September 4th, 2010 by Harvey Blankfeld
As I am between visitors at an open house I am reminded that Real Estate is still a service based industry. As Realtors we must remember that just because it’s a short sale or an REO doesn’t mean we should give any less service. I attended a Town Hall meeting recently and people are very concerned about selling their homes in this market. They have been besieged with all kinds of commentary from attorneys and politicians about the variables to consider when dealing with a home that is “upside down”. While my team and I have taken extra care to be certain we are well educated in the variables we have remained focused on the importance of providing our clients the same level of service we have always provided.
I am at this open house because my client needs to sell this home. I don’t know that this open house is the answer but I am prepared to do everything I can to sell this home. Too many agents believe that once you get the listing you need to wait and hope you will get a buyer. We believe that each home sells for a different reason. Sometimes it’s the sign or the flyers in the sign, sometimes it’s MLS, sometimes it’s an open house and sometimes it’s the extensive internet presence we provide for each of our listings.
I know that there are many Realtors that do things the right way and some that don’t, but I can tell you that success in our industry depends on our ability to adapt and our ability to be consistent with our marketing. We must never loose sight of our goal to sell our clients home for as much money as possible and as quickly as possible. That goal is most often attained by the Old Fashioned method of marketing the home in all ways and keeping the lines of communication open with your client.
Tags: agents, efficiency, foreclosure, las vegas, market, real estate, realtors, sellers, selling homes, short sales
Posted in Las Vegas Foreclosures, Las Vegas Home Sales, Las Vegas Short Sales | No Comments »
September 3rd, 2010 by Harvey Blankfeld
Please remember that HAFA is a comprensive set of “Guidelines”. It is not law. The guidelines are not intended to be a one size fits all either. Each servicer (bank, lender) is currently employing their own version of HAFA. Some have not implemented their own guidlines yet and some are well down the road already.
The important facts to remember as a homeowner are that HAFA: is only for owner occupied properties, does not apply to second mortgages, can only be employed after loan modification has been pursued (HAMP), only applies to loans originated before 2009 and does have specific timelines. Having said that, homeowners need to know that even if they aren’t HAFA eligible, they can and in a lot of cases should still pursue Short Sale.
Remember to consult with an expert in Short Sales and to get help from a qualified attorney and/or accountant. I do extensive work with a network of accountants and attorneys and I find it ever so valuable to my clients to continually reach out to those experts.
Tags: economy, foreclosure, las vegas, real estate, short sales
Posted in Las Vegas Foreclosures, Las Vegas Loan Modifications, Las Vegas Short Sales | No Comments »
March 3rd, 2010 by Harvey Blankfeld
As a Realtor here in Las Vegas, it occurs to me that Short Sales will be a part of our market for a long time to come. Better than 65% of homeowners here in the valley are at a negative equity position in their home and they will be in a situation sometime in the next few years that they will need to sell their home. That means they will either need to write a substantial check upon selling their home or ask the bank to take a short sale.
The banks are getting better at handling short sales, but they are still not actually efficient yet. They will get more efficient and when they do, seller’s are going to have to come to terms with the following question: Do I want to wreck my credit for the next couple of years or pay the bank back what I owe them? The next logical position for the bank is to allow the borrower to sell, but make them pay the shortfall back over time. We are seeing some of this now, but I think it will become much more prevalent in the coming months. When the banks get to this point some seller’s are going to be resentful and wonder how those that have done it before got away without paying the bank back.
One of the questions I ask sellers these days is: Do you think your home will appreciate to a point where you won’t have to do a short sale in the future and/or how long do you think that will take? The answer is very often “Way too long in the future”. If that is the case, why not get the Short Sale over with now and get to a point in the future where your finances recover sooner rather than later. Take your medicine now and be fully recovered in a couple of years or wait and take your medicine later. It’s a tough question. I’m certain the answer is not the same for everyone.
The fact is that if you live here in Southern Nevada , you will most likely be facing these questions in the near future, if you aren’t already.
Tags: banks, foreclosure, las vegas, lenders, real estate, selling homes, short sales
Posted in Las Vegas Foreclosures, Las Vegas Home Sales, Las Vegas Short Sales | No Comments »
January 25th, 2010 by Harvey Blankfeld
Today I find myself writing this blog to relieve the stress of dealing with a bank on a short sale. Now I believe that just about everyone understands that Short Sales are difficult. They are difficult on sellers, buyers and agents. This short sale however is not only difficult, it just won’t go away.
In May of last year we took a listing. It was a short sale and the owner was very concerned about the time it would take and the toll it would take on her life. We received an offer in June and submitted the package to the bank for approval. We toiled for 5 months with the bank and got re-routed, re-started, re-negotiated and just regurgitated until in December we caught a break.
My client, the seller, met a lady that knew someone that knew someone else that might be able to help us. At first I thought it was just a hoax to get my client to send a check to someone, but it wasn’t. The man we found out was a big shot at the bank and he looked into the deal and got it approved in about 48 hours.
We proceeded to closing with great haste as we thought we were just dreaming and didn’t want the bank to re-something to us again. The good news is the deal closed in December. You would hope this story would end at this happy albeit drawn out point. Unfortunately it doesn’t end here.
Just today 1/25/2010, I get a call from the buyer’s agent. She is panicked and doesn’t know what to do. The buyers have received a letter from the bank telling them that the home is going to be auctioned on the courthouse steps on February 12, 2010. The buyers naturally told the bank that they had just purchased this home from them and they paid cash. The bank told the buyers, they must be mistaken and they should bring the account current or suffer the consequences of a foreclosure. The buyers spend the better part of the day talking to various people at the bank and trying to get them to understand that they are making a horrible mistake. The bank continually reminds them that they need to get the balance paid or suffer the ordeal of being put out on the street.
When the buyers agent called me to tell me this story, I let her know that I wasn’t sure what we could do, but we would certainly try to explain the situation to the bank and get them to understand. I had heard of a similar circumstance from a colleague, but I wasn’t really certain what to do. We called earlier today and they sent my assistant on a wild goose chase of transfers and disconnects. I then called the bank myself and was subjected to the same typical re-routing. I eventually got a person to actually listen to the situation. She then, to her credit, got her supervisor involved and I got to have a civil conversation with a person that would save them from terrible embarrassment, not to mention potential litigation.
The supervisor dug into the file and discovered that the negotiator that was handling the Short Sale never closed the file. She never let anyone else know that the money was received and the home had been recorded in the new buyers name. This is the same negotiator that dragged the process on for more than 5 months with no progress. I know the banks have it tough with so many people attempting to sell their homes as short sales, but they must be more professional, and they must be at least efficient enough to actually close a file properly and not subject a buyer to this kind of scare.
The buyer is very relieved and actually having a good chuckle about it now, but I would be willing to bet the bank wouldn’t be laughing had they actually sold the home again and put this owner out. I bet the bank would have been subjected to a significant financial hardship of their own.
Tags: banks, buyers, ethics, foreclosure, hardship, las vegas, lenders, negotiate, real estate, sellers, short sales
Posted in Las Vegas Short Sales | 1 Comment »
January 7th, 2010 by Harvey Blankfeld
In working with buyers in the Las Vegas market I have found that we must employ specific strategies to actually get our buyer’s offer accepted. Many buyers have to learn these strategies the hard way by trial and error. They usually would like to take a position of offering the bank a substantially lower offer than list price with the hope it will be accepted. There are several elements to a bank offer that all buyers should understand.
While the banks have no personal, hands on knowledge of the property other than what the listing agent and maybe some other agents have told them, they do know enough to establish the current market value of a home. The bank will also normally employ an appraiser in advance of listing the property to further verify the price.
The bank also knows that some buyers are better than others. The bank loves cash, but they will insist it be verified. They ask for “Proof of Funds” to accompany all cash offers. The bank will normally give some discount for cash, but not as much as most buyers think. I would tell you that the bank will not sell a home for $150,000 cash if they can get $175,000 by being patient with a buyer that has financing.
The banks are frequently listing their homes at prices that are below current market value. This strategy is employed to encourage multiple offers and a sale price that lands above the offered list price. This strategy turns off a lot of buyers but has proven very effective nonetheless. When you prepare an offer on a bank owned home, know the market value and make your offer appropriate for that value. If a home that is a model match just recently sold and was in pristine condition down the street, your offer on the bank home should start at that number and simply subtract the value of the items that need to be repaired. That is the way the bank will valuate the home and that is the way another buyer will evaluate the home. So if you are competing against other buyers, you will be in a position to get the home.
Competing offers are a huge turn off for many buyers. I often hear my clients ask me if I think the bank really has these other offers or maybe they are just trying to get them to offer more. I won’t say that isn’t a possibility, but why would the bank say there was another better offer, if there weren’t. If they were “bluffing”, they risk losing a good buyer for their home. If the buyer just says nevermind and the bank has no other offers, where are they now?
The structure of an offer is a big deal to banks as well. The bank prefers simple offers. I have had clients write cash offers and then ask the bank to pay for the buyer’s closing costs. This strategy usually backfires as the bank will do a “Net Proceeds” evaluation and determine the true value of the offer. I normally suggest that buyers that are writing cash offers write the offer at a price that they are satisfied that the check they are writing including closing costs is the right sized check for the home.
This leads to the thought of closing costs as it pertains to appraisals. Buyers need to understand that the seller will adjust the contribution to buyers closing costs down as a first measure if an appraisal comes in low. I normally encourage buyers that are going to be in a competitive situation to present an offer with as little assistance from the seller as possible. That makes my client’s offer more attractive to the banks as they consider the competing offers.
We use a variety of strategies at the Brown Blankfeld Group to help our clients get the home they want and at a great price. These strategies are what help set us apart from our competition.
The one thing I can tell you about any market when it comes to Real Estate is this: If you don’t like the market now, wait a minute, it will be different.
Tags: buying homes, foreclosure, las vegas
Posted in Las Vegas Foreclosures, Las Vegas Home Sales | 1 Comment »
