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How to start my Pleasanton short sale process is a common question these days. With the many different banks involved and the government programs available, it can be a bit overwhelming. Before thinking of short selling your Pleasanton property or any other property,  you most likely have been in touch with your lender already. Here is a quick rundown of the process:

• Contact your lender and let them know you are having financial difficulties.
• Go to their website as instructed by their customer service representative you speak with and print the necessary forms.  Don’t be shy about asking your lender for help completing the forms, they are now more interested in allowing sellers to short sale than they were even a year ago.

• Be diligent and timely; if the required list of documents is a list of 10 items, SEND ALL 10 ITEMS! It will slow the process if you send in partial documentation and then find a week later that they are still waiting for the other items to start your loan modification application. Remember, they won’t call you to say they are missing paperwork. You will likely get a letter in the mail, but again, that wastes time.

• Follow-up with the modification process at least 2 times per week! This is crucial. The banks aren’t reaching out to consumers. They too are overwhelmed with the amount of files they are trying to process. 

IF you get a denial for your modification, you really only have 2 choices. Before you make your choice, be sure you are informed. Seek the advice of an attorney and CPA. Yes, this will cost a bit of money, but you need to know if you will have tax consequences on the forgiveness amount; peace of mind is important.

If you qualify for the HAFA program to short sell your Pleasanton property, you will get $3000 at the close of escrow to assist with relocation costs and you will received debt forgiveness as outlined in your Short Sale Approval Letter. In this case, you could feel confident that you know what the future holds.Some lenders such as Citibank Mortgage for one, are offering substantial incentives to sellers to Short Sell their properties. Wachovia (for World Savings originated loans) and Chase are also offering financial incentive programs to encourage clients to short sell as well. These lenders are encouraging Realtors to make consumers aware of the incentive programs. Just this week, I saw a Short Sale Approval Letter giving $30,000 to the seller at the close of escrow! This was a loan that had been originated with WAMU, a lender that was purchased by Chase. That’s quite an incentive! For now, most of these incentive programs expire at the end of 2011.

If you need the name of a good Real Estate attorney, you can call Ellen Rosenbueth, Attorney in San Ramon. She is a very good and will be able to answer all of your legal questions. If you don’t have a CPA you feel confident with, let me know or ask the attorney for a referral.

This post was originated at http://activerain.com/blogs/rhondafee

The short sale process is ever-changing; literally what is acceptable procedure this month may be a thing of the past next month. Here is a list of what I have encountered over and over again. This is the only guarantee I can give you regarding your short sale.

• The lender will claim they’ve not received a fax even when I have fax confirmations sheets showing it was sent.
• Once they do receive a fax, it takes 48-hrs to ‘upload’ to their system.
• Since it takes them 48-hrs to upload to their system, by the time they “lose” it twice, we’ve lost a week of time.
• Every person you or I talk to up and until we have a negotiator assigned to the file is “reading off a script”. They are uneducated ‘phone representatives’ hired to divert us from pestering them. This is my personal opinion, not a fact.
• Every time we call, up and until we are assigned a negotiator, we will never talk to the same person twice. There are hundreds of ‘phone representatives’ located in different states. We can ask the same question of 3 different phone representatives and get 3 different answers. Yes, they have a script, but each individual can throw their own twist on what they believe the script means.
• Once a foreclosure date is set, they will NOT allow us, you or anyone else to postpone the date unless they have an offer in hand that they deem acceptable and MUST be at least 7-days prior to the sale date.
• Once we have a negotiator assigned it can still be an additional 30-days before we have concrete information from them.
• Expect the unexpected.  Iwork so diligently on my clients’ short sale and sometimes when it makes all the sense in the world for them to work with us to complete the short sale, they will move forward with the foreclosure.
• There is nothing I can say with exact confidence that will put your mind at rest other than my promise that I make your transaction just as important to me as it is to you. There are no regulations in place that I’ve found to be consistent and the lender can choose their path at any given time without regard for your feelings.

 All of the above are my own personal experience with many different lenders and should not be considered fact across the board with regard to all short sale lenders. There are some outstanding lenders, such as HSBC and Wells Fargo, but for the most part, these are the exception to the rule.

You may wonder why many Realtors® do not do short sales. They are so much work on the part of the Realtor and there is no assurance of being paid since the lender can foreclose instead of short selling.

About the Author: Rhonda Fee is a licensed Realtor, ABR, e-Pro serving the Tri-Valley and beyond. For more information about Rhonda, please visit her website: www.rhondafee.com

According to an article recently posted by Andrew Taylor (AP), there is good news about the extension of the First Time Home Buyers Federal Tax Credit. I’m looking forward to more clarity regarding the exact qualifications. I interpret this to refer to clients already in contract by the cut-off date of April 30, 2010, having an extended period of time (September 30, 2010) to close escrow. That is great news for those who have been in contract for months purchasing a short sale property! Comments are welcomed; more news to come.

As both a Pleasanton Realtor and resident of Shadow Cliff homes, here is an update of what is happining in my neighborhood. At this same time period last year, January – April we did not have even one sold property! In my opinion, 2009 was a very good year considering 2008! This update shows that the market has most definitely improved.

Shadow Cliff continues to be a great place to live. If you’d like further details about this report, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Jan – April 2010

Many Real Estate owners in Pleasanton, CA and everywhere in the country are facing difficult decisions regarding what to do with their mortgages.  Some of the more common reasons people are finding themselves in these stressful situations are:

1.  They were talked into financing 100% of their mortgage due to the “thinking” that within a few years, the market value of their property would increase, thus they could then refinance because they would have instant equity.

2.  The type of loan the borrower got to purchase or refinance the loan has met it’s short “intro rate” term and has now adjusted to a rate the borrower cannot afford.

3.  Someone refinanced their home back when “No Doc Loans” were available for, let’s say for the sake of example, a 5-year term. Now the term is up, there is no longer the “No Doc” option and they are stuck without a way to remain in their home.

And I’m sure the list goes on as to the reasons why many find themselves in this situation. The one thing to know is that You Are Not Alone!!

What can you do if you find yourself wondering how to move forward?

First, (A) Act upon your situation. Don’t sit around hoping it will get better, burying your head in the sand. That won’t help. You can get through this; many people have gone through it successfully and are beginning the process right now.

Second (B) Believe…find a professional you believe you can trust. ASK for references from their past clients. Make your professional prove to you they know what they are doing. If you hire someone to guide you that doesn’t truly know how to get through a short sale, you’re going to be in deep trouble.

Third, (C) Cooperate. Cooperating with your Real Estate professional makes ALL the difference. How can we do our job if you are not providing the information the bank requires? The process is what it is. And what is that you might ask? It is tedious, time consuming, monotonous, wearisome, and the list goes on. Your professional knows exactly what to expect and how to get through it. They should set your expectation right up front as to the path to a successful end.  This is not a short process and you should expect it to take at least 4-months to a successful close. Once an offer is received and sent to the bank, this process alone can take up to 90-days to get an approval. Once the approval is completed, let your 30-day escrow begin!  That’s the less complicated part.