Category: News and Information

Banks Can Take Your Assets After Foreclosure!

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Stop Foreclosure Before It Starts

Are you behind on your mortgage and worried that the lender might go after your other assets if your home gets foreclosed on?

Unfortunately, it can happen if you live in Florida. This scenario can occur in an instance where if the bank is unable to recoup the full amount of the loan especially if it’s a large loan.

With such a large number of Orlando foreclosures still looming many homeowners are wondering if their lender can garnish their salary or personal bank accounts.

The problems that can crop up from a typical foreclosure sale don’t usually occur until after the sale has taken place and the bank ends up with the short end of the stick.

Here in Florida lenders can go to the court for a “deficiency judgment” in order to try and collect the rest of the money that is owed after the foreclosure. With a deficiency judgment in their possession, banks can go after your personal assets like a car or a boat. However, if the asset isn’t yet paid off, then the lender will have to settle for the second position after the lender for the car or boat, etc.

Florida lenders don’t usually go after a person’s assets following a foreclosure sale especially if they don’t see much to tap into.The truth is that collecting judgments is extremely time-consuming and can be quite costly to the bank.

Banks will pay more attention to homeowners with homes that are worth millions of dollars because the larger the loan the bigger the loss. In these cases, the lenders will check the borrower’s bank accounts especially if the accounts are with the same bank. Depending on the situation, banks can move to freeze or garnish these accounts. Banks will also go after businesses that default on large commercial properties.

Just When You Thought It Was Over

There’s another risk that exists for smaller borrowers that may occur down the line. Many times, banks end up selling off these types of judgments to investors or collection agencies for pennies on the dollar. These agencies hire people that are dedicated to hound people any way they can for a settlement. Since judgments are valid for up to twenty years, it gives them more than enough time to come after the borrower for the balance due.

Avoiding A Deficiency Judgment

The best way to avoid a deficiency judgment is for people to deal with their mortgage problems head-on. take action! If a borrower has the chance to pursue a short sale with their lender then they should do it. Not dealing with the problem is the absolute worst thing that someone can do to themselves. It’s like having a financial ticking time bomb on their hands. Borrowers are soo much better off working with the bank as opposed to avoiding them.

Hire A Short Sale Expert

It’s extremely important that the short sale payoff be recorded as a “full payoff”. To ensure that things are done correctly, enlist the help of a short sale expert. Find a short-sale realtor in your area that has a high closing ratio. Avoid realtors that aren’t experienced in the short sale arena or that have only done a few. Selling a home is one of the most, if not the most important transaction of a person’s life so it’s crucial that they find the best-qualified realtor for the job.

 

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Avoid Orlando Short Sale Fraud

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Avoid Short Sale Fraud!

The mortgage industry is once again experiencing an increase in short sales. Since 2012 the number of short sales with Freddie Mac has gone up substantially. This rising trend will leave the Orlando real estate market a target for short sale fraud.

What’s A Short Sale

A short sale can happen when a homeowner can longer pay the mortgage on their property and the lender allows them to sell the home for a discount of the principal balance owed to the bank or investor. Banks are willing to do this because they can avoid taking the property through a costly foreclosure process.

Homeowners benefit by avoiding a foreclosure on their credit which can last up to 7 years as opposed to a short sale which stays on your credit for an average of two years. Many times homeowners are eligible for relocation costs from the lender. This amount is usually around $3,000.00.

What’s Short Sale Fraud?

Without trying to sound like an attorney, short sale fraud can basically be described as deceitfulness or trickery when directly related to a short sale transaction. Fraud can appear in many different ways during a short sale and on both sides of the transaction.

It’s deliberate misrepresentation or omission of a fact or circumstance that would convince the lender to go through with a transaction that a lender would not approve if they were aware of all the facts.

 

Some Examples Of Short Sale Fraud

1-The buyer of the short sale property selling or “flipping” the property immediately after the closing. This type of transaction can also be referred to as a “double” or “simultaneous” closing and can sometimes involve the use of two separate title companies.

An example would be if the seller or borrower owed $150,000 on a home that is only worth $100,000. The short sale lender accepts an offer of $75,000 from the realtor or facilitator. The buyer will then have a buyer lined up for $95,000 and both transactions close on the same day and the facilitator pockets the difference thus increasing the lender’s net losses.

2-The borrower’s hardship was fabricated for the purpose of getting the short payoff approved.

3- The short sale facilitator purposely damages the property in order for the BPO [brokers price opinion] to come in lower than it would if the property hadn’t been damaged.

 

Preventing Short Sale Fraud

The best way to avoid any type of fraudulent situation when it comes to a short sale transaction is to research thoroughly research the short sale realtor before listing your house with them. Ask for references, Google them, and check out any reviews that may have been posted. These days it’s even recommended to check out someone’s Facebook page to get some insight into what kind of person they are.

It’s also a good idea to avoid getting involved with facilitators that are unlicensed or if they want you to use a realtor that is controlled by them.

 

Orlando short sale expert

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How To Interview A Realtor – Video

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Hiring the right realtor is crucial when listing your house for sale and it could save you a ton of headaches as well as thousands of dollars, so you don’t just want to hire the first agent that comes along. There are currently over 8,000 active real estate agents in Orlando and choosing the right one can get a bit confusing.

When interviewing an agent, you have to ask the right questions. The first question I would ask is, Do you work as a realtor full-time, or do you also have another job?

This is an easy one. If the agent tells you that they only work in real estate part-time, then you say “have a nice day…and move on to the next candidate. If they only work as a realtor part-time it means that selling your house won’t be a top priority for them.

The next question is actually a 3 part question
1- How many listings do you currently have?
2- How many of those listings are under contract?
3- How many houses have you sold in the past 6 months?

The answers to these questions will tell you how hard of a worker the agent is and what their average turnaround time is to sell a house.

If the agent only has a few listings or if they have listings that are several months old with no contract, then this is a sign of a lazy agent.

You want an agent that is a go-getter and someone who is determined to get the job done ASAP, NO MATTER WHAT.

Getting a clear picture of the realtor’s recent track record will give you a very good indication of what you can expect if they list your house.

Next question,…Do you have some references from past clients that I can call to ask about you?

This is absolutely one of the best ways to find out how you’ll be treated if you decide to list your house with them. A good agent will be happy to provide you with a list of past clients along with their contact info. If they have no references to present to you then something’s wrong.

In my 10 years in the Orlando Real estate business, I’ve never had a client who has told me not to use them as a reference. It’s simple, if you do a good job for someone, they’re always going to be happy to recommend you.

Next question,… Do you have a team or an assistant, or are you a one-person show?

A Top Orlando Realtor will always have a team or an assistant at the very least. There are a million details that a successful realtor has to deal with on a day-to-day basis and if they have to handle every tedious detail on their own, then they aren’t good at managing their time. Or they have too much time on their hands. Neither of these scenarios is a good one.

Next question,… How will you market my house other than putting it o the MLS?

The majority of Orlando real estate agents will list the house on the MLS and…that’s about it. They’re done! They wait for someone to submit a contract and if no one submits a contract then they just keep waiting until someone does.

There are soo many effective ways to market a house in addition to putting it on the MLS. Here are some examples of some of the things we do.

Video marketing [that’s where we create a professional video of the home], social media marketing, We blog about it, target marketing with postcards, email campaigns, press releases, Open houses… it goes on and on.

It’s important that a realtor use every single tool in their toolbox to get that house sold for top dollar in the least amount of time.

If you ask these questions when interviewing a realtor, then you will know exactly what they’re about by the answers that they give you. Also, don’t interview just one or two agents, I recommend that you interview at least 3 agents and pick the one that you feel the most comfortable with.

If you still have any questions or concerns about how to hire a top Orlando realtor or if you are just curious about how much your home will sell for, then… feel free to contact us at 407902-7750 or visit us on the web at https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/

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Protect Your New Orlando Home With A Home Warranty

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Protect Your New Orlando Home

So you’ve purchased your first Orlando home, it’s wise to consider a home warranty and how they will give you piece of mind. No one expects for things to go wrong as soon as they move in to their new home, unfortunately many times that’s exactly what happens. As an Orlando real estate agent I always inform my clients about the benefits of a home warranty. Sometimes homes sit vacant for extended periods of time and like with everything else that doesn’t get used for a while, different components of a home such as AC unit, water heater, etc. can start to give you problems after not being used for a while.

Home Warranties Are Sometimes Included In The Sales Price

By investing in a home warranty, you can feel better about encountering unexpected problems with your new home. Many times the Orlando listing agent or seller will include a home warranty as part of the purchase price as an incentive. 

Something like an AC unit can set you back several thousand dollars right out of the gate. However, with a quality home warranty you have the piece of mind that all you will be paying is he deductible which is usually in the range of $60 or so. This to me is a no-brainer, your home warranty just paid for itself 20  times over with just one use!

In general a home warranty will cover your appliances, Central AC, plumbing, electrical, the roof as well as several other items. The warranty company will send out an inspector to ensure that all of these items are in good working condition prior issuing your home warranty.

It’s important to note that home warranties are very different than home insurance and cover different things. The best thing to do in order to make sure that you’re buying your warranty from a reputable company is to research them online and read the reviews that were written about each company. Once you’ve researched a hand full of them, you’ll be ready to make an educated decision.

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Who Makes The Final Decision On An Orlando Short Sale?

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Orlando Short Sale Help

 

 

Is your mortgage with one of the large banks like Bank of America, Chase or Wells Fargo? You may be surprised to hear that these lenders don’t usually make the decision on whether or not to approve your Orlando short sale.

It’s a common misconception really but the truth is that these lenders are just servicing these loans for the Investor.

So, who is the investor you ask? The investor in most of these scenarios is usually a corporation, a hedge fund or a firm on Wall Street. It could also be a what’s called MBS or “Mortgage Backed Securities”.

The “Investor”  can also be a government-sponsored entity like Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. These are referred to as GSEs or “Government Sponsored Entities“.  What most people don’t know is that if your lender or servicer refuses your short sale, your Orlando realtor can contact the investor directly. Most real estate agents are unaware of this and will typically go by whatever the servicing company decides.

Usually, when we contact the investor after the short sale has been denied by the bank or servicing company, we get them to reassess the short sale. It’s a matter of convincing them to accept the short sale based on the hardship of the homeowner and the true market value of the home taking into account all of the repairs that need to happen in order to get the home market-ready.

What we’ve noticed from our own experience is that the “Investor” or “third party” will do a much better job of assessing the short sale offer that was put forth… especially, because it’s their money. After they review the file and if it makes sense to them. The short sale offer is then approved and the investor will ensure that the servicing company is aware of what took place. 

This has proven to be helpful in cases where the lender has asked for a seller contribution and they threaten to close the file unless the homeowner agrees to sign a promissory note for the deficiency.  Sometimes servicing companies will reject a short sale without good reason. Other times the negotiator will have demands that just plain irrational such as wanting more than fair market value or not considering the repairs that need to happen.

 

Why Orlando Short Sale Negotiators Kill Fair Deals?

Being an Orlando short sale realtor for so many years I still get frustrated when the negotiator stands in the way of a perfectly fair transaction. Why in the world would a negotiator do this? I’ve come up with several theories like maybe they get a bonus for obtaining a higher offer and closing it…or maybe they’re just bitter.      

I realize that this might be a surprise to many homeowners but the truth is that this happens more times than it should. If you’re having trouble getting your short sale approved, then find out who the investor is and inform them of what their servicing company is doing to you.  

Our company has been able to get several Orlando short sales approved just by bypassing the servicing company and contacting the investor directly whenever the servicer doesn’t cooperate. If you or someone you know needs help with an Orlando short sale contact us at 407-902-7750 or just visit https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/short-sales/

 

 

Orlando short sale expert

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