Orlando Short Sale Expert
If you are in the Orlando area, and would like to find a real estate agent that has experience handling short sales, we can help.
Avoid Foreclosure, what are your options?
If you fall behind in your mortgage payments you will receive a lot of mailers offering to help you get out of your unfortunate situation. Many of these people are looking to take advantage of someone in a difficult situation. Often, the reason someone falls behind on their mortgage is due to a situation they had little control of. Travis John PA is here to work with you and make sure that before you do anything, you know all of your options. We have helped many clients work through difficult issues with their home and help them find the solution that makes the most sense.
The # 1 thing you need to make sure you never do is sign anything you are not familiar with. DO NOT SIGN anything with ANYONE offering a service that seems too good to be true. Many people are forced into doing something they don’t understand and it often puts the homeowner in a very vulnerable position. Don’t Do It, Don’t Sign Anything!
Options to Consider When Facing Foreclosure
Option # 1 Sell Your Home
Depending on the market and area you live in, you may consider selling you home if you have enough equity to pay off your existing liens. However, you may not be able to do a regular sale if you owe more than what your home is worth. Using an experienced Realtor that works closely with banks will give you the time needed to sell your property at the highest price possible. We can help with this process and provide our many years of real estate experience.
Option # 2 A Short Sale – Not a Typical Sale
If your home is worth less than what you owe on your mortgage, a short sale may be the best option for you. Instead of just walking away from the property and severely damaging your credit, a short sale will allow Short Sale Solutions 3, LLC and Travis John PA to negotiate with your bank and get a short sale approved and closed. Not everyone will be approved to do a real estate short sale. Banks are not eager to take a loss on their investment but they also realize that if they take the home back through the foreclosure process they will likely take a loss equal or greater to this amount. A short sale allows the bank to take the loss and move on because essentially, the banks do not want to own real estate.
Short Sale Solutions 3, LLC and Travis John PA work directly with the bank to show them this may be the best option available. It is likely in this current real estate market, that the bank will approve the short sale and accept the loss in order to avoid taking a larger loss if the property were to come back to them as a foreclosure.
The bank will be very selective in what they pay for when you sell your home through a short sale. You need to be aware of the downside of doing a short sale and what the tax implications may be. Despite a short sale having some downsides, the positives of this can still outweigh the negatives of losing your home through a foreclosure.
The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, also known as Section 2 of H.R. 3648 was passed to eliminate the short sale tax consequence of having to pay the additional tax that would be due on the loss to the bank. Basically, any loss to the bank would be treated as ordinary income to you because what was a loss to the bank became a gain to the former home owner. Keep in mind that this will eliminate the federal tax but you still may owe money to the state. You will need to speak with your tax professional to know what the consequences will be for your current situation. For more detailed information about The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, Section 2 of H.R. 3648 please refer to our page on this bill. Please feel free to call us with any questions and what your options would be. We can help you with a short sale in Orlando Florida and the surrounding area.
Option # 3 Refinance Your Home
Refinancing your home and paying off the existing loan sounds easy and it may be an option that you have already pursued. In this current real estate market it has become almost impossible to refinance your home if you have less than 10-20% of equity. We may be able to show you some loan options that you have not been presented with but it’s probably likely you have already explored this option and will not have many if any refinancing options available. Travis John PA works with many different lenders and has access to many different types of loan programs but the refinance market has become very limited. We would be happy to provide you a quick, accurate loan quote. If your ultimate goal is to stay in your home and you can’t refinance your home your best option may be a loan modification.
Option # 4 Negotiate a Forbearance Agreement
Typically, a forbearance agreement is accepted by a bank when someone can show they had a temporary hard ship and this is the reason they fell behind in their mortgage payments. It has become fairly common and something that Travis John PA can help you with. Two items a bank will look for when they consider a forbearance is the reason you fell behind in your mortgage payments, proof that your financial difficulties were a one time occurrence and not likely to happen again.
The forbearance takes the amount you owe and does 1 of 2 things: One option is to spread the amount you owe out over a period of 6 months. The other option is to add the amount owed on to the back end of your mortgage and have it paid at the end of your mortgage term. This may be an option that you were unaware of.
Option # 5 Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure
The advantages for the homeowner are to avoid foreclosure and not go through the difficult process that it entails. It will release all or most of the liability from the homeowner and allow the bank to turn around and sell the property much sooner without the bank having to spend additional time and money going through the foreclosure process. This would be a good option to consider if you feel that there will be no benefit from you selling your home or doing a short sale.
Option # 6 Do Nothing – Just Let it Go
You can always let your home go into foreclosure and do nothing. Sometimes the situation seems so overwhelming and this may be a good option. We don’t recommend that you do this, and would suggest that you talk to someone so you can determine if any of the options above would make more sense. Please feel free to ask any questions you have in our real estate forum. We have agents that will provide you with answers to all of your real estate questions. You can also contact us if you feel more comfortable. It’s important that you talk to someone that you can trust, and not someone that is looking to take advantage of someone in a difficult situation. There are many real estate scams and you don’t want to become a victim because you didn’t seek a second opinion. You may have some options that you are unaware of.
Please call us today if you have any additional questions.
Travis John PA is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Short Sale Expert Central Florida Service Areas
All of Central Florida Cities and neighborhoods in Orange, Lake, Seminole, Ocseola, Polk and Volusia Counties.
Orlando, Apopka, Sorrento, Mt. Dora / Mount Dora, Mount Plymouth, Lake Mary, Debary, Deland, Deltona, Geneva, Sanford, Eustis, Longwood, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Eatonville, Rosemont, Clarcona, Magnolia Park, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Windermere, Gotha, Orlo-Vista, Winter Park, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Casselberry, Fern Park, Goldenrod, Conway, Waterford Lakes, Fairvilla, College Park, Baldwin Park, Dr. Phillips, Clermont, Montverde, Howey In the Hills, Tavares, Millenia, Saint Cloud / St. Cloud, Poinciana, Kissimmee.
Mortgage Foregiveness Debt Relief Act,Short Sales Avoid Foreclosure Orlando,
BPO,HR 3648,Orlando Foreclosures,Orlando Short Sales,Short Sale Expert in Orlando
Windermere FL,Short sales & foreclosures specialist,Why would a bank or lender agree to a short sale?,If you’re in the Orlando area you need to know this
A common question I often get is: “Why would a bank or lender agree to a short sale?”
Let’s look at an example…
The seller of a home owes 200k on a property where the best offer was only 160K. The reason why could be almost anything…lack of curb appeal, cost of repairs, old house, today’s slow market?
What are the seller’s choices? The homeowner can sell for 160K and bring 40K to close the deal because the loan is upside down. Or the buyer and seller can work together to negotiate a short sale.
Obviously, if the seller doesn’t have 40K to bring to the table at closing, the deal’s not going to get done. Even if they do, does it really make sense to toss in 40K without seeing if the bank will take less?
Of course, it takes a great deal MORE than a phone call to get a bank to agree to take a loss, no matter what the number.
Banks actually don’t want to take houses to foreclosure because they don’t want to have to worry about selling residential real estate; after all, they’re financial institutions, not real estate brokerages. Being heavily regulated by the federal government, banks can only have so many bad debts on their books. A foreclosed property represents a “non-performing asset” that ties up money, hurting profitability.
For this reason, doing a short sale on a property in foreclosure is the PREFERRED method used by banks to liquidate property.
Travis John PA is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Short Sale Expert Central Florida Service Areas
All of Central Florida Cities and neighborhoods in Orange, Lake, Seminole, Ocseola, Polk and Volusia Counties.
Orlando, Apopka, Sorrento, Mt. Dora / Mount Dora, Mount Plymouth, Lake Mary, Debary, Deland, Deltona, Geneva, Sanford, Eustis, Longwood, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Eatonville, Rosemont, Clarcona, Magnolia Park, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Windermere, Gotha, Orlo-Vista, Winter Park, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Casselberry, Fern Park, Goldenrod, Conway, Waterford Lakes, Fairvilla, College Park, Baldwin Park, Dr. Phillips, Clermont, Montverde, Howey In the Hills, Tavares, Millenia, Saint Cloud / St. Cloud, Poinciana, Kissimmee.
Short sale faq
Orlando short sale expert & Specialist
Why would a bank accept a short sale?
What happens if you don’t pay the mortgage? If you’re in Orlando, Fl. Call Me!
We all talk about what ifs. One big “what if” that many homeowners have today has to do with mortgages.
About one-third of South Florida mortgages are underwater, meaning the homeowners owe more than the home is worth at today’s depressed prices, according to First American CoreLogic. Some homeowners are certainly wondering why they’re sending in the payment on, say, a $300,000 mortgage, when the house today would sell for only $210,000.
Your options: Keep paying or try to change your loan’s terms.
But some people wonder, what if I just stop paying the mortgage? It may be a tempting idea, but it quickly leads to trouble.
Here’s what could happen if you don’t pay the mortgage.
Report to the credit bureau
If your payment does not arrive, your lender or servicer will report this late payment to the credit bureau by the first day of the next month. This can happen in as little as two weeks from due date and put a negative mark on your credit report. Your credit score drops.
The late payment report whacks your credit rating. Your credit score starts to drop, by up to 200 points, if this is your only late or missed payment.
In the next 30 days, you can expect your other creditors to take note of the late payment and to take action. They can raise your interest rates, shut off your credit card entirely, or lower your credit limit. You also could face other changes in your financial life, because auto insurance, student loans and other forms of credit are pegged to your credit score.
Tightening of credit lowers your score
Credit scores feed on themselves. If your credit card limits are lowered and you are carrying a balance, you are then using more of your available credit, something known as your utilization rate. When that goes up, it lowers your score some more.
The negative mark stays on your credit report for seven years. But the impact on your credit score lessens over time. The biggest impact is for the first two years.
Lender response
The phone will start ringing. Your
Cards are closed, rates rise
lender will try to contact you, try to persuade you to go into a loan modification of some kind.
But after 90 days, you cannot just start making payments again. The lender may actually send your payment back, if you send it this late and have not been in contact.
What happens next
After four months of not paying your mortgage, you will likely be served with a foreclosure notice.
If you don’t respond within 20 days, then the lender, in the following 60 days, will ask a court to issue a judgment against you.
A county sale will be arranged 50 to 120 days after the judgment. Next, 120 days after the sale, the sheriff will be at the door. Ten days after that, you’ll be thrown out of your home.
(Tip: This schedule is a general one. Courts are facing a backlog of foreclosure cases and could take longer to go through these steps. If you hire a lawyer and fight the foreclosure, you may be able to delay the sale for many months or avoid it altogether.)
What if you don't pay the mortgage?
Orlando Short Sale, Get $1,500 in Closing Costs
The U.S. Treasury is poised to announce a finalized plan to expand mortgage relief efforts to include short sales.
A short sale occurs when the bank allows the sale of a home for less than the existing mortgage balance.
It’s a strategy to avoid foreclosure, but banks have been more likely to let a home go into foreclosure, rather than short sell it, even if it means holding the property during moratoriums set by some jurisdictions.
That’s because short sale bids often come in well below the last appraisal, real estate agents don’t want the extra work involved and buyers fear a four-to-five month transaction period that could end in a no-deal scenario.
To help move more distressed properties through the clogged pipeline, the Treasury, under the Making Home Affordable’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) is expected to announce a $1,500 closing cost incentive for those who agree to short sales or deed-in-lieu deals (the deed is transferred to the lender, avoiding the more costly foreclosure proceeding).
The Treasury will also pay the lender $1,000 for accepting a short sale or deed-in-lieu deal.
Earlier this year when the plan was first announced, there was also a provision to pay second lien holders up to $1,000 to relinquish their claim in such transactions.
Thus far, Refinancing Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgages under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) and HAMP mortgage modifications have been the “go-to” foreclosure options among federal mortgage relief programs.
Some 260,000 homeowners have refinanced under the HARP program since January, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
FHFA also said during the second quarter this year there were 11,700 short sales and 202,200 trial loan modifications under government programs.
Orlando Real Estate sales continue to increase, Short Sales & Foreclosures lead the way!
Members of the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association in September sold 54.30 percent more homes than in September of last year, contributing to the area’s year-to-date sales increase of 50.69 percent. The most recent statistics show a continuing broad improvement in the area’s housing market, but ORRA President Les Simmonds, L.G. Simmonds Real Estate Corp., says economists expect a rise in foreclosures over the next 12 months and that it is important to maintain a healthy level of ready buyers to absorb the resulting increase in inventory. The median price of all existing homes sold in September declined 2.34 percent to $125,000 from the $128,000 recorded in August. That same median price is a decrease of 31.32 percent compared to September 2008’s median of $181,995.
Orlando sales continue to increase
Members of the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association in September sold 54.30 percent more homes than in September of last year, contributing to the area’s year-to-date sales increase of 50.69 percent. The most recent statistics show a continuing broad improvement in the area’s housing market, but ORRA President Les Simmonds, L.G. Simmonds Real Estate Corp., says economists expect a rise in foreclosures over the next 12 months and that it is important to maintain a healthy level of ready buyers to absorb the resulting increase in inventory. The median price of all existing homes sold in September declined 2.34 percent to $125,000 from the $128,000 recorded in August. That same median price is a decrease of 31.32 percent compared to September 2008’s median of $181,995.
Members of the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association in September sold 54.30 percent more homes than in September of last year, contributing to the area’s year-to-date sales increase of 50.69 percent. The most recent statistics show a continuing broad improvement in the area’s housing market, but ORRA President Les Simmonds, L.G. Simmonds Real Estate Corp., says economists expect a rise in foreclosures over the next 12 months and that it is important to maintain a healthy level of ready buyers to absorb the resulting increase in inventory. The median price of all existing homes sold in September declined 2.34 percent to $125,000 from the $128,000 recorded in August. That same median price is a decrease of 31.32 percent compared to September 2008’s median of $181,995.
