We recently published a post about the government foreclosure review.  That review started yesterday.  The important thing to remember is that there is a deadline of April 30, 2012, for review requests.

Distressed homeowners who went through foreclosure in 2009 or 2010 may be affected.  There are 14 loan servicers, listed on the Office of the Controller of the Currency web site, who may not have followed proper legal procedures during the foreclosure process.

The loan servicers involved for this program include:

• America’s Servicing Co.
• Aurora Loan Services
• BAC Home Loans Servicing
• Bank of America
• Beneficial
• Chase
• Citibank
• CitiFinancial
• CitiMortgage
• Countrywide
• EMC
• EverBank/EverHome Mortgage Company
• Financial Freedom
• GMAC Mortgage
• HFC
• HSBC
• IndyMac Mortgage Services
• MetLife Bank
• National City Mortgage
• PNC Mortgage
• Sovereign Bank
• SunTrust Mortgage
• U.S. Bank
• Wachovia Mortgage
• Washington Mutual (WaMu)
• Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
• Wilshire Credit Corporation

If you, or someone you know, lost your home to foreclosure during the specified period and one of the 14 loan servicers completed that foreclosure, you may have some money coming.

You may request an independent audit of your foreclosure at no cost to you.

If the independent audit determines that the foreclosure caused you financial harm due to loan servicer error, the government will order remediation (you get money back).

The important thing to remember is that a request for an independent audit DEADLINE IS APRIL 30, 2012.  The will not consider requests post marked after that date valid for this program.

We ask that you pass this information on to anyone you know who may have been harmed.  It is about time the little guy wins a round!

Select this link to review the full article and links for additional information:

http://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2011/nr-occ-2011-133.html

D.S.News.com reports that Capital Economics experts predict that the housing crisis will end this year.  The primary reason is that banks are loosening credit standards. You no longer have to be Donald Trump to buy a basic home!

Five years ago buyers could qualify for a loan when their FICO credit score was in the mid to low 500s. (Fair Isacc Corporation developed a formula to apply to an individuals credit history which predicts the likelihood of a that borrower being 90 days late on their mortgage payment. The scores range from 300 to 850) The factors considered are: 1) payment history, 2) credit history length, 3) Recent searches of their credit record, 4) Other factors, such as types of credit used, recent improvements or declines, court or tax liens…)  It now takes a FICO score of 700 to qualify for a mortgage loan.

During the housing spike, one could obtain a loan for 100% of the purchase price.  In the past year, few borrowers could get a loan for more than 75% of that purchase price.  Lenders have recently loosened that requirement and most are back to a loan of 80% of the purchase price if other factors pass muster.

Lenders are also now lending amounts of up to 3.5 times a borrower’s annual income, up from 3.2 times in recent years.

The days of 100% financing and “liars loans” are long gone.  Borrowers still have to meet stringent standards to qualify for financing.  The good news is that lenders are loosening up on most of those standards a little bit at a time.

The lenders are being very cautious, however, they have new loans to stay in business, so the market is slowly righting itself.

Select this link for the full DS News story:

http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=5567733516482908167&ids=dj8QdP4Ud3gQdzsRe34OejoRdiMRcPkVdjgUdzgUczkRdPsUdzkRb3sOdj8RdjAPcz0UcPcVdPASdjkIczsQejcRcj4Oej8TdPwQdPoRdiMTdz4Uc3AOe3gScjkPcPsTdzkR&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=eml-tod2-b-ttl-0&ut=1jY48NKE9SMB41

If you have questions about obtaining a loan, feel free to call or text (916) 337-0658 or e-mail Mike@BuyYourVilla.com .

This is one in a series of brief videos designed to provide buyers and sellers information about the sale and purchase of real estate.  The data provided helps people better understand the market place and the process of buying or selling.  The tips are offered so that you can leverage your position in that purchase process.  Knowledge is power, or at least a tool with which to increase your chances of success.

If you are thinking of buying or selling in our area, we will be happy to assist.  Just call (916) 337-0658, text or e-mail us at Mike@BuyYourVilla.com.

This short video is designed to give those buyers a feel for the area. 

Serrano is a planned unit development just north of Highway 50 in El Dorado Hills.  It consists of a series of gated villages anchored by the Serrano Visitor’s Center.  The homes range from upscale tract homes, thorugh semi-custom to custom built homes and range in price from the low three uundred thousands to those above a million dollars.  The schools are excellent and Serrano includes an award winning golf course.

Enjoy the video and feel free to call, e-mail or text if you have any questions about homes in Serrano, El Dorado Hills or other towns in our beautiful area.

El Dorado Hills is a beautiful area, an ideal location to raise a family and meet life’s challenges.  Since El Dorado Hills is a bedroom community, there are many fine homes from which to choose at any given time.

A prudent buyer will investigate an area before they decide if it is right for them.  They will also learn as much as they can about the local real estate market.  The purpose of this post is to provide home sales data for single-family homes in El Dorado Hills.

Contrary to all of the media hype about the “national” real estate market, real estate markets are local and one can be very different from another.

For those of you who remember your Economics 101 class, the laws of supply and demand still apply, especially in the real estate market.  One of the statistics Realtors® monitor carefully is supply, or the inventory of homes available on the market.  

Pundits consider a six-month supply to be a neutral market.  An inventory of less than six-months is a seller’s market and an inventory of more than six-months is a buyer’s market.

The graph below provides the inventory data for El Dorado Hills for the past 15-months. You can see that there were two months in which the inventory level exceeded a six-month supply, both at the beginning of last year.  Homeowners are reluctant to put their homes on the market when sales prices are low.

The second graph lists the actual price per square foot that single-family homes sold for in each of the past 15-months. This is an important statistic to Realtors®, one used to determine to value of any specific property.

Naturally, there are fluctuations but there is no measurable trend.  We submit that the price point is bumping along at the bottom of the market. 

We can provide this data for any town in our seven county areas.  If you have an interest in a specific home, we will be happy to help you determine a value and assist you in getting the best possible deal.  Call (916) 337-0658 or e-mail Mike@BuyYourVilla.com

If you lost your home through foreclosure in 2009 or 2010 there may be a remedy waiting for you.  The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has ordered an independent review of foreclosures processed by GMAC Mortgage, HSBC Finance Corp., Sun Trust Mortgage and EMC Mortgage.

If one of these loan servicers processed your foreclosure, and you believe that you were financially harmed during their foreclosure process, you may have some cash coming! 

The government has determined that there may have been flaws in the foreclosure processing in some cases.  Homeowners/borrowers who feel that they were financially harmed may request an independent review.  If errors are found, the servicer will be required to compensate the borrowers for that financial injury.

Borrowers are eligible if:

• The home lost in foreclosure was the borrower’s primary residence
• The loan was at any step of the foreclosure process between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010
•  The loan was serviced by one of the organizations listed above
• The request for a review must be received by the independent reviewing authority by April 20, 1012. 

The review process is a free program, so there will be no charge to borrowers.

For more information, select this link:

http://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo/independent-foreclosure-review.htm

This posting is the forth in a series designed to help take the mystery out of the home buying and selling process.  That process can be confusing and, since it pertains to the single most expensive asset most of us have, our home; we feel that our clients are better prepared for the experience if they have some understanding of each step in the process in advance. 

If you have reached this point in the purchase of any real estate, congratulations, you are in the home stretch.  The seller has met all of your requirements and, with the exception of the loan, you have met theirs. You will have received final approval of your loan, completed all inspections, and reviewed and approved all inspection reports.

The deed of trust and the promissory note are two of the many documents that you will sign. The escrow officer will return all loan related documents to the lender, where they will be carefully reviewed.  The lender will fund the loan on the date of closing, sometimes the day before. 

The document signing usually takes place a few days before the recording of the transfer of title, and escrow is closed.  The escrow officer will have informed you about the exact amount of the funds you have to bring to close the transaction.

The signing usually takes between an hour and an hour and one half to complete, so make sure you set aside enough time.

Funds must be in the form of a certified check, or you can wire transfer them directly into escrow.  Sorry, no personal checks, cash or credit cards may be used. 

Don’t forget to bring identification.  Most people use a driver’s license or passport.  The person who conducts the signing is a notary and must notarize many of the documents.   

 First American produced a straightforward video that is easy to understand.  If, after you view the video, you have questions, please feel free to call, text (916) 337-0658, or e-mail Mike@BuyYourVilla.com for clarification. 

This posting is the first in a series designed to help take the mystery out of the home buying and selling process.  That process can be confusing and, since it pertains to the single most expensive asset most of us own, our home; we feel it best to provide our clients with an understanding of the process before it starts. 

The second posting and video in the series covers title insurance.  Title insurance is one of many types of insurance with which a homebuyer must deal.

Just as you have insurance on your automobile protecting you against a loss in an accident and hazard insurance for your home in case of fire or disaster, title insurance protects a homeowner against obscure or unforeseen issues from the past that could endanger your title (ownership of the property).

Title insurance only exists in the United States and a few other first world countries. In most of the world when you purchase real property, there is a danger that you could lose that property because of the actions of the past owners.

In the United States when you purchase property, you also purchase a title insurance policy. If, at some later date, issues arise, such as unpaid taxes, forged documents during a past transfer of the property or mechanics liens because a former owner failed to pay a contractor, title insurance protects you, the owner, and ensures that you do not lose your property as a result.

First American produced this straightforward video that is easy to understand.  If, after you view the video, you have questions, please feel free to call, text (916) 337-0658, or e-mail Mike@BuyYourVilla.com for clarification.

This posting is the first in a series designed to help take the mystery out of the home buying and selling process. That process can be confusing and, since it pertains to the single most expensive asset most of us have, our home; we feel that our clients are better prepared for the experience if they have some understanding of each step in the process in advance.

The first posting and video in the series covers escrow. A licensed, neutral third party that handles the many documents and all of the money involved in the purchase, sale or refinancing of real property. The escrow officer must follow all of the written instructions provided by the parties to the transaction. Once a buyer’s deposit earnest money or other funds into the escrow account, both the buyer and seller must agree to any action that the escrow officer can take with respect to those funds.

In essence, escrow protects all parties to the transaction.

First American produced this straightforward video that is easy to understand. If, after you view the video, you have questions, please feel free to call, text (916) 337-0658, or e-mail Mike@BuyYourVilla.com for clarification.

What is the MLS?  The MLS (Multiple Listing Service) is an organization that collects the data for all residential properties listed by real estate brokerages in a specific geographical area. There are many different MLS’s, one for each area of the country.  Although they all perform the same function, there are differences between them that are more apparent to the Realtors® who are members than to the public.

When a Realtor® lists a property for sale, they enter the listing (all the pertinent data about that property) into their local MLS, which notifies all of the other Realtor® members of that MLS that the property is available for sale. That listing Realtor® is required to keep all pertinent data about that property current in their MLS. In essence, the MLS data is the most accurate database available for properties that are for sale in that area.

Other Realtor® members of that MLS use the data on available properties to help buyers review and select properties they may wish to buy.

There is considerable data on each property and Realtors® have many ways to search and sort the available listings in order to zero in on the specifics that a buyer is looking for.

MLS organizations are particular about how their data is used and who they allow to use that data.  They have strict guidelines, which they enforce.  Their efforts result in high quality data that is not available on many property search web sites.  Realtor® members of an MLS may provide the data to their client base, or the public, if they meet the requirements of their MLS.

The property search data available on www.BuyYourVilla.com is an example of that high quality data.  The system automatically updates the data daily so that users do not spend their time looking at SOLD properties or those that are no longer available for sale.

Many large property search web sites do not have these high quality MLS feeds. Their data comes from different sources.  Some charge Realtors® for the privilege of entering listings.  Realtors® do so in an attempt to maximize exposure for their listings.  There seldom is a requirement to keep the data current. Properties that have been on off the market for months or years may still show up on those sites.

Anyone seriously considering a purchase should be selective when choosing a property search web site.  Sorting through useless data can be frustrating.

If you find a property that you feel may be worth a look, feel free to contact us at (916) 337-0658 (or text us) and we will be happy to review the property for you and, if necessary, arrange for a visit.  Happy Searching!