With foreclosures on the rise in Southern California, the team at REALESTATE-SANTAMONICA.COM has been getting a lot of inquiries about short sales. Mostly people are asking what they are. Well in short…no pun intended, a short sale is a transaction where the lender is willing to take less money than what is actually owed on the mortgage. The point behind this is to avoid a foreclosure.

Foreclosing on a home is something that the bank as well as the borrower usually tries to avoid. When the borrower defaults on a mortgage (doesn’t pay for months in a row), the borrower begins to accrue much more than just the mortgage payment. Quickly other expenses begin to add up, such as late fees, attorney fees etc…not good.

With a foreclosure the lender can lose nearly half of the mortgage amount because of the costs involved in foreclosing on a property: attorney fees, lost interest, property maintenance, court costs etc. Foreclosure is also a very drawn-out process. It can take over a year in some states. Because of this, many lenders are amenable to a short sale over a foreclosure so that they can simply cut their losses and move on.

Short sales can also be in the homeowner’s best interest as well. Most agree that the primary benefit to the homeowner is that he/she is able to get out from under the mortgage without suffering through a foreclosure. Additionally, the homeowner’s debt is getting taken care of for much less than is actually owed on the home. The homeowner’s credit is usually spared some of the wear and tear caused by foreclosure as well.

What is the process?

When a homeowner gets behind on the mortgage and wants to try and avoid foreclosure, the lender must be contacted immediately. The last thing a lender wants to do is foreclose, but there is a process that needs to be started to make a short sale possible.

The lender will usually require quite a bit of information including:

- Hardship Letter. Basically the homeowner is telling the lender the story behind being late with the mortgage. Additionally the letter should request a short sale.

- Bank Statements. This is to verify assets…or sadly, the lack thereof.

- Income documentation. W-2′s or 1099′s to verify the borrowers’ income.

- Value of Home. Banks will either order an appraisal or a CMA “comparative market analysis.” CMA’s are generated by realtors and we at realestate-santamonica.com can help with that.

- Listing Agreement. This just documents that the home has been put on the market. After it sells, the purchase agreement is included as well.

With any luck the lender will approve the short sale and the home will not go into foreclosure. If the short sale occurs, a preliminary proceeds sheet is generated. This document lists the net proceeds of the sale after the mortgage is paid off, as well the closing costs and all other related fees. This amount will be negative…and is the shortage.

Potential Consequences

Before requesting a short sale, a borrower should consult with his/her attorney and/or accountant as there are a few things to be mindful of.

First, the lender may require the borrower to sign a note to repay the shortage. Also the lender may file a collection or judgement to recover the shortage. A good real estate attorney will be able to guide the borrower through this.

The IRS may also come calling for the income taxes owed on the amount of the shortage. A tax professional should be contacted by the borrower regarding this.

Hopefully this shed a little light on the world of Short Sales and remember REALESTATE-SANTAMONICA.COM is here to help you.

This Guide Covers Everything Needed To Successfully Execute A Short Sale With A Bank. Set Up In A Simple Step-by-step Format And Includes All The Forms And Contracts Needed. For: Business Opportunity Seekers, Distressed Sellers, & Buyers. 128 Pages.
Short Sales Insider Guide – Big Profits In A Chaotic Housing Market.

So what is the best investing money advice today to help you achieve your financial goals? Actually, there are many different tips that will provide helpful to you on your road to financial freedom.

However, by far the most important thing you need to know is what you want your end result to be. This is certainly the most important beginner investing or advanced advice you will ever get. Hopefully this stock investment advice will help you to achieve your goals, whatever they may be.

Quite simply, many investors jump into the investment field arena without having a clue for what they want to accomplish through it. It doesn’t matter how good of an investor you are-without knowing your final goal, you will never get anywhere with your investments. This would be akin to getting in your car and just starting to drive without knowing your final destination.

Here’s your first investing money advice: you need to sit down and map out what you want to accomplish with your investments. Do you want to achieve a 15% annual return? How much money do you want in the bank 1 year from now? How about 5 years from now? 10?

As you think through this, also keep in mind what you plan on doing with this money. Just wanting to make a lot of money will not provide a lot of motivation; however, knowing that you could buy a new house, boat or car with this money will be all the incentive you will need to achieve your financial goals.

Another great price of advice for investing your money is to write out your goals, and place them in an area where you can view them often. It’s often been said that the simple act of writing out a goal is enough to help you achieve it.

This evokes one of the greatest laws in the universe, which is attraction. By continually visualizing your end objective, your mind will subconsciously work on ways to help you get there.

Once you know what your financial end will be, now it’s time to map out your course for getting there. This will obviously be different for every investor. The two most common investment methods are real estate and stock investing.

Neither way is better than the other; many have made a fortune with each. Your final decision will completely depend on you, your tolerance for risk, and what you want to achieve.

For instance, if all you want is to be able to buy a car in the next 6 months, then you won’t want to risk your money with stocks, real estate, or mutual funds. These are long term investments, and should be viewed as such.

Most investors view these vehicles as ways to get in and make a quick buck. Nothing could be further from the truth.

All of the top stock and real estate investors will only invest in a particular investment if they can be sure it will go up for the long term, contrary to popular belief. Most investors want to make a million dollars overnight and this will rarely be the case.

If your goal is to have enough money to purchase a new car in 6 months, then you will want to focus more on short term bonds, or something else that can be assured of going up. This obviously isn’t as exciting as real estate or the stock market, but it will be the best method to help you achieve your particular goal.

Remember, it really doesn’t matter which method if investing you choose. The best investing money advice that you could ever receive is imply knowing where you want to be at the end of it. Only after deciding on this should you even start to consider which investment to put your money in.

Foreclosures, REO properties still permeate local market
Foreclosures are ticking up and the area housing market is still saturated with bank-owned properties, despite an apparent budding recovery from the throes of the housing crisis.

Read more on The Washington DC Examiner

Market Commentary and Intraday News
(RTTNews) – Positive sentiment in global markets and a near-normal monsoon forecast by the Indian Meteorological Department helped the Indian market end a lackluster session on a positive note. Trading was a little bit volatile ahead of the expiry of April month derivative contracts on Thursday.

Read more on INO News