Real estate agents (and attorneys) soon will be held legally responsible for reading the corporate mind of Bank of America. Fortunately for everyone else, they will not be allowed to even communicate with Bank of America, much less be required to read its mind. Unfortunately, all of this will further harm distressed borrowers and suffering neighborhoods by discouraging Read the rest of this entry »
Do Short Sales Net Banks 24% More Than Foreclosures?
Despite the ”professional” statisticians analyzing the distressed property markets, one independent brokerage decided to gather the facts themselves. They concluded that in 2011 bank owned foreclosure properties sold for 24% less than short sales.
McGeough Lamacchia Realty, with offices in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, apparently got fed up with all the talk about losses in the market and decided to gather their own Read the rest of this entry »
Can a “Note Buyer” Help Your Short Sale?
For the last several years private investors buying mortgage notes to facilitate short sales have been a quiet force for effective transactions outside of California. This practice is becoming increasingly more available in California recently as well.
What or who is a “note buyer” and how can they help with a short sale?
To understand these questions, one Read the rest of this entry »
Why Freddie Mac Lied About Short Payoff Fraud
For nearly two years now we’ve heard Freddie Mac attacking private real estate investors who want to buy and resell short sale and REO properties as engaging in “fraud.” They have repeated this lie so much that it is accepted as “true” by many in the residential real estate industry, especially real estate agents receiving “risk management” training Read the rest of this entry »
Links to (weak) National Mortgage Settlement
The news is abuzz with this “historic” settlement that gives the big banks a big break and does little for consumers. As we’ve seen in the past, the claims in the press releases and sound bites are rarely close to the reality.
Over the next several weeks I expect to dig into the actual agreement in this column Read the rest of this entry »
Freddie Mac Makes Sound Investment…Against Itself
[The following is an article from John Grant. I don't usually post articles or editorials by others, but this one, released today, is worth posting. The author, John Grant, represents residential real estate investors in Washington, D.C. Mr. Grant also works with hedge funds, investment banks and insurers. Mr. Grant is a graduate of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. He is the government relations representative of www.distressedpropertycoalition.com (DPC). Ron Ballard is a member of DPC, providing legal and business analysis and advocacy.]
In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that part of me was impressed upon hearing the latest debacle underway at Freddie Mac. Imagine if you had access to an investment vehicle allowing you to bet that Freddie Mac’s efforts to refinance its toxic portfolio would fail? The only investment opportunity that would equal this in Read the rest of this entry »
Upcoming Event Explores Multiple Exit Strategies
The Real Estate Strategies Institute (my education and publishing company) is presenting a premier, two day event exploring “Multiple Exit Strategies for Distressed Property Profits” on October 14-15 in Newport Beach.
This event is geared toward real estate investors, agents and brokers who are approaching short sales, bank-owned properties and foreclosure auctions as an entrepreneurial opportunity.
We will Read the rest of this entry »
Will SB458 Expanded Anti-Deficiency Have Unintended Consequences?
The California residential real estate blogs and media have been enjoying an anti-deficiency “happy dance” the last several days. Is this warranted or will some homeowners suffer unintended consequences by the expansion of the anti-deficiency provisions of CCP 580e to junior liens? In the short term, certainly many lenders will.
Existing Law
In late 2010 the California Legislature Read the rest of this entry »
How To Get a Copy of SB 458 New Anti-Deficiency Law
California Senate Bill 458 (SB 458) was signed by the Governor on July 11, 2011 and immediately became law as an urgency measure. It was enrolled by the California Secretary of State on July 15, 2011.
Accordingly, it immediately applies to all new and PENDING short sale approvals. There’s a lot of articles discussing the new law. Registered Read the rest of this entry »
Limited Replay of Fraud Webinar
On June 28, 2011, I gave a more than 90 minute webinar on fraud issues in short sales. This was hosted by Nathan Jurewicz, who was kind enough to record it and post it for replay for a LIMITED time. It’s on his server, not mine, and I don’t know how long he’ll have it up, so if Read the rest of this entry »
