When I saw this video, it made me laugh. While a little bit of an exaggeration, it does a great job of characterizing the short sale process. I share it with much gest, and at the same time it helps set a framework for my future clients so you know what I'm up against every time I negotiate a short sale on behalf of my client.

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What I am seeing more and more often in my short sale transactions is homeowners with two loans on the property. The 2nd loan is usually either a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) or a second loan for 10-20% of the original purchase. The trend with the second lienholder, in either scenario is a demand that the seller agree to sign a promissory note in order for the 2nd to agree to th...

Preparing to short sale your property requires a very specific list of documents that you will need to gather together. The following is a general list of items that you will be required to provide to me when I list the property. Please begin gathering the information so it's ready to submit to me.  

Hardship Letter: This is a letter that you will either type or hand write to the attention of your bank that explains your situation that has caused the delinquency.  The letter should be brief and pointed, maximum of 1 page. This letter can often make or break the bank agreeing to release you from your mortgage debt for less than what you owe. Begin by identifying how your income has change...

This just in regarding the trend toward short sales! This is great news for so many homeowners in trouble! The new government mandates are starting to work and the banks are working harder to make short sales happen.

Read the entire article about the trend toward more short sales here.

I’m still on my Short Sale Soap Box

Then there's the short sale BPO (Broker Price Opinion) process. The banks are of the belief that an out-of-area real estate agent who is willing to consume hours of their time to drive 60 miles to take photos, develop a market analysis that declares market value and turn their report around in 24 hours for 50 bucks is a better choice than hiring a certified appraiser BECAUSE IT'S CHEAPER THAN ORDERING AN APPRAISAL.

I’ve made it a point to show up for every BPO on my short sales to provide the BPO agent with good comparables, a summary narrative analysis, and a live commentary of the known matters that affect value of the subject property. In many case...

Ah...the World of Short Sales is fraught with problems. As I write this, I think to myself: THIS IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT! We aren't just running into problems with the banks, we're running into what could be described as OUR WORST NIGHTMARES!

Lenders are defying logic and denying short sales where the seller is demonstratedly distressed and in a severe financial hardship...can you say...Government incentives mean more to the banks than giving homeowners trying to get on with their lives a break?

Then there’s the fact that Junior (2nd) lienholders are blocking short sales by requiring a greater contribution than the 1st is willing to offer...silly 2nd...don't you know you'll end up with...

Santa Monica California Real Estate Market Reality

The Santa Monica California real estate market continues to remain strong.

 Here is my latest analysis of Santa Monica real estate:

 Single Family Homes in Santa Monica 

Distressed Single Family Property Watch in Santa Monica, CA:

There are 2 single family home Bank-Owned/REOs for sale in Santa Monica

There are 3 single family Short Sales for sale in Santa Monica

This represents that 4.5% of the Santa Monica single family home real estate market is distressed properties for sale.

Active Single Family Homes for Sale in Santa Monica by price range:

Unde...

Being that the real estate climate is what it is these days, it would seem that lenders would be begging for short sales. If you ask: “why would a lender consider a short sale where they receive less than they are owed?”, I’m here to tell you there is a huge and obvious reason…they will lose more if they foreclose. A foreclosure can cost a lender an extra $40,000-$60,000 in attorney fees, trustee fees, holding costs and maintenance expense on every foreclosed property.

I won’t lie to you and tell you that short sales are easy. In fact, my experience is that they are anything but easy. It’s a very dynamic process with lost of moving parts and the lenders keep changing the rules as we go a...

On April 14th, there was a big announcement by Fannie Mae in an effort to support overall market stability and to certainly reinforce the importance of borrowers to work with their lenders when they have difficulty repaying their mortgage. Fannie Mae has updated several policies that pertain specifically to the future eligibility of borrowers to obtain a new mortgage loan after a short sale. Fannie Mae has also updated the requirements for determining that borrowers have re-established their credit after a significant derogatory credit event. You can read about how these changes affect you if you are pursuing a short sale by clicking here.

"Home Seizures By Bank Set Records" was the title of the article published on MSN just the other day. It's really worth the read if you want to fully understand what's happening in the real estate world. This morning, I had my head in the market stats for the 10 primary areas of Los Angeles that I serve: Santa Monica, Venice, Marina de Rey, West Los Angeles, Brentwood, Westwood/Century City, Cheviot Hills, Culver City, Mar Vista and discovered that the number of foreclosures and short sales on the market has risen almost 15% in March over February.

Foreclousre is bad business for the banks. It was also evident from looking at the recent Notice of Default filings for the Westside of Los A...

Welcome to a World of suffering and punishment. That’s the current state of the real estate industry as it relates to short sales – it’s hell out there! In most US cities, “traditional” real estate is all but extinct. The number of short sales and bank-owned/REO listings rose over 10 percent on the Westside of Los Angeles last month alone. More an more homeowners are experiencing some form of financial hardship – job loss, loss of income, divorce, medical problems, adjustable mortgages.

Never ever before in the entire history of real estate have we encountered such uncertainty and such challenges. Homeowners are losing their homes at record pace and we’ve recently witnessed the fall of s...

Just on November 30th, 2009, the Treasury Dept. released the forms and guidelines for the new Home Affordable Foreclosure Althernatives Program (HAFA). This program is expected to be a huge leap forward to help homeowners who are unable to retain their home under the Home Affordable Program (HAMP).

HAFA was created to streamline and simplify the use of short sales and deeds-in-liu of foreclosure by tweaking the process that the banks currently employ.

Just to highlight HAFA...

- It is designed to complement HAMP by providing althernatives for homeowners who qualify for HAMP, but are still unable to keep their home. Why is this important? Well, almost 65% of the loan modifications compl...