mattandrandy.com

Matt’s Take on the News
May 17, 2012
Here we go again!!
According to Foreclosure-Response.org and the Center for Housing Policy, the total number of loans in foreclosure or delinquent 90 days or more increased from 9.2% to 9.7% in December, 2011 after declines that persisted since June 2011. They found that the number of mortgage delinquencies in the metropolitan U.S. is climbing back from the June 2011 lows. This is showing that the markets in the top 100 metro areas are starting to destabilize.
So why is this happening? According to the research data, it is the buildup of foreclosed homes that are on the market especially within the judicial states. I tend to agree with the research data. In a judicial state, the foreclosure process takes longer due to the court system. There is more benefit for the homeowner in foreclosure and will reduce the options that the homeowner has.
I agree with the article in that if the states change over to a nonjudicial system, the foreclosures will be processed quicker, however, you open up a different situation and that is the higher risk of fraud. Florida as well as other states has had their own problems with fraud. The only way to “fix” the delinquencies that our country is facing is to allow more short sales. This is a clean way to repair a broken system.
What do you think is going to help repair the delinquencies in the market?

Click the Article Title to View the Entire Article
Matt’s Take on the News
March 20, 2012

Short Sales Speed Along

Katherine Snow Smith from the Tampa Bay Times brings us an article about short sales in Pinellas County Florida. Rather than commenting on how long they take, Ms Snow-Smith goes into detail as to how quickly some short sales have made it through the system. While examples can be had for any scenario, its refreshing to see a few examples where banks are moving them along at a quicker pace.

The only thing that is not mentioned in the article is what the terms of the approvals were. Were they release of liens? Were they full settlements and satisfactions? Was the homeowner subject to a judgment after closing? In Ms Snow-Smith’s defense there is no way for her to have determined the answer to these questions.

It sounds like the Realtors that are quoted in the article know what they are doing. I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they got the approval letters checked out by a seasoned foreclosure defense attorney.

Matt’s Take on the News

May 10, 2010

What would you do with $25 Billion???

The $25 billion mortgage settlement where five of the nation’s largest banks agreed to stop the illegal practices is only valid for three and a half years. California Attorney General Kamala Harris is now pushing to make permanent some of the settlement’s most important servicing standard reforms by writing them into law.

Many of the banks spent a huge amount lobbying against the settlement and they do not agree with Attorney General Kamala Harris’s push to make the servicing standard reforms stick by writing them into law. During the first three months of 2012, the banks have spent huge amounts of money by lobbying against the pending mortgage legislation.

In my opinion the proposed law is much needed for not just California, but for the nation as a whole. The provisions that are in the settlement need to be made into laws to protect the homeowners who are struggling. Without this important legislation and after the three and a half years, there will be nothing to stopping the banks from beginning to foreclose incorrectly and fraudulently.

We need to hold the banks accountable for their actions and hold them to doing what is right for the homeowners who are struggling. After all, it was their actions that have gotten the economy in the mess that we are in. As a nation, we need to pass laws that protect consumers from fraudulent behavior.

Make sure you check out the article.

Matt’s Take on the News

May 8, 2012

Lenders are at it Again!!

Force placed insurance has been around for many years. All mortgages require the homeowner to have insurance on the home. If the homeowner does not keep insurance on the property, the lender can “force-place” insurance on the property. This force placed insurance is much higher than a policy that can be gotten by calling around to local insurance companies. The only way a lender can force place insurance is by deeming the insurance that is on the property insufficient or the policy has lapsed.

So you may be asking why this insurance is higher than most policies that you can buy from a local insurance company. Some of the insurance companies are owned by the banks or the banks work out arrangements with the insurance companies whereby they agree to buy high priced policies. Many of these insurers then pay a commission to the bank which is built into the premium. The homeowner, who is most likely struggling to keep current on their mortgage payment, then is billed for the premium along with the commissions.

This is challenging for many homeowners who are just able to make their mortgage payments. With the higher premiums, it makes the payment to high for the homeowners to make their full payment. In my opinion, this is a hidden cause of many homeowners who are going into foreclosure and one that is not spoken about often.

What are your thoughts?

Matt’s Take on the News

May 3, 2012

Prices of Homes Recovering?
Jack Hough writes about the house prices and when they are going to recover. Home prices have now returned to 2002 levels, but if we subtract inflation they are back to 1998 levels. According to the latest S & P /Case- Shiller number, shows that 20 major markets have declined by 3.5% over the year through February.
There are many industries, such as dairy products and utility gas services that affect the housing markets that help keep the values of the properties down. The amount of inventory that is on the market as well as the shadow inventory, the foreclosure rate and the construction rate that all affect the home prices and why they are not recovering.
What are your thoughts about the house prices and will they recover?

Matt’s take on the News

May 2, 2012

It’s Easy to Complain!

While you are used to seeing commentary on relevant articles from across the nation, I thought that I’d switch it up a bit today. When you think about it, when was the last time that you actually thanked someone for a job well done….or for being nice..or courteous? Now think to yourself and ask when the last time you complained to someone…or got angry with someone over a trivial matter. I can guarantee you that most people take the negative path.

I was speaking with a well known broker several weeks ago. He wondered why he heard about about complaints but didn’t hear about successes. The answer was simple…people like to complain but they don’t like to praise. Don’t get me wrong people shouldn’t have to praise people in order to get the job done correctly. But they complain because its easy to complain.

I visit with people on a very regular basis. When they ask about us and “what we can do for them”, I always point them to our web site that is loaded with testimonials. Visit the page at http://distinctpropertysolutions.com/testimonials.html and tell me what you think.
If you have a short sale, would you rather work with a buyer that has these types of testimonials or would you rather work with someone that simply talks a good game? I think you know the answer, so call me!

Click on the Article Title to View the Entire Article
Matt’s Take on the News

April 26, 2012

Shorter timelines for Short Sales?

As of June 15, 2012 any homeowners whose loans are backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac should receive a decision on a short sale offer within 30-60 days. The FHFA directed the GSEs to establish a new uniform set of response times that the servicers must follow to facilitate efficient short sale timelines. According to the article, the servicers are encouraged to begin implementing the new requirements sooner than later

This is great news for real estate professionals and will help speed up the short sale transactions. It will also help the market in keeping the buyers of the properties informed of the status of the short sales so that they do not walk away during the short sale process to find another home to purchase.

So what are your thoughts, will the shorter timelines for short sales, help real estate professionals close more transactions sooner?

Click on the Article Title to View Whole Article

Matt’s Take on the News

4/24/2012

Short Sales Are UP!

I’m not sure if this fact is due to it being an election year, but according to the article, “Short Sales Up 33% in January, Outpace REO Sales in 12 States.” The reason I mention an election year is that the last thing the president wants to see prior to November is an influx in foreclosures. What will happen after the election? Time will tell. My opinion is that short sales will continue as they are better solutions than foreclosures. However, foreclosures will swell after the elections.

Darren Bloomquist from Realty Trac commented, “Short sales have long held great promise as a market-based solution to the nation’s foreclosure problem, but short sales transactions over the past three years have actually declined after peaking in the first quarter of 2009,” said Blomquist. “January foreclosure sales numbers, along with first quarter foreclosure activity, strongly indicate that downward trend is ending, and we believe 2012 could be a record year for short sales.”

Click on the Article Title To View the Entire Article
Matt’s Take on the News

April 19, 2012

Short sales more Popular

John Gittelsohn recently wrote about short sales and foreclosures and how the number of short sale transactions outnumbered the
transactions that involve foreclosed properties. In a telephone interview with Jonathon Weiner, a vice president in the analytics division of Lenders
Processing Services said that short sales should be the dominant way of disposing of assets in distress. The lenders are catching up to short sales after being slow to provide the staffing and incentives necessary to complete the deals.

I have believed that short sales were always the best ways to dispose of properties for many reasons. They are better for the homeowner’s credit as well as help keep the values more stable in the neighborhood. It also keeps the homes occupied which helps keep crime and vandalism down, which
further decreases values.

Click on the Article Title to View the Entire Article

Matt’s Take on the News

April 17, 2012

2012: A Bigger Year for Foreclosures

In an article written by Nick Carey with Reuters, he writes about the rise in foreclosures this year and how it is going to be worse than the previous years. With the signing of the settlement agreement that was signed with 49 states in February, that took care of the robo-signing scandal which halted foreclosures.

While foreclosures have dropped nationwide in some states they have risen sharply. We are no longer seeing homeowners default because of the subprime loans that were taken out but more due to the economy. Americans should brace for the next wave. With real estate values already at the low levels, this next wave is going to drop the values of the properties even lower than they already are.

What are your thoughts on the next foreclosure wave?

Click here to read the article