Realtors for Ventura | Oxnard | Camarillo

Yesterday the US Treasury stated Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase were not fulfilling the goals of the Making Home Affordable program (using taxpayer TARP money) and as needing “substantial improvement” in handling the flood of requests for loan modifications. Because of these shortcomings, the US Treasury is withholding financial incentive payments that were designed to encourage the large banks to aggressively tackle underwater loans through loan mods or HAFA short sales.

Well duh – any Realtor working in the trenches can share their horror stories about interminable delays, lost paperwork and multiple submissions of paperwork that has plagued the real estate business because of these issues! Despite all the talk bank leaders tell Congress that they’re “doing everything possible” to handle the tsunami of short sales and loan mods, it’s obvious they’re not doing enough to staff up their resources to handle these issues.

In April the number of Notice of Defaults (NODs) was on par (low 400s) with the number of Notice of Trustee Sales (NTSs) – i.e., properties that are going to sale. For May, there was little change in the number of NODs but the number of NTSs jumped by 127 to the mid 500s. The number of Trustee Deeds (REOs) is creeping up. See the details on this chart.

Data is from Foreclosure List Service with permission.

The percentage of single family homes that were distressed sales in the month of May are:

Ventura – 37%

Oxnard – 67%

Camarillo – 44%

Quarterly graphs for 2nd quarter will be published in early July.

Sold prices – Single family homes in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

• 12 month graph
• Ventura is trending upward to $430k; Oxnard is holding steady in the $290s; Camarillo peaked last Fall and is now on a downward trend in the high $400s to $500k.

Sold prices – Condos in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

• 12 month graph
• Ventura peaked in December and January in the $240s, now in the low $200s; Oxnard peaked last Fall at about $230s, now in the $170s; Camarillo peaked in November and December at $310k, turned downward to March at $240s, and now trending up to $270s.

Numbers sold – Single family homes in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

• 12 month graph
• Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo all hit a low in January. Ventura has recovered with a spike in April; Oxnard has bounced back and holding; Camarillo has recovered with a spike in March. Read the rest of this article »

These are challenging times and many folks are facing difficult financial choices.  Do they qualify for a loan modification, or should they do a short sale, or simply allow the lender to foreclose?

There is hope.

You can read more specifics in our current newsletter and also view two short videos by clicking on the link www.DonNelsonTeam.com in the newsletter.

Please tell your friends or family members.

Back in the early 90s, the number of Notice of  Defaults (NODs) were about twice that of the Notice of Trustee’s Sales (NTSs) and the Trustee’s Deeds were 1/3 to 1/2 of that. That pattern went on for years but now we’re seeing a shift. The NODs are down, most NODs go to a sale date and 50 – 70% either go back to the lender or are bought by an investor at the auction.

Currently, the number of NODs for April (410) is way down from March (546) but is the same as February.

Check out the chart for the last 12 months here.

The percentage of homes that were short pays in the first quarter of 2011 are:

Ventura – 20%

Oxnard – 26%

Camarillo – 25%

Sold prices – Single family homes in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo: Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo mirror each other for the past 3 months – a bit upward from February to March with April trending downward.

• 12 month graph

Sold prices – Condos in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

• 12 month graph

Numbers sold – Single family homes in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo: Ventura is moving upward, Oxnard is a bit in the rise and Camarillo is trending downward.

• 12 month graph

Read the rest of this article »

Recently I met with an individual who was concerned about the tax implications between a foreclosure vs. doing a short sale – and the potential of having to pay taxes on the short sale. I believe this individual felt there would be no (or maybe less) tax implications if the property were simply to go through the foreclosure process.

The first thing I said was I’m not a tax attorney or CPA so I can’t give tax advice, and all tax implications must be discussed with your tax adviser. But having said that, here are the general federal and California rules, forms, etc, pertaining to this issue. Read the rest of this article »

Homeowners contemplating a HAFA short sale need to be aware that if their loan is a Fannie Mae loan, Fannie Mae will not do a HAFA short sale within 60 days of a scheduled auction date. In California, what does that mean?

California foreclosure law provides a 3 month window for the first stage of foreclosure (filing of the Notice of Default notice). The final window is when the Notice of Trustee Sale notice is filed, which can be as short as 21 days.

Because of the “dual track” process, the time clock keeps running even if a homeowner applies to their lender for a short sale. It can take months for a lender to approve a traditional short sale, while a HAFA application will take at least 30 days for review, then time to negotiate a deal. It’s not unusual for 2 months to go by until a homeowner gets their final pre-approved HAFA short sale.

How do you know if you’ve got a Fannie Mae loan? Click here for Fannie’s loan lookup site. So needless to say, once the Notice of Default has been filed, the homeowner needs to quickly begin their HAFA application process.

The closely divided Senate Banking and Financial Institutions committee voted 3-3 yesterday afternoon. Because of the tie, the bill failed to pass.

Proponents of the measure argue on a micro scale for the individual homeowner who is deeply underwater, maybe trying to get a loan mod and/or is facing foreclosure. Opponents of the measure argue on a macro scale that the measure merely delays the inevitable cleansing of financially weak homeowners who can’t afford their homes, thus delaying an increasingly stubborn housing recovery.

As usual, there is merit in both positions.But for now, it would appear the current process of dual-track will continue.

The CA Senate’s Banking and Financial Institutions committee is meeting this afternoon to consider SB729. If ultimately passed and signed into law, this bill would have dramatic impact on how foreclosures are conducted in California. Read the rest of this article »