Jesus (jesse) Gonzalez

Short Sale or Foreclosure, expect a huge drop in your FICO score, typically around 300 (+) points. As for getting another home, if you go short sale, most banks consider it seasoned after 2 years (per Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae) however, a foreclosure isn't seasoned till after 7 years.

In other words, the benefit in a short sale is that your default seasons faster and therefore you can get another home loan sooner.

Pros and Cons exist with both so, be sure to contact a CPA and Attorney about your particular situation. - Fri Jul 25 2008, 10:00

No, No, No, this will not fly! The simple truth of the matter is that banks base their loan modifications on hardship and, the only way I know to prove hardship is through financials. So, if your client doesn't release his financials, then hardship can't be proven and therefore, loan modifications, workouts or short sales aren't going to be an option.

Tell your client to go speak with an Attorney experienced in short sales.

www.JesseGonzalezRealEstate.com - Tue Jul 22 2008, 15:11

Hi Casey;

First of all, let me just say, as hard as this is for your family, it is just as strange. What kind of seller doesn’t want to leave? What kind of seller is happy to leave? With those questions I got to wonder, does he really want to leave? Is he being forced to sell to prevent financial hardship? My point with all these questions is, it sounds to me something else is going on that we don’t know about. At this point, I am concerned that you aren’t getting the whole story.

With all that being said, what can you do? Truth is, till he has actually breached his agreement, I don’t know you can really do anything. Of course, you might want to consult an Attorney however, I am all most positive that until the seller doesn’t show up at closing or hasn’t vacated upon funding and disbursement, what has he done wrong? So, this put you and your family in a horrible situation because all the information you are receiving is this guy hasn’t done anything to prepare to leave even though you are now less than 24 hours from moving in.

I really hate to say this because it isn’t something I want to ever have to tell anyone but, you might need to be prepared to live in some sort of transitional housing. The truth of the matter is, even though you have an agreement, it doesn’t mean this guy is going to honor it. Consult an Attorney however, if I was you, after I closed the deal, if the Realtor wasn’t able to provide me keys and say, “it’s vacant” then I would contact my local Sheriff’s office and find out when I can schedule an office to come down to your property and force an eviction. In fact, if you haven’t found out what the procedures are for your counties forced evictions you might want to do that now.

As a REO / Foreclosure agent, some times I have to do these on behalf of my client who is the new owner. I go by to check on the property after the bank has taken repossession just to find out, the property is still occupied and the previous owner isn’t planning on leaving. Here in my county, the Sheriff can typically get an officer out to the property in 48 hours. If no one is home, we do a lock out, where I call a lock smith to come over and secure the home with new locks and the whole time, the Sheriff is there with us.

If this is something you have to end up doing, please take the necessary steps to ensure your families protection and be sure you are following all legal requirements so, it may be in your best interest to consult an Attorney. - Tue Jul 22 2008, 09:53

Tax foreclosure listings are generally kept on your counties Chancery Court or Property Assesor's office website. Take a look there or just google your county website and search for "tax sale" or "court house sale" or "tax foreclosure" - Mon Jul 21 2008, 16:00

The truth of the matter is, how would you ever know if the price is wrong without doing a comparable analysis of recent solds and, active listings in your neighborhood?

It sounds to me that you have arbitrarily priced the home and since you don’t have any showings you’re wondering if it has been priced incorrectly, what does your Realtor say? Did they provide you a comparables sales analysis? Did they suggest the listing price you’re at now?

I have a rule of thumb for my market and, this may not be true in your area so go get a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis). If your home hasn’t received at least 3 showings a week, then something is wrong. If your home hasn’t received at least 1 offer in 10 showings, then something is wrong.

Typically, the top 3 reasons a home doesn’t sell are

1. Location
2. Condition
3. Price

These are all things your Realtor should have discussed with you so go back and have a real honest discussion of your expectation and how they plan on meeting it.

If your not using a Realtor, good luck with your sell because in this market, you’re going to need it.

www.JesseGonzalezRealEstate.com - Fri Jul 18 2008, 07:48