A look at economic developments around the globe
A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Wednesday: —— BRUSSELS — The European Union Parliament approved creation of new financial oversight institutions aimed at preventing another financial crisis like the one that led to massive bank bailouts at taxpayer expense.

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WHAT IS A SHORT SALE? A “Short Sale” or “negotiated settlement” or “short pay” occurs when a Lender agrees to accept less than the amount owed to payoff a loan as an alternative to foreclosure. If the property is worth less than the amount owned on the loan, then even if the Lender forecloses and takes back the property, they know they are going to take a loss. In Fairfax VA we can often convince a Lender that they will “do better” if they take less than what is owed now rather than taking the property back by foreclosure and trying to sell it later.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE? The Short Sale negotiation process is a lengthy one. It may take several weeks or more likely several months to get an approval. Many Lenders have several layers of bureaucracy, insurers, and investors that we will have to maneuver through in order to get a Short Sale approved. So it is important to be patient during this long process, we have professional home buyers in Fairfax that assist us to quickly sell your home.

BUT MY HOUSE IS GOING TO FORECLOSURE, WILL I HAVE ENOUGH TIME? Maybe, maybe not. Just starting a Short Sale will not automatically stop a foreclosure. However, many times we can convince a Lender to stop the foreclosure to let us attempt to negotiate the Short Sale. Here in Northern Virginia, we have investors that can buy your house for cash. So, while there are no guarantees, it does not hurt to try.

CAN I STAY IN THE HOUSE? The key word in “Short Sale” is sale. The purpose of a Short Sale is to get the property sold. So you will be moving. This is not a program that can stop a foreclosure and allow you to keep the house indefinitely. It will be easier to sell the house in Fairfax if it is vacant, so you should make plans to move as soon as possible.

HOW DO I KNOW THIS WILL WORK? You don’t. We cannot, have not and will not make any promises to you that this will work. Once you missed a payment, the Lender is in charge and can proceed to foreclosure if they want to. But we know they do not want to and we are very good at presenting alternatives to the Lender that they often want to accept rather than foreclose. We are very good at what we do here in Fairfax Virginia, but NO PROMISES are being made as to whether or not the Lender will accept a Short Sale, they may or may not. That being said their are Lenders who are very difficult to work with and just this week This week the White House and the Treasury Department are sending warnings to Lenders that unless they act with greater dedication to modifying or negotiating short sales for troubled borrowers’ loans the consequence will be a public call out of those lenders who are uncooperative.

WILL I GET ANY MONEY FROM THE SALE? A universal requirement of Lenders in granting a Short Sale is that the borrower will not get any proceeds from the sale of the property. The Lender is going to take a loss on your loan, they are not going to let you get any money. So, that means home sellers in Northern Virginia and accross the United States will not receive any money at closing.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THIS DOESN’T WORK? Your house in Fairfax VA will likely go to foreclosure. A Short Sale is something we try after you have exhausted your other options. We are a dedicated group of professionals in Fairfax Virgina that believe in helping others.

WHAT IS A “RELEASE”? A Lender may offer to “release its security interest against the property in exchange for less than the total amount of the note. A release will allow the property to be sold without paying off the obligations of the note. However, the note is not satisfied. Advantages: This successful Short Sale will allow the property to be sold and thus avoid a foreclosure. Disadvantages: The remaining debt on the property (sometimes called a “deficiency”) still exists. You are still liable for the note – in other words – you still owe the money. Reality: It is not likely that the lender will pursue the deficiency unless you have other significant assets, and if you don’t try a Short Sale and the property goes to foreclosure, you are going to have a deficiency anyway.

WHAT IS A “SATISFACTION” A Lender may agree to accept less that it is owed as complete and total satisfaction of the note and release it’s lien against the property. Advantages: Your note and obligation to the Lender are satisfied for less than owe. When the property is sold, the debt is paid off completely. Disadvantages: You may have some tax consequences that you should discuss with your tax advisor due to the fact that the Lender is making money you owe disappear. At times in Fairfax our negotiations are successful in obtaining a satisfaction. Sometimes all we get is a release.

WILL THERE BE TAX CONSEQUENCES? If we are successful in obtaining a full satisfaction, then there will be tax consequences just like winning the lottery, getting a raise or finding a bag full of money. Essentially a satisfaction of a debt is like finding a bag full of money and you should consult with your tax advisor as to whether or not a successful Short Sale will result in any taxes owed. However, we know of very few people who do not want to win the lottery because there may be tax consequences. We do have a FREE REPORT that may assist you and your tax accountant just visit our web site for more information.

There have been numerous measures taken by legislators and private organizations to pursue advancement of consumer protection in the real estate industry. A buyer or seller can also benefit from various online sources that provide guidelines in entering a particular transaction. Then again, there are some aspects that the lenders or banks themselves do not divulge to their clients. For one, there are details of short sales your lender would not tell you before or even during the transaction.

First of all, lenders are not legally required to disclose every single detail to their borrowers. They are given the right to acquire their own measures in protecting their investments. Especially with short sales, lenders have full control whether to give you a shot in entering this venture. As they want to still yield profit despite losses from your delinquency, they would naturally do everything in their power to manipulate the transaction. However, as a consumer, you also have the right to be in the know of the transaction aspects that can affect your decisions. Below are some areas where lenders tend to keep some sort of confidentiality.

Hardship letter contents

Only one out of ten applications for a short sale gets to be approved in most banks. Most lending companies approve hardship letters that are compelling enough. This may seem shallow but even the ink color and paper used can influence some lenders. Then again, they can easily sense if your appeal is lacking authenticity.

Disinterest in your property

The main concern for lenders is the money you owe them. They are particularly evaluating your property either as an asset or a liability. And once you fall out with your dues, the lesser interest they would want to keep your property, lest visit your home. They will do every measure to fast-track disposal of your property. Then again, they will not disclose such information so as you will maintain attachment to the home, thus, remain indebted to them.

You can stop paying your mortgage

A lending company will be more motivated to accept a short sales if you default on your mortgage. Note that it is not necessary to be in default before you can consider entering a short sale. But once you take on this option, there are pressing drawbacks you have to thoroughly think of. Firstly, your credit report will suffer. You may be restricted from buying a new home and even easily lose your property to foreclosure.

No repayment obligation

This is only applicable if you are facing true financial hardship. You have to prove you have no other saleable assets to gain profit from or extremely have no means to pay your mortgage dues. Lenders are prohibited to enforce you to pay back what you owe if this is the case. But this does not mean the lender cannot file for a deficiency judgment.

By learning these ‘trade secrets’, you can be more adept in formulating a proposal that your lender will most likely approve of. On the other hand, being overly complacent that you will ace the approval of your short sale endeavor is still not advisable. You have to continuously plan ahead of time and be prepared of other demands your lender will present to you

E.U. approves insurance, banking, securities supervising agencies
BRUSSELS (Bloomberg)—European Union lawmakers approved measures to create pan-E.U. supervisors for banking, securities and insurance firms.

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Where can one go to find out available foreclosures and short sales that is reliable?

I have placed an offer on a Short Sale that has been on the market for 194 days…so just a little over 6 months. I was told that the price had been approved by the bank and that it wouldn’t take long to close…well I offered 2k less than the asking price and the owners accepted and I am guessing that the bank will accept…I was told that it could take about 3-4weeks to hear from the bank. My question is: If the bank accepts the offer…how long doe it usually take to close??? If they accept the offer I know that I have to get an inspection and an appraisal, and I am just wondering how long it will be before I close once the inspection and appraisal are complete….does an appraisal involve a long process? My goal is to have my keys by June 1st.

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