Buying a foreclosed home takes some patience.  A foreclosure occurs when the home owner stops paying the mortgage and the bank takes possession of the home. Some foreclosures are in good shape while others need small to major renovations.  Normally the home will not have the heat or electric on when you view the home. Make sure to bring your flashlight so you can take a look at the whole house.

The home inspection is the most important factor in buying a foreclosed property.  The bank does not give you any property information because they have never occupied the home and most times there is no power or water connected at the house.  Some banks make the buyer pay to de-winterize.  De-winterizing involves calling the electric and water company to have the electric and water turned on at the house and a plumber to turn on the heat and check for leaks. De-winterizing may take days to weeks to get everything turned on and in working order.  In addition, a home inspector can’t check many of the main components of the home (heat, electric, appliances…) to see if they are in good working order unless the home is up and running.          

Dealing with the bank to buy a foreclosure can take some patience. The bank doesn’t always make sense in their thinking but it’s “their way or the highway”.  Along with all the extra forms and paperwork the home will most likely need work.  The home may be in a distressed state and need to be fixed but normally sells for a much lower asking price.  At lower, reduced prices you can get great deals on these homes and resell them for profit, rent them or even live in them.     

If you are looking to buy or sell a foreclosure in the Southern New Hampshire area give me a call or better yet stop on by.                           

Virginia Gregory, REALTOR®

Foreclosed-upon properties are everywhere, in every state.  Houses and apartment buildings are being sold at well below their appraised values.  And investors are snatching them up whenever possible.

Though this sounds like a dire situation, there may be an upside to all the foreclosures, especially if you’re going to be a landlord in 2010. 

First, the reality is that many individuals and families are going to be renting next year.  If their homes have been foreclosed upon, they will be unlikely to buy another property.  Of course, landlords will need to establish strict tenant screening policies as well as strategies for dealing with any renters who have a foreclosure in their past. 

Secondly, landlords who have invested in decent properties located in respectable areas may be able to make a serious profit.  After all, if they bought the property at well-below the expected market value, the margin between net and gross profits will be smaller.

Remember that for every economic situation — such as the recent increase in foreclosures — there are opportunities for entrepreneurs.  So if you’ve considered becoming a landlord or property manager in ‘10, it may be a decent move.

• American Tenant Screening — Fast, Easy and Priced Right!
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You own the collateral, assets that are valuable as they make you money and are the heart of your business. It may be collateral for your loan, but it remains yours. Therefore you must exercise complete control over them for as long as possible. Of course. So only you can sell an asset, or all your assets, or your entire business as a going concern…NOT the bank.

This is an important fact. The only way the bank can take over control of your assets, hold title, and thus be able to dispose of them as they choose, is either with your permission or through foreclosure, a process controlled by each state differently. Thus any request or demand that you do anything with your assets, such as sell them, is a breach of their fiduciary duty to you the borrower and should not be tolerated or adhered to in anyway, unless the borrower believe it is in his/her own best interest.

The bank has little opportunity to market or even list property for sale but always opts for the liquidation auction as it is deemed an adequate effort to satisfy their fiduciary duty, even if it brings in the lowest possible price, with the most expense. Its as quick as possible, final and is defensible.

Banks do not want to foreclose and take possession of assets. Understanding this is a negotiation advantage. You control the assets until they foreclose.

I hear this ‘plan’ more often then I choose to admit. ‘I am just going to wait and see what happens…’

And this is a plan? It’s an act of personal financial suicide. It’s no plan, it’s a decision to allow others to control your destiny. It’s avoidance at its best. It is self destruction.

So why do you do this I ask? Never an answer other then wanting to wait and see what happens, It is as if you are watching a tv show and want to see the ending…only his is not a tv show, it is your life.

So you never have to wait and see what will happen, here is the script, exactly what will happen if you have an SBA guaranteed loan and you are in default.

After 90 days, could be allot sooner or allot later, depends upon the bank, but 90 days is the typical benchmark, the bank will photo the collateral, arrange for their appraisal and then commence foreclosure. They will not negotiate at all, and upon foreclosure they will liquidate by auction, irrespective of how little they may get and how backwards this may seem, it is the rule of the SBA and if they fail to ‘exhaust their legal remedies’, they may lose their SBA guaranty, a very valuable payoff. You can bet they will follow through and exhaust their legal remedies. Then the SBA will pursue you through the Department of Justice to collect on your guaranty. These Assistant US Attorneys who work for the Dept. of Justice  are bad boys…and bad girls. They are very hard to get to compromise, although we handle this issue repeatedly and successfully, it is a street fight.

Now you know exactly what to expect.

Non SBA guaranteed loans, traditional secured bank loans, follow a similar path but may be easier to deal with and may offer more flexibility, but in the end the results will be the same. Some banks are tougher some are easier but they all do the same thing…foreclose and liquidate and then pursue personal guaranties.

What to do? Be pro-active, get in front of the train and stop it.

There are few  paths to take.

If SBA guaranteed, you have three options:

1.Pay, of course you can’t so this fails.

2. File bankruptcy, this fails as you lose your business, the loan stays attached to your home or you may even lose your home…not a good result.

3. Best, call us we have a plan that does work, keeping your business alive and stripping the debt of it as well as reducing the personal guaranty liability to pennies on the dollar. This works.

If a traditional  secured bank loan, you have one other option, you can enter into a workout plan that modifies your loan, this may provide some relief but the not enough to save the day.

The only real answer is debt reduction, and that is what our strategy provides with far less loss.

There it is, the entire script, with endings to choose from, You do not have to wait and see, now you know.

Call us we can help.

Call 413-584-2581 Norm will arrange a no obligation teleconference for us to discuss your issues and provide you with a plan.

There was, once, a very angry letter written by a group of fat, old white people. It was a scathing rebuke of government, and made clear these fat, old white people’s intention of no longer abiding the law as it had been laid down by said government. You might have heard of it. It was the Declaration of Independence.

This will probably be another letter written by a malcontent, overweight, (half) white man; and much in the fashion of the document mentioned above, I’m here to express my displeasure with the government. And then explain why this letter is absurdly patriotic.

I have, recently, expressed my discontent with the way things are in this country. My faith has faltered with regard to a system that can allow 47 million citizens to live without decent health-care (well, 307 million if you want health-care that actually works (I do)) . I find myself incapable of abiding a world where the  richest 1% to have more financial wealth than the 95% under them combined. I was raised to believe that, in the United States of America, with hard work you could become anything you wanted. You could own a house, have a few kids, a spouse, and probably a patriotic dog named Freedom.

That was complete bullshit.

(I’m not even going to talk about how I’m excluded from the “American Dream” by things like California’s Proposition 8 and Maine’s Proposition 1. No, this is not a blog about my ability to marry. I am, in fact, going to write this whole thing and not play the “Gay Card” once. Compared to what I’m talking about, my inability to marry is minimal. I’m not saying that makes it any better. In fact, I think that makes it worse.)

I have come to realize that hard work has nothing to do with the total amount of wealth you amass. In fact, those people who work hardest (factory workers, civil servants, manual laborers) tend to make the least money. And those who work the least hard make sums of money that would make most people’s heads spin. Very recently, those same very rich people people– whom I like to imagine sleeping on piles of money and laughing at poor people, even though this is likely a minority of very wealthy people– got $700 billion free of charge. From the factory workers, civil servants, and manual laborers who make the least. They got $700 billion from me, and I don’t even have $6.50 for a pack of cigarettes. I don’t own a car. I’m wondering how I can afford school. I know I can’t afford to pay the CEO of Goldman Sachs and all his golf buddies a couple billion a pop.

But I did. They got their billions and I got the shaft, and was told to pull myself up by the bootstraps by “trickle down” economists. I hate “trickle down” economics. Just the name pisses me off. It’s makes me think of people dying of dehydration in a downstairs apartment, while someone floods the penthouse and assumes it will “trickle down.” When was the last time a Chairman at AIG decided to give his part-time workers a hefty holiday bonus instead of buying a Porsche? Never. And I want a Porsche. Everyone wants a damn Porsche. I guess we’re all waiting for the Porsches to “trickle down.”

But, I doubt fine German automobiles will ever rain from the heavens. I have an equal amount of doubt that I’m ever getting that holiday bonus. Maybe I’m just not working hard enough. Maybe, regardless of the fact that I’m a full time student, I’m just not trying hard enough to make money. Maybe on the days I spend smoking pot and neglecting my blog at light-speed, I could be renting out a massive office with picture windows and nice chairs. I could sit in that office, talking with a whole bunch of stuffy white people about things I pretend to understand. “Let’s short this stock.” “Let’s invest in these options.” And then, after a few hours of that, I’m handed my check for a quick million and I go home to smoke more pot and glare at my computer screen. It could work, right?

No, that idea sounds absurd, even to my obviously THC riddled mind. I mean, working four hours a week is just not a feasible way to make a living wage. You’ve got to work full time, and be in school full time, and be a parent full time, all at once, or you’re a damn terrible person. You’re flipping burgers at Jack in the Box to pay for your seven year old’s braces? Well what the hell aren’t you doing in school?! You’re in school so you can get a better job? Well what the hell aren’t you doing at home with your kids?! You’re taking a day off so you can see your children? You damn lazy oaf, why aren’t you working?!!

Yeah, see, it doesn’t work. You can’t be three different people and be one good person. Working four hours a week, even in a rented office, won’t land you millions of dollars and a slightly soggy Porsche (from all the trickling it did, you see?). Unless you’re the CEO of Goldman Sachs. Then you can show up for 0 days of work, commit massive fraud, and then go bitching to Congress about how unfair it all is and how you need money fast, or the whole world will end!!

Okay, maybe I’m overstating the urgency they placed on the bailout (I’m not). It’s not like they said that, without the money, we would have another Great Depression. Oh wait, that’s exactly what they said. So, I have to give the corporate fat-cats $700 billion, with absolutely no strings attached, or people across the nation will lose their homes, jobs, and entire livelihoods?! Well, okay, maybe I should do it.

Whew, glad we just saved the whole fucking world with a few measly bucks. What’s $700 billion really? 202,898,550,724,637 Starbucks coffees? Still, not much compared to the whole planet. We’re heroes!

So, the foreclosure rate is still skyrocketing (look at it go!), unemployment is higher than it was before the bailout, and I’m starting to feel a little bit cheated by this whole thing. I mean, isn’t this exactly what we were told wasn’t going to happen? Didn’t they say that, with that money, we could patch up the leaky roof and keep all that terrible wealth from plaguing us “Dead Peasants” here on the bottom floor? Why are they remodeling the penthouse? I haven’t seen water in a year!

Oh, yeah, Dead Peasants. That’s us. Like, you know, working class people. Now, that’s not to say all working class people are Dead Peasants, just some of us. Well, specifically, those unfortunate souls who work for a corporation that has taken life insurance out on them, in case they die. Oh, and it’s not like your health insurance, where you pay for it but you also use it as a benefit. No, the corporation pays for it. Which I guess makes sense. Especially considering that they’re also the ones who collect the insurance money when you die. Yes, you read that right. Your boss can take out life insurance on you so that, in case of your “expiration”, they get a quick, tax free check. The best part? They didn’t even have to tell you they were doing it until recently. And if you don’t want them to? Tough shit, kid.

So, you’re broke, homeless, jobless, and uninsured. They’re rich, in a summer house in the Hamptons, more than gainfully employed, and probably want you dead. Is it just me, or is this sounding a lot like an “us-against-them” scenario? Are we at war or something? I must have missed something here. Where’s the revolution at? Shouldn’t we have some coalition or some armed uprising? Is there at least a 1-800 number? No? Well, fuck, I’m going to kill myself. Oh wait, if I do they’ll collect on my life insurance money! Fuck!

So, we’ve kind of screwed ourselves completely with our apathy. I mean, we’ve been following blindly, doing exactly what these rich assholes want us to do. So what’s broken? Is it all out fault? Well, no, we kind of trusted the government to protect us from shit like this, because they’re supposed to. But this time the government was the one that fucked us royally. So maybe we don’t trust the government so much. Or banks. Or, hell, stock brokers, economists, bankers, sub-prime lenders, CEOs, CIOs, Chairmen, and anyone who voted for Bush the second time. I think we can agree that those are all terrible, terrible people. But what can we do? Let’s fucking revolt.

Now, I know that sounds extreme. People will die. You might, I might, Freedom the patriotic dog might. But, won’t our children have a better future for it? Isn’t that really the “American Dream?” That we can live in a society where I could be as rich as Lloyd Blankfein, as long as I work hard enough? Shouldn’t we offer people the chance to live a decent life? Franklin Roosevelt proposed we add a “Second Bill of Rights” to the Constitution, one that guaranteed all citizens the right to, “. . .a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation; the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation; the right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living; the right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad; the right of every family to a decent home; the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health; the right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment; the right to a good education.”

So let’s get some shit together. Let’s make those fat-cat bastards afraid of we, the people. I’m not employed, I have the time. Chances are you’re not employed either. No excuses. Maybe we even overthrow the government. Isn’t it the people’s right to rise up against a government that not only fails to protect them, but actually abuses them and uses them as cash cows? Isn’t that exactly what the Founding Fathers did?  Doesn’t that make this letter the most patriotic thing you’ve ever read? Yes. Yes it does.

Condo associations can collect the full assessments that are due them from absentee owners and units facing foreclosure. It is true. This is happening.

Some Florida courts understand the Condo Crisis and are giving Receivers the authority to collect rents directly from tenants, before the money has a chance to reach the owners, and then using it to pay the condo assessments FIRST, before the unit owner has a chance to get his hands on it.

This is an extraordinary solution prompted by extraordinary times. Florida’s condo statutes were not written to give Associations the power to enforce payment of assessments even in the face of an overwhelming number of foreclosures and the pressures felt by investor-owners struggling to stay out of foreclosure.

Receivers, court-appointed for no other purpose than to collect rents from tenants, can step in. Once the money is in their hands, Associations get paid first; well, almost first. The Receiver takes his fees off of the top, then pays the Association second. If money is left over after these dues are paid, the unit-owner gets it.

The plan is working, bringing financial health back to condo associations and stabilizing property values.

San Antonio, TX – September 18, 2009- RE/MAX Chairman and Co-Founder Dave Liniger met with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan on Friday. They had a conversation on a variety of topics related to the current state of the real estate market, but focused primarily on recommendations for streamlining the Short Sale process. “We feel strongly that if Short Sale transactions can become more like normal real estate transactions, we can make significant headway in reducing the number of vacant and foreclosed homes on the market,” Liniger said. “Because most homeowners aren’t aware that they have this option and loan servicers haven’t made it a priority, we feel that the federal government should facilitate an effective national initiative.” Also present at the meeting, held in Secretary Donovan’s office, were FHA Commissioner Dave Stevens and Laurie Maggiano of the Treasury Department’s Chief of Homeowner Preservation Office. Accompanying Dave Liniger to Washington was RE/MAX Senior Vice President, Mike Ryan. A Short Sale can occur when a lender allows a homeowner to sell a home for a price that is less than what is owed on the mortgage, if the homeowner is experiencing a financial difficulty that would make monthly mortgage payments a significant burden. Unfortunately, nearly 70% of homeowners facing foreclosure never list their home for sale, even though a Short Sale has many benefits over a foreclosure. RE/MAX has made assisting such families a high priority and has undertaken a comprehensive, targeted agent training program. In March, Liniger set a goal of having 7,500 RE/MAX Sales Associates earn the Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation by the end of the year. The actual number has already passed 7,000 and represents 62% of all CDPE agents in the United States. Surveys show that after earning a CDPE designation, agents are twice as likely to be able to keep families in their homes. With the CDPE designation, agents are also able to cut the time in half that it takes to close a Short Sale. The average CDPE agent closes about 10 Short Sale transactions a year. “Many real estate agents are unprepared or unwilling to take on a Short Sale client because of the intricacies involved; however, a Short Sale is often the best solution to the client’s problem. Homeowners facing foreclosure would be well-advised to seek out a real estate professional with experience in this procedure.” RE/MAX North-San Antonio General Manager, Roger Rowan states. “A Certified Distresssed Property Expert (CDPE) designee who has taken the time to learn the in’s and out’s of dealing with lenders, mortgage insurers and owners of distressed property would be a good person for homeowners to consult when they find themselves in this situation.” RE/MAX North-San Antonio Agents James Rodgers, 210-323.1423, and Jimmy Stewart, 210.601.6805 are both CDPE Designees and are happy to educate and help sellers here locally. The real estate market will not recover until the number of foreclosures is reduced and home prices start to rebound. An efficient Short Sale process can have a significant impact on foreclosures, which remain at record high levels. RE/MAX hopes that a standardized, national Short Sale process will soon be in place to promote a lasting housing recovery. For more information on RE/MAX visit www.RMNSA.com.

We all know he basic rule: First to file is first in priority and  therefore gets every dollar it is owed before the second lien holder gets anything. The second UCC filed, the second in priority, gets its first dollar only after the first priority lien holder gets all that is owed to them.

That’s the rule and this usually means the second lien holder gets nothing, because the only time this is meaningful is usually in a foreclosure/defaulting situation and then it is unlikely that the first lien holder will ever get all it is owed, thus the second lien holder usually gets nothing.

So, if the second lien holder gets nothing so where is its power? It is usually considered powerless so whats the deal.

The fact remains the second lien holder is attached to the collateral. It must be dealt with in some way or its mere existence without release can prevent the transfer of the title of the asset it is attached too. Thus if a sale  of the asset is arranged the second lien holder must release for the transfer to occur a that moment the second lien holder has power to stop the transaction from happening.

The only other option is for the first lien holder to foreclose on the asset and thus blow off the subordinate debt, it being discharged along with the lien. Problem is this frequently requires business interruption and the purchaser is long gone no longer interested in what remains. Thus the second lien holder, while not entitled to a payoff is positioned strong enough to interfere with an orderly sale and transition, and thus stopped the desired result.

Therefore the buyer, or seller, or first lien holder bank, sometimes pays  the second lien holder with some modest payment as incentive to release and allow the first to sell and collect all that is available.  The point…the first lien holder can always foreclose the second out, but then frequently the sale is lost.

It is sort of payoff money, a kick back to leave so the first can collect more then it would through foreclosure. This can be a very strong and compelling argument that gets sufficient attention to get a handout that is undeserved but sometimes paid.

Thus be careful when you confront such a situation, it is not as black or white as it may at first appear, the second lien holder can be a deal breaker or force a payment it is not entitled to receive….but does get anyway.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the government decided to buy foreclosed homes – invite people to turn in homes they no longer want or can afford – like homes that are not energy efficient? The government could then buy these houses, rehabilitate them and sell them to people who can afford them! 

I suggest we call that program: “<strong>Cash for Clapboards” (CACLAP)</strong>. 

Its forerunner, “Cash for Clunkers” seems to have: 

•          Ignited under new car sales.

•          Thrilled General Motors (GM) so much, the auto maker decided to lend dealers money to run the program…while those dealers wait for the government to reimburse them!

•          Increased vehicle production. GM is adding 60-thousand vehicles in the third and fourth quarters and re-hiring about 1400 laid-off workers. 

Under The Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS program), owners traded in their gas guzzlers. That made them eligible to get from 35-hundred to 45-hundred-dollars towards buying a newer model that meets or exceeds higher mile-per-gallon standards. Dealers fronted the money and the government reimbursed them. 

According to the Associated Press, the government’s “Cash for Clunkers” program has: <em>revived business at car dealerships, taken gas-guzzlers off the road and given a badly needed boost to struggling auto factories. By many measures, the government’s Cash for Clunkers program has been a success</em>”. 

Well then! My “Cash for Clapboards” (CACLAP) program could similarly inject a substantial infusion of cash into the struggling housing market/industry. 

Under CACLAP, homeowners could trade in that draughty old colonial for that new, energy-efficient detached with the big yard that you’ve been drooling over! Water saving, energy efficient appliances, solar panels on the roof – just think of it! 

Cash for Clunkers ends Monday, August 24, 2009. I say we start “Cash for Clapboards” immediately! 

*****  

I don’t support changing the Massachusetts Succession Law because a situation has developed that could benefit Democrats. 

The Boston Globe says Senator Ted Kennedy (who’s been battling brain cancer since May 2008) has written to Governor Deval Patrick asking the governor and legislative leaders to change the succession law. Kennedy apparently wants to ensure that Massachusetts will have a Senate vote when his seat becomes vacant. 

Massachusetts governors used to have the power to fill Senate vacancies. 

But in 2004, democratic lawmakers didn’t want republican Governor Mitt Romney to fill Kerry’s seat with a Republican if Kerry became president. So Democrats (who also held the majority back then) changed the law and created a five-month vacancy. 

Now that little self-serving trick could come back to bite democrats. President Obama and Democrats may face a close vote to pass health care legislation…and if Kennedy is out of the running, that’s one crucial vote short…unless that seat can be filled quickly! 

I tend to be pro-Democrat, but that doesn’t mean I support everything they do…or want to do. 

Why don’t I support it? <strong>Because it was Democrats who changed the law when it didn’t suit them – and if they changed it solely to tie Romney’s hands – what makes them think they can just as opportunistically change it now</strong>? 

Sometimes just having the required votes and the ability to do something…<em>doesn’t mean you should do it! </em>I like it when people fall into holes that they’ve dug for others! 

At one time Rome was the superpower. At one point it was Egypt. The Huns ruled, the Aztecs ruled…and more recently, Europe ruled. Empires come…empires go. Civilizations come and civilizations go! 

Learn from this. Politicians come and politicians go. Parties come and parties go! 

<strong>Whichever party has a majority should understand that this state of affairs will never last! What use is history is we never learn from it?</strong>

Given the current state of affairs with regard to lenders, mortgagees, loan servicing agencies, collection agencies and the like with respect to home or business mortgages, it is frequently impossible to determine with whom you are speaking, what authority they have and what remedies they are actually capable of agreeing to in a home or business loan dispute.  Indeed, frequently the actual owner of the debt is so lost in cybernetic space on Wall Street that a signature cannot even be produced to consummate a valid foreclosure. 

I frequently speak with people whose loans have been overcharged or convoluted under the guise of late payments and fees, penalty interest, attorney’s fees, reinstatement fees and the like when in fact payments are current or the delay in receipt is due to the bookkeeping errors or computer generated nightmares which frequently exist at mortgage companies and/or servicing lenders.  Clients are lost in the backlog of understaffed and overworked mortgage companies who simply make entries that are either late, erroneous, unjustified or not representative of the actual payments that have been submitted to them by the borrowers/homeowners.

The lenders then, usually through computer generated directives, retain attorneys and foreclose or simply foreclose through the existing trustees or substitute trustees when, in point of fact, the loan is current or if it is not current, the disputed sums claimed or their timeliness it is not the fault of the borrower.

It is critical that a homeowner in this situation make an immediate effort to get a court order enjoining the foreclosure before the foreclosure occurs.  There are a myriad of legal rights, remedies, defenses and claims that are either lost or seriously watered down when asserted after the foreclosure sale occurs.  It is far easier to put the dry spaghetti in stacks and separate it as appropriate than to try to unravel the spaghetti once it has been cooked.  Lenders who proceed with foreclosure are by deed granted legal title, or title is passed to a third party purchaser by virtue of the loan documents and the foreclosure sale. This makes it more difficult for an attorney to enforce the rights of the borrower given the claims, expense and costs of the third parties, tying your lawyer’s hands to some degree in what he is capable of doing for you to save your home or business property.

A temporary restraining order injunction upon proper affidavit with sufficient facts is in most cases granted allowing a home or business owner to enforce his claims against the lender or mortgage company while retaining title to the property during the litigation process which can take anywhere from thirty days to three years depending on the court, the county and the jurisdiction.

It is not uncommon for the court to order the borrower to pay all payments into the court registry or an escrow fund where a true and honest accounting of what is being paid while the case is pending can be applied to the final judgment of the court.  If the borrower/homeowner’s case has merit and the lender is in breach, state law permits the payment of attorney’s fees in addition to the claims for fees which are ordinarily authorized in form loan documents which puts added pressure on the lender/mortgagee to come to the table and settle the matter based on the actual facts of the case.  However, these efforts are hampered greatly if the foreclosure has already occurred.  Remember also that a lawyer needs, depending on the court and jurisdiction, enough time in advance of the foreclosure sale date to prepare a petition, temporary restraining order, and request for injunctive relief and/or claim for damages as the case may be in order to properly enforce the rights of the client. 

Sadly enough, it is not uncommon for the first words of the client to be “They foreclosed on my house and all my payments are current, what are we going to do now?”  The regrettable answer is, we are going to have to set aside the foreclosure and reverse all the legal title convoluted actions which have occurred by virtue of the Trustee Sale, in addition to making a legal effort to reinstate the loan.  In most cases this is far more expensive to the client in attorney’s fees, time and consternation than simply preventing the sale in the first place by injunction.

A simple post on what lenders make a complicated subject.

Stop paying the banks. Whether your credit is good or bad. Whether you have the ability to repay debt or not repay debt. If you want to get these banks under control you need to stop paying them. Everyone needs to stop paying. Once we have stopped paying we can demand the interest rates and payments we want.

The congress passed the ARA and it included a program to modify mortgages. The program was funded with 75 billion dollars and out of the millions of modification requests since March 2009 the banks have only modified 4000 loans. Some of the banks that signed up with the government to do modifications have not modified a single loan.

Put bitterness aside if you are in good shape with your mortgage. Denying a “free ride” to your neighbor just forces the value of your property down as homes foreclose. It is in your own best interest to keep as many homes from foreclosing as possible.  Your neighbor is not your enemy, lose your job or be forced to choose between paying the bank or for your child`s open heart surgery and you will find out quickly the identity of your true enemy. The banks loaned money to people knowing full well that the payments did not gel with the borrowers income. They made a bad choice.  They felt insulated as they could package your loan and leave investors holding the bag rather than their own cash drawer.  They were banking on the property going up in value, but instead as they refused to change the terms of loans and the banks drove down the value of their own loan book. They are foreclosing and selling homes for nothing or they  just let them become crack houses, bringing down your whole neighborhood.

We have given the banks a way to fix the real estate mess and bailed them out to the tune of 1 trillion plus many more trillions in loan guarantees. Forgive me if I think this subject qualifies for the spirit of this blog, but they could fix the real estate market and they choose instead to sell the loans out for less than a third of the value. It does not make sense.

All the crooks and control freaks need  to do is bring the payments in line with the 31% of income on all primary home mortgages and the market will fix itself overnight. If they end up resetting the loan amounts to 66% of current amount owed,  they still get more than double the principal if the loan goes to maturity. People will stay in their homes and the values will rise as normal sales regain a footing.
I pray that God links everyone to this article and we show the experts how to run an economy by declaring a  ” Stop Paying The Banks Day”. The New World Order wants the better part of the population to rent and leave homeownership for the lords and ladies of the world.  The Belgians did this in the 1980`s. During an economic downturn the banks foreclosed and took peoples property and then rented it back to them.

Hi glad you’re here.

to the blog world but I intend to stay awhile.

As titled this is primarily about foreclosures.

What happened.

Why so many.

Who did it.

How this affected the market and how you benefit and help others do the same.

http://www.capitalizeonforclosures.com/

I’m really not sure how much content I can get into a blog but I’m sure I can get enough into it to help you understand why and how.

Why it happened? I’m gonna break it down to you in the easiest terms I can.

OK here it goes.

A bank is usually a for profit company which trades company stocks in the stock market. You have all heard of that. So what does that mean?
Well there is a board of directors at the bank who’s primary goal (job) is to make sure the value of the bank goes up so that stock values go up, so that stock holders and investors invest more money. Usually the bank itself owns the controlling share of the stock. (most of the stock)

If the profit of the company (bank in this case) goes up so does the value of the stocks being sold. If the profit of the company plateaus (does not go up or down) or the value of the bank goes down so goes their stock and a lot of very well paid very well to do administrators jobs are on the line. They don’t want that for themselves. They want that for you.

So that being said lets move on. You open an account at a bank.
You assume you’re the customer and by definition you are.
However don’t get to comfortable yet. You will be treated like a customer. They will help you with your needs, to some degree. But the fact is you simply provide them with collateral (your cash, your home, your car, boat and anything else you finance).

So your bank loaned you $75000 to buy a house. Believe me that did cost the bank $75000 in real money! You now have a mortgage for $75000. The bank then can say this mortgage is $75000 by the time it is paid off at 12% interest over 30 years the bank will make $300,000 and some change give or take a few grand. So the bank value increased from $75,000 to $300,000. On paper this is a  400% increase in value.
Now that’s not bad anyway you slice it.
Here’s the catch, the payments have not been made yet so in reality that $300,00 is in your pocket not the banks.
So how does that work?

Easy    $75000 x interest = $300,000         bank up 400%
$75000 x interest = $300,000         You down 400%

Bank stock up your stock down.

So the bank is still initially out $75000 but their value went up 400% and so did their stock. They sell the stock at their new value and cash in.
And you haven’t even made your first mortgage payment and they’re already paid  Bustin’ your chops about where’s your mortgage payment.

So that’s all cool fine and all that. You’ve got your house they got their stock value and all is well with the world.

So what went wrong? Oh the economy that’s right. Trust me the bank instigated a good portion of that but I’ll get to that another time.

Here’s what went wrong. Your financial institution couldn’t afford for their stocks to stabilize or go down or their stock holders would sell their stock and buy somebody ellse’s stock and the bank just can’t have that.

So they got a little creative. By increasing the value of properties owned, they could raise their value by the same amount.

And a real estate value inflation started in proportions that know one had ever experienced.

Then your Financial institution, the people most of you tried to trust with important financial matters and to help with financial matters decided it was your job to decide where to invest your money. Where you should draw the limits, which financial decisions were best and pretty much took an, if you don’t know better neither do I approach to your finances.

Hmm Kinda like telling an electrician that you lost power to your TV and she just stands there (getting paid by the hour) and waits for you to tell her the right thing to do to restore power. And then after many hours of waiting, charges  you $5000 and then sends so much power to your Tv it blows up all your power and then charges you another $50,000 to stand there and do it all again.

And this my friend is where all these foreclosures started to come from.
I intend to go into this in further detail at a future date.

Is there anyway for us and ours to benefit from this? Well yes.
At this point banks have so many properties from foreclosures that they are starting to look more and more like a realters office and less and less like a bank. Not only that, if they don’t have a mortgage holder (homeowner) paying the mortgage then their $300,000 profit from their $75000 loan is gone and so is their  $75000.

What does this mean? Well first it means people are loosing their homes and being thrown into the streets at a record pace.

Next it means                        $300,000 minus $300,000 = 0
$75000 minus $75000 = 0

Where there use to be $75000 now there is nothing. Stock value just dropped $75000.

I am going to get into this at again sometime.

So where do you and yours profit?

Well I’m gonna tell ya’.
Go get these houses. Believe you me, the bank will thank you later.

Move out of your apartment and get a house!
Help your friends and kids do the same!

I bought a real estate course about 15 years ago written by a man named Carlton Sheets. I gave that collection of cassettes to my sons mother 2 years ago. Ya that’s right. I kept, valued, and used those tapes and that book for over 12 years. It went for about $400 back then.
I intend to get into this at another time also.

The single most valuable thing that Sheets taught me was If you have a renter that has come on hard times and cannot afford to move out RENT A TRUCK !!!!!!!
You cannot believe the relief of the people that I have done this for over the years for this one thing.

I have compiled an online course (you can upgrade to dvd course) that is absolutely tops in getting you the information you need.

goto

This course cost me well over a thousand dollars to produce by the time I got it online. But that’s not important. Your important.
This stuff will help you! I guarantee it.

http://www.capitalizeonforclosures.com/

Is there money in this! The answer is oh yes. More money now than ever before.
So go to my website spend your dollar. If you cannot get $97 worth of quality information out of it in one week let me know.

RIVERSIDE REALTOR (PETER SANCHEZ) CDPE WWW.SELLEXPRESS.COM

Remember Apollo 13? Commander Jim Lovell made the famous words “Houston, we have a problem”. The air that the astronauts were breathing was becoming extremely toxic due to an explosion that damaged the command module. It was only a matter of time before the unspeakable was imminent. Flight Director Gene Kranz was in charge of Houston support for the mission, when he spoke the life saving words that will never be forgotten, “Failure is not an option”.

Of course on the surface that statement did not seem rational, because we can always choose to fail, but what it did was immediately shift the perspective of the astronauts from “Can we get our men home?” to “How do we get our men home safely?”. And that they did. Using what they knew they tapped into their creativity by designing a solution for a replacement filter system out of materials on board the spacecraft. The rest is history.

Ever been in a situation where it seemed you had only one option, and that option was not what you wanted to hear? Sometimes when we’re faced with adversity, we can only see what’s presently laid before us, and sometimes it’s a problem so big that it’s taken over all rational thought for means of escape.

If you’ve lost your job, for most of us that is a huge financial loss. So maybe it’s taking you a few months to land another one, and in the meantime it seems that your ship is beginning to crash. You can’t put enough food on the table, and the rations are becoming scarce. The mortgage is getting really behind, and your being threatened by debt collectors as well as notices that your lights and water are about to be shut off!

This is really scary for most people, and especially if your supporting a family under that same roof. So what do you do if nobody seems to be hiring you? Looks like your only option is to foreclose on the home, take in your losses and try to rebuild somewhere else. But is that “really” your only option? Highly unlikely! You can take the easy route and just give up hope like you have no other choice or you can recognize that every given situation is presented with a number of good choices.

Sometimes just before our downfall, the gears of creativity really start turning. It’s a matter of survival now, and your instinct is to survive! Why not instead start reassessing how you’re going about everything, such as your job search. Is it the most effective way that’s going to land you a job? What are going to do about it? Are there any ideas that you have come up with during this down time that has the possibility of producing income if you would only ‘act’ on it?

Use this time to take everything back to the drawing board and lay out all your choices, and filter down to the best one that will deliver you out of this mess. Use your survival instincts, and you will survive and probably come out stronger than ever before.

Today M and I met with our new realtor.  (Our new new realtor… yeah, we burn through them)  We saw a bunch of houses, most foreclosures.  We saw one that could be the one, but needs all kinds of work.  The basement is a giant cave of mold, and I could hardly stand to be in there for more then 2 minutes.  Another house we saw was a foreclosure, again, but was still a little bit of work.  It had alot of potential, though.  And would be more money.  I guess thats what you get when the house doesnt look like absolute crap.

My issue is this… for 300k, in this area, you’re not gonna get much house.  Which is bullshit.  In the middle of the country, I could buy myself a fuckin McMansion but in the DC area I am lucky to get a townhouse that doesnt have pee on the carpet.  It makes me mad because if we do the responsible and adult thing and buy a house, we will be taking a major step back in terms of comfort.  We live, right now, im a pretty luxury apartment.  It has two full baths, both with the giant soaking tubs, brand new appliances and carpet… its luxe.  And if we buy a house, not only will we get shit, but shit that we have to fucking polish.  And even then, it wont be as nice as renting.  Am I missing something?  Where is the incentive?

I’ve worked hard to make money… M too.  We are at a place where we can afford nice things, and goddamnit, we should get them.  I’m not saying that I deserve my parent’s house.  I’m just saying that I shouldnt have to settle for the lesser of two polished pieces of crap.

Now, we have a good 2ish months before the lease here is up and we absolutely have to move, and lots of houses to look at in the meantime.  But, seriously… I’m slightly depressed at my options, here.  Thats understandable, right?

It’s been a busy couple of weeks. My friend Tramell Isaac called me to say that 3D Realms, the company he worked for in Dallas, had shut their doors and laid off everyone. This came as somewhat of a surprise to me. The game they were working on, “Duke Nukem Forever,” had a long and turbulent history – they’d been in production, in one form or another, for 10 years – but I’d heard the game was nearly done and looking good. The circumstances surrounding the shut down seem bazaar but, since I hardly know all the facts, I’ll refrain from comment. In the end, it’s not that important anyway. What’s important is that Tramell is out of work. Throughout his career,  Tramell had only been unemployed for a maximum of two day – a fact of which he is very proud. This shut down has broken that record. To top it off, Tramell’s landlord was forced to foreclose and had to evict Tramell from his house. So in the course of one month Tramell went from being a gainfully employed Art Director and living large to having no job and being homeless – all through no fault of his own. Of course, we’ve all heard about the economic disaster the last administration left us in but this brought it home for me. On one level, it made me feel very grateful to have (what seems like) a secure job. On another level, it made me acutely aware of how fast things can change – how fleeting comfort is.

I’ve known Tramell since we both attended the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic art, where we were roommates. That was nineteen years ago. He has always been a very driven and determined man and I have no worries that he will land on his feet. But Tramell’s circumstances are far from unique these days. Another friend of mine, Mark Pennington is also having a hard time finding jobs. He is a freelance Comic Book artist and has worked on some pretty big titles such as X-Men, Spawn, and such, but he too is feeling the pain. So what’s the point? Maybe only this, success is temporary and fame is meaningless – they make it little easier to pay your bills and feed your family. Enjoy them while you have them and don’t waste tears on them when they’re gone. Eventually they come round again.

The last couple of weeks I’ve been updating my Baraka Studios website that I share with Tramell and Mark. I’ve tried to reorganize the site to make it easier to navigate. You can check out Mark and Tramell’s work here:

Tramell Ray Isaac

Mark Pennington

Tramell at his desk

This is a sketch I did of Tramell while we were in class, way back in the Kubert days. I was trying to fill up my sketch book for an assignment and this seemed like as good a shot as any to include in my book.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — A study released yesterday by RealtyTrac.com and Truila.com shows that more Americans than ever are interested in buying foreclosed properties.

NOW you can own Beach Property in Southern California for unheard of prices on foreclosed property homes in Orange County, California.

CONTACT AGENT: Dan Rubio

With cheaper home prices, lower mortgage rates, and big discounts on foreclosures, buyers will have plenty of incentives to get into the real estate market in 2009. But anyone considering purchasing a house next year should proceed with caution. After all, the gloomy outlook for home prices, ongoing financial crisis, and potentially historic recession have created a number of possible pitfalls. In an effort to help buyers navigate the uncertain market, U.S. News recently spoke with some top real estate professionals and compiled a list of 2009’s top five home-buying mistakes.

1) Buying for the short term: With home prices at the national level expected to continue declining throughout most of next year at least, 2009 won’t be a good time to try to turn a quick buck in the real estate market. Many homes that are purchased in 2009 will lose value in the short term. And although they are likely to recover that value when the market rebounds, it remains unclear just when home prices will bounce back. “If you’re not planning on living in that house for more than three to five years, I wouldn’t buy anything right now,” says Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate

at the University of Southern California. “Nobody knows what is going to happen to prices over the next few years.” So if you’re going to buy real estate in 2009, you’re better off buying a home that you plan to live in for a long time, rather than as a short-term investment property.

[Check out 9 Housing-Market Head Winds for 2009.]

2) Not understanding what‘s happening in your local market: Although it’s easy to get caught up in the gloomy national housing trends, prospective home-buyers should be paying more attention to what’s going on in the market where they are considering purchasing property. After all, home prices in your local market could be moving in the direction opposite to the rest of the country. “Individual markets are not the national market,” says Keith Gumbinger of HSH Associates. “[The real estate market] is tremendously individualized.” Prospective home-buyers can obtain a solid understanding of the conditions in their market by talking to a real estate professional, reading the local newspaper’s real estate section, or finding a good housing blog that covers the area.

3) Not scouring for deals: With the fall in home prices expected to continue for some time, 2009 will be a buyer’s market. As such, people considering purchasing a home should understand that they are in the driver’s seat and be on the lookout for deals. “It’s definitely a buyer’s market—there is no doubt about that,” says Mark Hanson, a managing director who handles real estate and finance research at the Field Check Group. “Look for deals; go in there and low ball; look at foreclosures.” But while haggling is healthy, be careful not to go overboard. Buyers who make insultingly low offers are likely to be considered “bottom feeders” and dismissed by sellers, Gumbinger says.

[See The 7 Biggest Home Price Negotiation Blunders.]

4 ) Purchasing a foreclosure just because it ‘ s cheap: While foreclosures can offer home-buyers big discounts, such properties sometimes come with a great deal of baggage. For example, the previous owners could have left the home in poor condition, requiring thousands of dollars of repairs, says Joshua Dorkin, the founder and CEO of BiggerPockets.com, a real estate networking and information site. “A pitfall for 2009 would be buying a foreclosure without knowing what you are getting into,” Dorkin says. “Because that great deal may not be so good if you get inside and you find out that the floors are ripped up and the walls are destroyed.” Before you decide to go foreclosed-home shopping, do your homework or contact a real estate professional with experience with such transactions.

[Read The Top 6 Mistakes of Foreclosed-Home Buying.]

5 ) Overly aggressive buying: Even if you’ve found the perfect property, make sure it is something you can reasonably afford. Many economists expect the current recession to be the nastiest in decades, with some projecting the unemployment rate to hit 9 percent. That means that 2009 won’t be a good year to try to stretch your finances. “Just because a lender says you qualify for this much of a loan doesn’t mean you should buy that much of a house, especially if that is 50 percent of your take-home pay,” Hanson says. “What happens if you lose your job? We’re going into a period of heavier unemployment, so buy conservatively.”Contact agent Dan Rubio today 714 651-0594, and save thousands on home foreclosures, with the selection of Orange Counties most desirable family properties, and unbelievable coastline properties available to fit your needs.  Luxury has become affordable again! Call Agent: Dan Rubio today at 714 651-0594!

Some of the best markets to search for foreclosures:

• Southern Florida
• Las Vegas
• Seattle
• Colorado
• Southern California

A while back I started going into foreclosure.  I got panicky and went through total hell.  I woke up every night and every time the phone rang I dreaded answering it.

What I thought was just an injury that would lay me up for a day or two ended up being a job costing series of ACL surgeries.  As if the thought of not supporting myself wasn’t hard enough, the harassment was even worse.

My mailbox and my phone seemed to be nothing but the bearers of bad news.  When I was able to answer the phone I felt like nothing but the bad guy and my wife and I had the first fight of our marriage of several years.

I went to this “free” class on stopping foreclosure and all it ended up being was someone telling me how I should  pay them $3,000.00 so they could slow the process for me. What a complete and total waste of time.  I wasn’t looking for someone to stop foreclosure for me and charge me more than my house payment.  I wanted to learn what I could do simply because if I had the money, I would make a damn house payment.

The next mail I got was for an attorney who tried setting an appointment with me before telling me what they would do or how much it would cost.   Finally when she realized I was not going to come in without that information she let me know they would declare bankruptcy for me and that I would, once again, owe someone else money.  Bankruptcy doesn’t stop foreclosure, so again, what was the point.  All I wanted was MY house while I tried to get back on my feet.  If I could ever get back on my feet.

I looked on line and page after page was filled with the same con artists.  I felt helpless.  How do I wade through a big bunch of liars while trying to find the information I need?  Then I saw someone answering a question on Yahoo about how they slowed down foreclosure giving them enough time to get on their feet.

I followed the link to a little website that said it could help me Stop Foreclosure or at least slow it down.  The book was written by someone who gathered up a ton of information and actually had gone through it himself.

Looking for the catch or the scam line that would give me a red flag and tell me to keep looking.  The guy seemed genuine on every page but I had been conned by so many people at this point that I scoured everything on the website.

Finding nothing I decided to go ahead and get the little e book.  I remember checking out and thinking, for $13.00 there is no way this book is going to be wirth a damn.  But at least I can contest it on pay pal and get my money back once I am done wasting my time.

I had the file the next day and opened up the PDF to start reading There’s No Place Like Your Home.    It started off with the author telling us about his experience and what he did to get all of the information together that he used for writing the book.

I have to tell you, aside from the few grammatical errors that  I found, it was really a good little book.  I learned a ton of information on how to stop foreclosure long enough to work to get back on your feet.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book was the fact that the writer took the time to explain what put many of us in the situation in the first place.

I’m back to work now after 8 months of not paying a cent on my house and am hopefully going to be back on top of my payments with the bank not even charging me anything back owed.  Instead I will start my payments as though I was never behind in the first place.

The website is http://www.release-me.org and no I do not work for the guy.  I just had to get the word our because I don’t want anyone else who is going through what I am just now starting to come out of, to deal with the same garbage I did when there really is a good resource out there for you.

One final note.  The book helps you emotionally to.  I know that may not seem like a reason to buy a book, but knowing that there is someone to encourage you has always been good for me.

According to a statement made by FHFA Director James B. Lockhart on a speech he made during the celebration of Veteran’s Day last November 2008, foreclosures hurt not only families, their neighbors, whole communities, but in fact, the overall housing market.

We all know the statement to be true. In fact a lot of homeowners whose houses are currently on mortgage are having a hard time coping up with their monthly payments. The truth is that delinquencies on mortgages have tripled, thus increasing the number of foreclosure at a high, which is 150% as compared to the 2 years past. The effect of this to the overall housing market is that housing prices have fallen drastically.

Now, what are the implications of this to a homeowner who already is delinquent on mortgage payments and now owns an ‘upside down’ property?

Let us say for instance that you’re one of those homeowners. The implication is that you have to choose whether to:

1. Foreclose
2. Short sell
3. Retain Ownership

The good news is that you need not worry if in case you’re behind on mortgage payments, facing foreclosure, and owning an ‘upside down’ property. You need not give up ownership of your house and opt for foreclosure because you don’t want to lose the one thing that you’ve worked hard to acquire. You also need not sell your house short.

Retain ownership! That’s the best thing that you can do. Apply for a ‘Loan Modification’, that is the best option you have in order for you to retain ownership of your house, be able to maintain regular mortgage payments, and have the financial freedom to spend your hard earned money for other things that you need.

Call us and learn more about ‘Loan Modification’. American Legal Network Online can help you make the difference. Be part of the relief in the hurting housing market situation. Act now!

Update 3:46pm: Balto. Sun reports 1st Mariner Bank has canceled the theatre’s auction. However, my sources say keeping it off the auction block is contingent that the city’s plan to buy the theatre goes through… So, the rest of this entry is still pertinent.

While others seem to be celebrating (and others berating “another bailout”, even when it isn’t) Mayor Sheila Dixon’s announcement that Baltimore City would move ahead with their Strategy Group’s recommendation to buy The Senator Theatre, I’ve been… Cautiously optimistic.

Why?
Well, I am heartened that the deal includes:

• Release of Tom Kiefaber’s home in Sparks (the very least they could do for the man who’s fought for 20 years for The Senator’s survival and the good of its community)
• The possibility the community may have a say regarding to whom the city will sell/lease the theatre.

These are not present in the 1st Mariner auction scenario.

But:

• For starters, let’s face it, an announcement is just & only that.
  Until the ink dries on documentation, nothing is definite.
• The announcement states that approval will be required by the Board of Estimates.
  “The city’s loan purchase is subject to approval by the Board of
  Estimates.” – MD Daily Record
• The city and 1st Mariner debt are addressed, but there’s still a matter of debt owed to the state.
  “The theater also owes more than $600,000 in loans and fees to the state, which theater officials said they are still working to resolve.” – MD Daily Record

I know Annapolis wrapped up the session yesterday, but let’s get on those phones & email people! Get the state representatives to work with the theatre and the city on how to work out the state debt/loan issue!

More media links (thanks to Nicholas Evans’ help):

• WJZ TV: City Announces Plan to Save Senator Theatre
• Baltimore Messenger: Forestalling foreclosure?
• WBAL TV: Senator Theatre has new lease on life
• Baltimore Sun: Senator still a link to cinemas past

Baltimore Sun reports that city hall has finally decided to make use of The Senator Theatre Strategy Group recommendation to become the owner of the theatre.

At first blush, it sounds like a good thing is finally happening, but I’ll reserve judgement until I learn more.

Read the story here.

Developing….

-T.Harris

Andrew Frank - Deputy Mayor, Neighborhood and Economic Development

Those interested can now read the Senator Theatre Strategy Group’s letter to Deputy Mayor Andrew Frank for themselves.

The unedited letter details their findings and suggested options regarding the future of the historic movie palace.

I’m sure these will be further discussed with Mayor Dixon.

However, if the city is to go forward with the group’s primary option (foreclosing before 1st Mariner, then paying off 1st Mariner to become the owner, then either reselling or committing a qualified operator to a long-term lease), they’ll have to act quickly… The 1st Mariner auction is scheduled to take place in only 16 days.

At that point, the future of our nationally recognized, historic theatre lies with the highest bidder.

Related articles:

Baltimore Sun
“City to the rescue – Our View: Its control of The Senator Theatre would ensure viability as movie house” – April 3, 2009

“A tearful atmosphere at Senator Theatre memorabilia sale” – April 3, 2009

WJZ-TV
“Senator Theatre Memorabilia Up for Sale“