Tempe Real Estate & Homes for Sale
News about Tempe Real Estate, Tempe Homes for Sale, Foreclosures, & Short Sales.
I recently joined the Tempe Chamber of Commerce. By being a member, I can stay in tuned with the upcoming developments that impact the city as well as the market. It also holds me more accountable. If you have any concerns about how I do my business, you can deal with the AZ department of real estate and the Tempe Chamber.
I’m planning a short sale seminar in the near future. I am working out the details with other Tempe Chamber members. Stay tuned.
Chandler Short Sale
Approved already at $500,000! Immaculate TW Lewis home located in the Gorgeous Gated Community of Andorra at Valencia! Home includes many upgrades; 4 Bedroom 4.5 Baths,3 Car Tandem Garage, Gas Fireplace. Custom Red Dragon Granite on Kitchen Island custom dark cherry cabinets throughout. All Baths have custom granite, Basement has complete media area and also a master bedroom perfect for mother-in-law quarters or student.Back yard is amazing with sparkling pool,fire pit, built in bbq,full regulation pitching mound!Too much to mention. Must see!
There have been a flurry of FHA changes. For once, it seems like our federal government is acting quickly to help our real estate market. Yesterday, I wrote about HUD waiving the 90-day wait required to buy a flip property and the expected implications. Today I will cover two significant items. First, you can buy a home immediately after doing a short sale. Second, HUD has updated requirements for FHA loans.
Yes, you read that correctly. Of course qualifying for this program is quite strict, but the idea that HUD has considered this is a fantastic idea. Essentially, with every foreclosure that has occurred, inventory has been hurt twice. First, we add one more home to our long list of homes, and second, we take one more buyer off the market because their credit is ruined. Likewise with a short sale, with every short sale that is completed, we lose one more potential buyer. Now with this program around, the person that short sold their home can now step up and buy another one immediately. Here is the summary of the program:
Borrowers are not eligible for a new FHA mortgage if they pursued a short sale agreement on his or her principal residence simply to
• take advantage of declining market conditions, and
• purchase, at a reduced price, a similar or superior property within a reasonable commuting distance.
Borrowers are considered eligible for a new FHA-insured mortgage if
• they were current on their mortgage and other installment debts at the time of the short sale of their previously owned property, and
• the proceeds from the short sale serve as payment in full.
That sounds simple enough. What’s the catch? Well, good luck getting your short sale approved while you are current on ALL of your debts. Put yourself in the bank’s shoes. Would you forgive a debt if the borrower has made all their payments on time? It seems like the people best able to take advantage of this program are those that are relocating or are currently commuting to work. For example, if you live in Maricopa, Queen Creek or Surprise and you work in Phoenix or Tempe, you may qualify for this program. It’ll be interesting to see one of these through to the end. Read more from HUD: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/files/09-52ml.pdf
FHA commissioner made an important announcement this morning. Effectively, HUD is losing a lot of money when they foreclose, and to offset their losses, they have become more strict. To summarize the letter, here are the changes:
The 10% minimum down payment is an increase from the current 3.5%. Of course, this is really a moot point because NOBODY is lending to anybody less than a 580. In fact, if you deal with a mortgage broker today, they won’t talk to you unless you have a 620. I do have a lender that I use, though, that will get a 600 score done. Maybe when they require 10% these bankers will change their tune.
MIP is currently at 1.75% of the loan. So it looks like they had to raise it half a point in order to recapture all the money they have lost. Don’t fret with the MIP as it is rolled into the loan. The right to raise the monthly insurance premium is a scary prospect. Let’s hope that they don’t act like the banks that send you a fine print brochure telling you that your interest rate has been raised, again, for the 3rd time this year, and for absolutely no reason. Lowering max concession to 3% is not really an issue. Most sellers won’t do more than 3% anyway. Although a little known secret is that we can ask for 10% concessions, so that is a huge reduction. But like I said, no seller was agreeing to that. Read more from HUD: http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/press/speeches_remarks_statements/2010/Speech_01202010
Anyway, it’s exciting to see that HUD is doing everything in their power to help us little people.
CNBC has a stunning article about the precarious position the banks are putting many Realtors in. Realtors are held to a high standard because we a code of ethics that we follow. Whenever we don’t abide by these codes, we risk losing our license, our career, and jail time. And rightfully so, we are dealing with one of the biggest parts of people’s lives.
In the past couple of years, we’ve seen real estate values stumble. As a result, many of the second liens on homes are worthless. For example, let’s say you bought a home for $200,000. Your first mortgage may be $160,000, and your second mortgage, $20,000. Well, let’s assume now that your home is worth $150,000 in today’s market. If you tried to short sale your home, the first mortgage may ask to take all of the $150,000 and offer nothing to the second (obviously, the assumption here are zero fees to sell the house, which is never the case). Realistically, they make take $148,000 and offer $2000 to the second. Some deals fall apart because the second lien holder may want more than $2000 to sign off. In fact, to try to get more they may even rather foreclose than take $2000. Sounds dumb, right? Believe me, these banks are dumb! They’d rather get zero.
Well, some of these banks are trying something scandalous now. They are now asking buyers and Realtors to pay them outside the escrow. That means that they want to get paid without letting the first bank know. Seems innocent enough? Maybe even a good idea? Sure, if you like going to jail. Any time money moves around, and it is not on a HUD-1 document, it is a violation of RESPA laws. That means don’t pass GO, and go directly to jail. The scariest part of all this is that there are buyers and Realtors that have agreed to these blatant violations of the law. For a buyer to be involved, that means both the buyer’s Realtor and the seller’s Realtor were in on it! I don’t care how much money is at stake, the law is the law!
Fortunately, I have not been asked to do this. I’d much, much rather work at McDonald’s than spend time behind bars. That’s a personal preference, I guess. To read more about this craziness, go to http://www.cnbc.com/id/34877347.
