Introduction of Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA)

I would love to share my thought on this new 43 page program. Wonderful the administration has a program approved to help home owners. Great for homeowners not so great for banks. The key word in the documentation is 'elective'. This program is not mandatory for the banks.

There is really no incentive in the new program for the bank. The mere offering of $1000 incentive to the bank to complete the sale won't create a blip on their screen. I truly do not see this having any impact on how we as agents are currently helping our neighbors in need; well except for the fact that we need to educate our home owners on all of this.

The program officially starts in April 2010 and requires the 'participating' bank release the deficiency. In my state of Virginia they do retain the right to collect the deficient balance. I see no reason any bank would waive this right for a $1000 incentive, unless the deficiency value was very low. Add to this anyone with a 2nd lien and forget it. The program only allows for $3000 to them on the HUD and then the $1000 incentive. And they too would have to release the deficiency. Umm, I don't think so. If you are actively negotiating short sales in my market you already know that loans generated from 2006 or newer almost all have mortgage insurance. The second lien would in fact be better off allowing the foreclosure in order to improve their bottom line.

Well wait, there are some banks for a short time that will participate. According to the program any bank using the 'Making Home Affordable Program' that is unable to approve the home owner for a loan modification then has 30 days to finalize a listing price for the sale and must follow the new HAFA program. You know what that means to me? Banks now have a great reason to stop following the Making Home Affordable Program. The weak link in all that will be the second lien holder as most often they will not be participating in a loan modification at the time, nor using the Making Home Affordable Program.

So don't panic if you are a Real Estate Agent as it most likely will have little impact for now. As a home owner I had to say it but it's just a bunch of smoke and mirrors. Sounds great but unlikely to help us much at all.

Download the 43 page Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) document here.

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Prince William County First Time Home Buyers

We keep saying what a great time it is to be a buyer in this market. Well there was a recent article in the Washington Post that echoes our same thoughts. I just wanted to share this article from this weekends Washington Post real estate section. If you need any help selling, buying or just have some questions, please let us know if there is anything we can do to assist you.

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These Days, First-Time Home Buyers Are Primed to Cash In By Ilyce R. Glink with Samuel J. Tamkin Saturday, March 21, 2009; Page F05

In the nearly 16 years that I've been writing this column, I've never seen a better market in which to be a first-time home buyer.

The rising tide of foreclosures has pushed down home prices significantly over the past 18 months. Homes, relative to income, are about at the historic norm, which means they're more affordable than they've been in at least a decade.

Beyond that, if you buy a foreclosed property, you might wind up spending even less, as lenders struggle to process all of the foreclosures and short sales that are piling up. (If there were no more foreclosures in Florida, it would take the courts nearly two years to process all of the foreclosures on the docket today.)

Not only have homes come down in price significantly, but 30-year fixed-rate loans are at about 5 percent. Some first-time buyers are getting 15-year rates at 4.5 percent or lower. These are historically low interest rates that will seem downright cheap if rates rise above 7 percent, which they will probably do several years from now.

Spending less to finance a property means you can get more for your money or save more for retirement or other purposes. With interest rates so low and home prices falling, homeownership becomes affordable to many first-time home buyers.

Also, first-time home buyers (defined as those who have never owned a home or have not owned a home in the past three years) who close on a home purchase by Dec. 1 can get up to an $8,000 tax credit on their 2009 income tax return. If you bought a house after Jan. 1, you can file for the credit on your 2008 tax return.

This year, about 4 million people will buy a new or existing home.

For the rest of the article follow this link--
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/19/AR2009031904138.html

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Great Time to purchase a cozy single family home with land in Prince William County, Manassas!

Many of us have dreamt about owning a property that is located away from noise, surrounded with beautiful mature trees and has some land. Well, just couple of years ago that dream was not so easy to become true for many people but the situation has changed now. These days you can easily find homes with 1200-1800 square feet of living area with an acre or very close to it lot. Perfect residence for anyone who likes quiet country setting but doesn’t want to move out to Fauquier County or even passed it. It is still close to everything but offers privacy for country lovers.

Prince William County homes have suffered a great decline in values. And it applies to not just homes that were purchased in
2004-2005 time frame when values were going through the roof but also homes that were purchased a lot earlier and still lost a lot in value due to housing crisis and now available for sale at great affordable prices. While it is very stressful and in some cases devastating for sellers, it is a great time for buyers to look for a dream home.

The link below show Active homes in Manassas area (20112) with square footage of 1200 up to 1800 and with 1 acre or close to it lot size(please note that the link will expire 7 days after this post is made – contact us for an updated list at anytime):

http://matrix.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Email.aspx?ID=29311860233

Would you like automated emails with properties matching your search? Maybe you would like some regular updates on homes where you live now. Sign Up Today! Or Contact Us! or sign up for automated emails that you can easily unsubscribe from at anytime.

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Avoid Foreclosure Legally!

Visit our New Short Sale Web Site located at www.BGIshortSALES.com. This web site is free and offers information about short sales and your options to avoid foreclosure.

The more information you have as a home owner the better you will be able to make the decisions that fit your needs best. There is so much confusion out there. Some services are promising that for a flat fee they will save your home. Others offer to negotiate a modified loan with the bank for you. All I can share with you at this point is that "if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is". I know you might be desperate for a solution but use your head and ask as many questions as you can before handing over your money to people you don't know or trust.

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Short Sales are Getting Easier! (?)

Well it is true, banks are getting things together but the biggest impact of your short sale progress and turn around time starts with your Realtor. If you are having some challenges please take the time to interview your short sale listing agent thoroughly.

Over the last year especially we have changed significantly how we submit or packages to the banks. These evolutions of our short sale package delivery have had a very positive impact on how fast we get responses from the banks we are communicating with.

With all of that said we will still run into some challenges with some banks. Often if the loan is backed by investors or if the second loan in a HELOC there will be additional challenges. That is okay because while they do add challenges it does not eliminate the ability to get them approved. Getting them approved takes a bit more patience, finesse and of course knowledge.

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