Okay, so it’s time we have a heart to heart discussion on Sacramento housing. Quite frankly, I’m getting sick and tired of hearing these doom and gloom reports, but it seems that the media is dead-set intent on taking all the worse news and repeating it, exaggerating it and cementing it into our consciousness. If you think all this negative news doesn’t affect your life and the cumulative consciousness of our county guess again.

First off, let’s do a little reality check, shall we? Is this the worst time in history for housing prices? Yep. Are we in a recession? Ah huh. Are a lot of people without jobs right now? You bet. Are half the nation’s homeowners underwater on their property? Affirmative. Is it harder than ever to get a loan. Oh yeah! So there’s your facts. How’s it make you feel? Does focusing on it make you feel warm and fuzzy all over? Didn’t think so.

Now for fiction. Some people are saying this is just a phase (isn’t all of life a phase?), that “there’s never been a better time to buy,” and that, banks are going to modify your loan so you can afford to stay in your home. Not to go back to the facts, but seriously, you gotta know that banks are not good property managers, and they are at as much a loss (in skill, staff and process) as the rest of us. Truth is, while you THINK you’ve got a loan modification going on, the foreclosure department of your lender is proceeding with an auction date to take your home away IF you haven’t been making payments. And even IF the loan mod goes through, the most recent stats tell us that between 80-90% of those end up in default. Besides the fairy tale fiction of loan mods, especially those predatory people out there charging horrendous up-front fees, we’ve got hard-money lenders crawling out of the wood work like a bunch of hungry termites.

So now for focus. I do not wear rose-colored glasses (I do have a very cool pair of hot pinks ones though). With a big background in psychology, however, I DO know that what we focus and expect ALWAYS comes to be. Hence, the more negative news we hear and spread around, the worse things get. Besides, focusing on bad stuff makes you feel crappy, and what’s the use in that? How good are you to your family, your friends, your clients….um, YOURSELF? Not worth a whole heck of a lot if your get up and go has got up and went.

The reality for me is to wish big globally, and be pro-active locally. It’s like making lemon-aide, Kids. What can I do right now, regardless of what’s happening around me? Well, I can educate as many Sacramento residents as possible about why a short sale is better than a foreclosure, and then I can do my best to help them see it through. I can find buyers great deals and hook them up with a stellar lender, and if need be, send them somewhere to learn how to clean up their credit. As the Amish say, “move your feet when you pray.” What you focus on expands, so please, for the sale of ALL of us, focus wisely.

Hugs,

Tamara

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Toto (aka Missy)

When the big Kansas tornado hit (read: real estate bubble burst), Dorthy (read: home-owners), suddenly found herself lost. She knew she wanted to keep her home, but the Wicked Witch of the West (read: big bad banks) proved that even if she followed the yellow-brick road, she was still getting screwed. Now, enter some of those flying monkeys (read: loan mod fraud creeps), and poor Dorthy is pretty much outta luck.

Unfortunately, one of the bad Munchkins told Dorthy that for a mere $3,000 she could modify her loan, I mean ruby red slippers, and get safely back home (read: save her home). That little lying Munchkin caused her even more trouble! Fortunately, Glenda the Good Witch (that gets to be me since I’m the one writing this), knew that she could help Dorthy find her way to Emerald City (read: avoid foreclosure).

Good Tamara, I mean, Glenda, sent her a few great peeps to help poor Dorthy out. First there was the Tin Man, (Scott Geniella) the Scarecrow (Sheri Schmitz), and of course, the Cowardly Lion (Ed Wacaster) who qualified buyers for Dorthy’s digs. Then Glenda the good witch, zapped the Wicked Witch of the West right where she lived (read:bugged those big bad banks till they approved the sale).

Now Dorthy was forever grateful to Tamara, I mean Glenda, because she helped her find her way back home….and, before she knew it, Dorthy was working with the Tin Man and getting qualified to buy a new place in Kansas. See? All’s well that ends well when you work with people you trust (and um, avoid those poppy fields).

Ta ta for now!
Tamara

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I know times are tough and people are stressed, busy, broke and in some cases, in big financial trouble. We’ve all taken a hit in this economy, and my family sure hasn’t been immune to it. But I say, in times of trouble, we’ve got to worked harder, better, smarter and be of greater service, because there are always those we can help.

In my real estate class I tell students about the National Association of Realtors’ survey that says the number one reason homeowners across the country (and of course, that includes Sacramento home sellers) said they were dissatisfied with their real estate agents was because….(drum role, please)…lack of communication on the agent’s part.

Now having been someone who’s had agents not return my call, I know how frustrated I get. Don’t get me wrong…I know some of us agents are so busy that we barely have time to breathe, but for Pete’s Sake, hire more agents or take on fewer clients! If you can’t return calls to other agents or update your sellers each week, then you’re really not doing anyone any service. In fact, nothing makes me more mad then when I’m working with perfectly qualified buyers, who I show a home to, we write an offer, and then I get no response from the other agent. Hello? Being left hanging makes everyone mad, and is certainly unfair to the buyers.

And when it comes to sellers, let’s face facts. We are in a serious time of seller-crises. This is NOT the time to take a seller on who is in a distressed-selling situation, and then just ignore them. Even if you have to hire an assistant to call your sellers each week with an update and a pep-talk, DO IT! Our Sacramento sellers who are facing foreclosure and trying to avoid it through a short sale need more counseling than ever. Today on facebook, I get this message: “Tamara, my agent hasn’t called me in 2 months and I have no idea what’s going on…can you please help us.” Really?!?!?

I was humbled last week to receive a nice letter from a new client who had this to say: “….I have been scammed to the tune of $3,000 for a supposed loan modification that just never happened…, I’ve received 50+ solicitations for short selling but only yours stood out. Your credentials speak for them selves and your follow up shows me that I have picked the right agent.”

Now THAT’S what wakes me up each morning…..I may not save the world (although I do have Wonder Woman illusions), but I’ll do everything I can to save as many Sacramento sellers as possible…oh, and I”ll help Sacramento buyers get the best deal too….’scuse me….my cape is waiting.

Ta ta for now,

Tamara

Post from: In Love With Sacto .tv

In light of the new HAFA Guidelines, I’m so grateful to say that many, many Sacramento homeowners will now be in a position to sell their homes without any recourse from the lender. Previously, lenders would come after sellers that sold their home for less than it was worth. In addition, homeowners’ credit was deeply scarred. With HAFA, homeowners will be able to sell their Sacramento homes without bank recourse, with less detrimental credit, AND with a $1,500 moving expense incentive. What a far cry from how things were before.

My goal is to help Sacramento homeowners stay in their home. In order to do that, a loan modification may work. Remember, with a loan mod, you’ve got to have the ability to pay and the desire to stay. I would always urge you to try that option if staying in your home is a feasible option. But if it isn’t, a Sacramento short sale beats the heck out of foreclosure. And did you know that we can actually start a loan modification WHILE your home is a short sale listing? That way, if the loan mod comes back in an affordable option, we can take your house off the market and you can stay put.

My friends Tim and  Julie Harris have allowed me to participate in a new book called, “Should I Short-Sale My Home,” and I wanted to be able to share it with Sacramento home owners at no charge. As always, please let me know if you have any questions of if I can help you in any way with your real estate needs. I’m here to help!

Should I Short Sale my Sacramento Home?

Post from: In Love With Sacto .tv

This article recently ran in the Los Angeles Times and I thought is might be interesting to those of us in Sacramento still scrambling through the home-owning and selling  maze:

New rule affects homeowners in foreclosure avoidance program
The U.S. Dept. of the Treasury and the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced changes to its Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).  The changes, designed to help improve the conversion from trial loan modifications to permanent modifications, take effect June 1.  Mortgage servicers may elect to implement the changes sooner.

MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY FOR CONSUMERS

• Under previous guidelines, homeowners were not required to document their incomes prior to receiving a trial mortgage modification.  The trial modifications typically lasted three months, during which time the servicer was supposed to collect documents to verify the homeowner’s income.  If the borrower met the monthly obligations, and submitted the required paperwork, the modification was supposed to be made permanent.  However, many homeowners failed to provide the necessary paperwork, or the loan servicer lost the paperwork, resulting in just 66,465 permanent modifications out of the nearly 1.2 million trial modifications.
• The updated process requires that servicers collect three documents prior to granting a trial mortgage modification:  A formal application, including a description of the hardship created by the mortgage; proof of income, such as two recent pay stubs or the most-recent profit and loss statement for self-employed borrowers; and a form authorizing the Internal Revenue Service to release tax data to the servicer.
• If the borrower meets the modified payment requirements for three months, the modification automatically will be made permanent.   The Treasury Dept. also said it will allow servicers some discretion in making loan modifications permanent only if minor paperwork is missing.  This discretion will help address a large backlog of incomplete modifications.
• Under the plan, servicers also will be required to respond within 10 days to an initial request for a modification.  Once documents are provided, the servicer will have one month to let borrowers know whether they qualify for a trial modification.
• Servicers also must calculate whether the lender or current owner of the loan will benefit from a mortgage modification, or if foreclosing on the property is in the loan owner’s best interest.  If the loan owner will benefit from a modification, the servicer is required to grant the modification.  Requiring borrowers to provide financial documents upfront will enable servicers to decide if a modification or foreclosure is the best option.

To read the full story, please click here.

Source, California Association of Realtors (www.car.org)

ta ta for now,
Tamara

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