductions aren’t enough to get payments to 31% of income, a lender can extend the term up to 40 years, or shift part of the principal to the end of the loan at no interest. Servicers also have the option of reducing the loan’s balance.

Servicers will receive $1,000 for each loan modified, as well as additional annual bonuses if borrowers keep up with payments. Investors will receive one-time $1,500 incentive payments for restructuring qualifying loans that are not yet delinquent. Finally, borrowers who keep up with their new payments will receive up to $1,000 a year in principal reduction, for up to five years.

The program also includes a new provision to eliminate borrowers’ second mortgages. Investors in those mortgages, who at times have blocked modifications because they don’t benefit from the adjustments, will receive incentives to eliminate those claims. Servicers that get second-mortgage holders to participate will receive an additional $250.

Tell us what you think about this.   I hope it works, but when the government gets involved, it rarely does.

Boise Real Estate – Short Sales

Well, how do you find the best Boise real estate deals out there on the market right now. Probably the best way is to get with a professional buyer’s agent that has experience with short sales and foreclosures.

Short Sale is a situation where the sellers are usually already behind on their payments and have probably stopped paying on their loan. They are on their way to foreclosure and owe more than they can net out of the house after closing costs and penalties. We then have to turn to the bank and offer them a deal that they can’t refuse. Let the owner sell the house and have the bank take a loss on the loan so they don’t have to take back the house. There are a plenty of short sales in the Boise real estate market right now.

Why would a bank agree to this? Because they don’t want default loans on their books that severely limit their lending power. It also can cost a bank anywhere from $20,000-$60,000 to send a home through foreclosure. Why not take a portion of that $20,000-$60,000 and put it in your pocket?

You can. There are services in every state that can notify you of defaulted loans (some are better than others). This will allow you to go directly to the owners and see if you can work out a deal with them. This method is for knowledgeable and experienced investors only. You do need to know what you are doing. Or, you can hire an experienced Boise area Realtor that knows their stuff. They can typically help you with a home whether it is listed or not.

With so much opportunity out there, make sure that when you buy, you are taking advantage of the great deals that are out there.

Happy House Hunting!!