Not every listing we take that is in danger of foreclosure is owner occupied. In this instance, the owner lived out of state and had a non-paying tenant who trashed the residence. The original listing was taken in 2015, and the tenants were not very cooperative. We “chased the market” for a year and a … Read More…
Author: J. Philip Faranda
Short Sale Scams Are Out There- Beware
Categories: Short salesI have helped short sale clients who once had millions and closed transactions for folks that never had much and perhaps should not have bought property to begin with. Distress affects us all. Few things are as difficult as financial stress. Illness or a crisis with our children certainly could be worse, but facing foreclosure … Read More…
2017 State of Short Sales, Westchester & Surrounding Counties
Categories: Short salesWe’ve seen three trends since the “recovery” went into full swing the past 18-24 months, and short sales are still part of the landscape in Westchester and the surrounding area counties (Putnam, Fairfield CT, Dutchess, Rockland, and Orange). Some people who think they are upside down aren’t. We recently put a property under contract that was … Read More…
Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Law Extended
Categories: Strategic DefaultsTags: IRS, Mortgage forgiveness debt relief act, taxesGood news. According to reliable sources, the late night deal to avert the fiscal cliff included an extension of the 2007 Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act which was to expire at midnight last night. According to the National Association of Realtors, and confirmed by the text in the screen shot of the bill: Of most interest to … Read More…
Is That $30,000 Incentive to do a Short Sale for Real?
Categories: CommentaryTags: HAFA, IncentivesA number of short sale clients have shown me letters, mostly from Chase, offering them an almost incomprehensible amount of money if they’ll do a short sale. It would seem hard to believe, in a world where short sale sellers typically walk from closing with the clothes on their back and no proceeds, that lenders … Read More…
How Can I Get a Rental After a Short Sale?
Categories: CommentaryTags: renting, renting after a short saleWho would rent to someone who just did a short sale on their house? This question has been asked many times, and I understand the concern. The presupposition, that one’s credit is so compromised after a short payoff that no landlord would accept them, is not quite that accurate. In spite of what some say, … Read More…
In New York, Inspections are Completed Before Contracts
Categories: Buying a Short SaleTags: buying a short sale, InspectionsThe sale of real estate is far different in Metropolitan New York than it is anywhere else. For one thing, we use attorneys from the start. For another, the attorneys handle the contracts, not the brokers. Another difference is that they won’t draw up contracts until after the inspections are done, unlike other locales where … Read More…
Lake Peekskill Short Sale: He Always Paid His Bills
Categories: Success StoriesTags: Putnam County Short salesWe closed recently on a short sale in Lake Peekskill, Putnam County that was a challenge with both the seller’s lender and the buyer. The details aren’t important; it took some hard work, patience, and even a bit of diplomacy because the buyer rejected the first proposed approval from the bank and we had to … Read More…
Notes from the Short Sale Trenches
Categories: Short sales, Success StoriesTags: extensions, White Plains short saleAthletes speak of a “good tired” and a “bad tired” after a game, good after a win and bad after a loss. Tonight I am the good kind of tired. 13 months ago I met with a very nice lady in White Plains who called me after a Realtor she was interviewing proposed that since … Read More…
Case Study: Hopewell Junction Short Sale
Categories: Short salesThis closing punctuates the crucial importance of having a great attorney spearhead the short sale application with the lender. The market is, as everyone knows, still very slow for sellers and a buyers market through and through. We activated the listing last September, just about a full year ago. The client, a widow, had moved … Read More…