Tag Archives: San Jose Short Sale Agent

6 months left to receive IRS tax waiver for short sales

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We are now closing in on the last 6 months before what is commonly referred to as the  Mortgage Debt Relief Act (Mortgage Debt Relief Forgiveness Act of 2007)  will expire.  It has been extended twice already, but with the political gridlock in Congress over the budget and the news that the Real Estate Market is turning around, there doesn’t seem to be the political will power to extend this any further.

For those homeowners who have tried everything and have been turned down for HARP refinances and there is no other options available to them, it is time to act before this valuable option is lost out and the homeowner is also left with a tax bill as well.  Remember, there may be additional money available for homeowners depending on their situation.  So it is very important to act now while the summer home selling season is here and there are plenty of buyers to buy homes in any and all conditions.

To qualify for this tax exemption, the property must be completely sold before the end of the 2013 calendar year.  With complex fact patterns and approval processes, it can take months to get the necessary approval to close escrow on a distressed home.   Act now and save thousands of dollars.  

If there are any questions about how to qualify

 

How Distressed Homeowners can make Money in a Seller’s Market

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Take-Your-Money

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The market is hot right now for seller in Silicon Valley. There is a shortage of inventory and buyers are waiting for new listings to hit the market. The banks are also aware of this scenario. They have been losing money on short sales and foreclosures for several years. Now for the first time, they are seeing for the first time the ability to receive market value for their distressed inventories.

This is why some lenders are willing to pay large sums of money for distressed homeowners to sell the homes they cannot afford to keep. It’s quite simple. If the home owner is not able to afford to pay their mortgage and is on track to lose their home to foreclosure anyway, why would they not exercise the option to get paid to complete a short sale? Especially, if they are able to avoid paying taxes on potential capital gains on the debt that the lenders will forgive? These are two ways to earn money for free. The house will be lost anyway.

Obviously the story would be different, if the distressed homeowner had another way to get a loan modification or other way to keep the property. But for those for whom such options are not possible and they are facing a Trustee Sale, why would they go quietly and without a dime when so much money is available to them and all they have to do is stand up and claim it? There is no shame in claiming this money; the banks designed their programs to set aside the money for distressed homeowners and they will still make more money then if they went through the foreclosure process.

But time and time again, I see these suffering homeowners go through foreclosure rather than rightfully claim their money and do a bank-approved short sale. The money is set aside for you, the smart thing to do for yourself and your family is to claim it and use it to help you relocate. That was the intended purpose.

If you live in Silicon Valley and still do not understand about these programs and would like a no-obligation discussion about your situation, please contact me.

Major Banks Finally Helping some Homeowners

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It’s about time, but the Attorney Generals Settlement is finally having some positive impact on distressed homeowners.   Obviously it cannot help everyone, but some are being helped with the elimination of some second mortgages in Silicon Valley.

 

Banks Bail Out Thousands of California Homeowners Under Mortg by

Can a Notice of Default be a Blessing in Disguise?

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Sample NOD

 

Receiving a Notice of Default (NOD) is a horrible way to start the New Year.   But the San Jose Short Sale Agent believes it can also be a blessing in disguise.

 

Once you receive an NOD, that means the lenders already know that you have missed several mortgage payments and don’t have the ability to maintain them.  As I have been saying for years, the lenders do not want you to go into foreclosure.  They prefer that you do a short sale because they can keep the properties off their balance sheets and have homeowner cooperation in selling the homes.  A home that an owner lives in will show better and command a higher sales price than an empty and abandoned REO property.

 

It is also better for the borrower because the home will sell quicker for higher price, which means the lenders will approve the short sale much quicker.  The biggest damage to homeowners during the short sale process is the time it takes waiting for the approval to come through.  Every 30 days of non-payment gets a ding on their credit score, so it will take longer and longer for them to recover after a protracted waiting period.  A quick sale means quicker recovery of credit damage so they can qualify quicker to buy a home again like so many previous distressed sellers are doing today.

 

To incentivize those homeowners who are still on the fence or still simply misinformed about the short sale vs. foreclosure process, the major lenders are offering cash incentives of up to $45,000  to complete short sales.   They want to pay you to do short sales and are eliminating barriers to do so quicker!

 

You just received the NOD, due to your current situation, you cannot afford to keep paying the home, but you cannot sell it because it is underwater.   Why not take the time to contact someone to see if you can qualify for some of these large cash incentives?  What will it harm, if you already came to the conclusion you cannot afford to keep your home?   Wouldn’t it be tragic if you wasted your 90 days doing nothing, and the lenders file a Notice of Trustee Sale (a.k.a.  Auction Date) and they no longer want to talk to you about paying the incentive?

 

Yes, it is a tragic situation, but you can choose to look at it as a blessing.  Talk to me or someone and see if your lender is willing to pay you a cash incentive to complete a short sale and avoid a Foreclosure proceeding.   Many major banks are participating in such programs.   The true tragedy will be if you miss the opportunity to receive funds to help you relocate to another place and while saving your dignity.

 

 

Does a Good Realtor Bring Value to the Table?

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This is a legitimate question that most sellers ask of Realtors.  Those who do not make a living in the Real Estate Business simply do not know and believe all Real Estate Professionals are the same.  Nothing could be further from the truth.   And even those Real Estate Professionals who try to sell Real Estate part time do not know or cannot demonstrate their own value.  People can claim whatever they want, but experience and past performance are the true indicators of future performance.

As in any industry, people who have demonstrated their value in the past will likely demonstrate similar skill-sets in the future.  It’s simply about probability.  Those who have performed in the past will likely perform similarly in the future.  But don’t take people simply at their words.  It is unfortunate, but people claims all kinds of things that are not true and will be to the detriment of unsuspecting clients.  Ask for references and see what added value they can bring to the table.

 

Who pays what to homeowners to complete Short Sales

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The big news in Real Estate is the amount of money that lenders are willing to pay homeowners to complete Short Sales.  An interesting proposition since the premise of short sales used to be that the homeowners could not benefit financially in any way.

Then HAFA came along and offered $3,000 to homeowners as “relocation incentive”  to encourage homeowners to participate in this new program.  With the success of HAFA, the top lenders also decided to push Short Sales over Foreclosures since they made more money and never had to “own” the homes and all of the headaches of selling it after the foreclosure process.  And here we are now, less than 3 years after the introduction of HAFA, with one of the big lenders offering up to $45,000 as relocation incentive to encourage homeowners in the same way.

This is obviously an important piece of information that may be a “material fact” to a homeowner who is contemplating a choice between short sale vs  foreclosure.   Unfortunately, a lot of people do not know that this much money is available or believe it to be some sort of scam.   Well, it is not a scam.  The flyer below lists phone numbers to lenders and a homeowner can call to ask about their relocation programs.

 

 

Cash Incentives Flyer

Mortgage Debt Relief Act – Repeat

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Now that we have a progressive president back in the White House, the timing appears to be appropriate to try to push through the extension on the waiver of the Phantom Tax Act once again.  The Senate was supposed to debate it, but due to the upcoming Presidential Elections, nothing came of the debate to return the popular program.

Today 41 Attorney Generals petitioned Congress once again to extend the Federal Tax Relief for distressed homeowners.  This is the act otherwise known as the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act.   Homeowners who are forgiven debt in the form of short sales, mortgage modifications, foreclosures or principal reductions would at the end of 2012, have to pay taxes on said forgiven debt amount.  A huge financial burden to people who are already distressed and suffering.

As the article below mentions, the Attorney Generals Mortgage Settlement will result in Billions in forgiven debt which will become taxable for many homeowners in less than two months.  As the San Jose Short Sale Agent who deals with distressed homeowners, I am hopeful that the more socially progressive government will move forward to help those who will benefit from the settlements.

 

Coakley Joins 41 Attorney Generals

Short Sale Cash Incentive Programs

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We hear more and more about how the lenders are preferring short sales over foreclosures and even some of them offering cash incentives to encourage the borrowers to do short sales.   Lenders are giving cash to homeowners who cannot afford to keep their homes to sell it and get out from under the crushing debt.

Let’s not be  under any false delusion: the lenders are doing this because they can make more money than permitting a home to go into foreclosure.   If your lender is not one of the major ones offering large cash incentives, then there is another program (HAFA) which offers additional cash incentives to complete short sales.

There is some big  money being offered out there for those home owners who cannot afford to keep their homes.  If the information is out there, then what good consumer would not jump on the opportunity to take advantage of money designated for them?  The money is out there.

Short Sale Incentives Report

OPEN INVITATION: speak with the San Jose Short Sale Agent

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Hello Readers.

Just recently, I went to visit someone a friend attempted to refer who was in the process of losing their home, only to discover that they had moved out of their home.  It was his neighbor down the block and he was shocked at how quickly he left.

This is perhaps the most awkward situation where a friend or acquaintance attempts to introduce me to someone in distress, but is having difficulty finding the appropriate way to breach the subject to the person facing foreclosure.  While my friend was trying to figure out an appropriate way, his neighbor moved out of his home without telling anyone.  Obviously the neighbor was having serious trouble and was in a lot of emotional distress for them to move out of their home in the middle of the night.

Naturally I get financial benefits for doing short sales of homes, but I get paid for non-short sales too.  But there is nothing as addictive as being on the receiving end of genuine gratitude from a family who faced and overcame their foreclosure with their dignity intact and money to help them with the next phase of their lives. Their eyes tell the full story.  The sense of relief knowing they no longer have to avoid calls from collection agencies or the fear of someone trying to serve them with papers at their home in front of their kids.  The sigh of relief they let out when the approval letters arrive.  That experience is priceless.  It’s a drug and I am completely addicted to it.

I don’t care if you choose me to help you or not.  But if you are suffering in silence and are afraid or ashamed to ask someone about your particular situation, but need accurate information, please contact me.  I will share my knowledge and experience with you in a confidential manner with no obligation to work with me. I know the mental and emotional suffering homeowners go through when they are behind in their mortgage and receiving Notices from their lenders.  Something has to be done.  Don’t go into a denial stage and do nothing, thinking that will make the situation go away because it will not go away.  It will only get worse and leave you with less options and possibly force you into making the wrong decision.

Please talk to me or someone like me.  I want to help any way I can.  I just do not want to see another neighbor of a friend leave in the middle of the night when they have other options.

 

Steve Mun
650-605-3188