Posts Tagged ‘Foreclosure Process’
Foreclosure Nation: Mortgaging the American Dream
August 25th, 2009
Foreclosure Nation: Mortgaging the American Dream is an informative book that is very detailed. If you want a better understanding of the current foreclosure crisis, this is definitely a book to consider. If you want help understanding how the mortgage and foreclosure processes work in general, this is also a great book. Olefson has laid it all out in the most understandable format.
The family residence is the backbone of the American economy, the most valuable and enduring asset for those who have achieved a financial foothold. Yet today record numbers of households confront foreclosure. In the next year it is estimated that over two million Americans will lose their homes and almost two billion dollars of wealth will disappear in the process. How did the traditional “American Dream” morph into a nightmare for so many?
Real estate attorney and educator Shari B. Olefson, a recognized expert in the current mortgage crisis and its effects on homeowners, explains how America slipped to the edge of this dangerous stagnation-recession precipice. In plain language that is easily understandable to the average person, she clarifies legal and financial terminology and describes how our country’s mortgage system really works. Utilizing real-life lender and borrower interviews, she exposes its intrinsic flaws and often discriminatory practices, from the mortgage application process to the securitization of bundled mortgages by large investment firms. She also provides evidence to show the government’s and Wall Street’s roles in both causing and solving the problem.
Above all, Olefson offers expert tips, tools, and resources to help you:
- Choose a mortgage professional and understand what’s motivating him or her
- Decide what mortgage product fits best and when to refinance
- Get the best fees, interest rate, and service
- Create your own solutions for navigating the credit crunch
- Know what to do when you can’t afford your mortgage
- Protect your home if you are at risk of foreclosure
- Understand how to proceed if you are already in foreclosure
- Capitalize on emerging opportunities and avoid the scams and mortgage fraud
- Prepare for coming changes
Foreclosure Nation demystifies the real estate bubble and the subprime mortgage crises that followed. With bold, clear visuals like inventory, absorption, and price trend graphs, Olefson pinpoints exactly when and why experts are predicting a recovery. She also cites statistics that strongly suggest the number of foreclosures will surge in the fall of 2008 and again in 2009, with increased reverberations felt throughout the US and global economies. Foreclosure Nation will prove indispensable to explaining what is happening and guiding readers through.
Whether you are planning on buying your first home, struggling to meet your current mortgage payments, facing foreclosure, or wondering how your investments will be affected, this comprehensive book will assuage the fear of the unknown, empowering you to make wise choices and protect your most valuable assets.
About the Author
Shari B. Olefson, JD, LLM (Fort Lauderdale, FL), is a partner and the head of her office’s real estate department at a national law firm.
Buy Foreclosure Nation: Mortgaging the American Dream
Posted in Foreclosure Consequences, Foreclosure Laws, Foreclosure Process, Mortgage Problems | 
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Working with the Mortgage Company
August 18th, 2009
When Lenders Wanted to Foreclose
In the past, when home values were high, lenders would not think twice about foreclosing on homes that were in default. When homeowners could not afford the monthly mortgage payments, the lenders would soon send notices to remind the homeowners to pay up. When they still did not get any responses or payments, they sent foreclosure notices. A few months later, if the homeowners could not pay or come up with solutions somehow, the mortgage companies would proceed with the foreclosure auctions. At the auctions, the banks would set opening bids which are roughly the amounts they were owed.
Lenders No Longer Want to Foreclose (most of the time)
When home prices were high and kept rising, there were hopeful buyers looking for homes that they could fix and sell for much higher values. So, the system worked out well for the banks and the buyers or investors. The problem is that now home values are low and many homeowners are upside down, as in they owe more than their homes are worth.
Lenders know that at foreclosure auctions, they cannot set the opening bids as high as they want to in order to payoff the mortgages owed. Homebuyers are looking for real bargains and they are not going to pay as much as the lenders need to recoup all of the money owed on each home. Also, the foreclosure process costs money. The process is risky for the banks as they might end up getting very little money back, or worse yet, end up with the homes that they cannot get rid of or do anything about. Remember, lenders are not landlords and they are not in the real estate business.
Selling Homes at Auctions
Right now, it costs the banks more to proceed with the foreclosure process than what they are going to get back. So, unless your home is in an up and coming neighborhood with real value, then the bank would prefer to work with you to come up with something that works for them and for you. If your home is in a bad condition and homes around you are not selling well then it is likely that you can work something out with the bank. Many banks have shown that they prefer to have the homeowners in the homes and making some payment rather than have them out if the prospect of selling the home is not good. This is why a short sale is attractive to the bank when a homeowner has no way of being able to afford the mortgage payments. By making the bank see that it is better to have you in the home, you can avoid foreclosure or live rent free for a while.
Posted in Foreclosure Consequences, Foreclosure Laws, Foreclosure Process, Help to Avoid Foreclosure, Real Estate Short Sales, Upside Down Mortgage Options, Upside Down Mortgages, Walk Away from an Upside Down Mortgage, Ways to Avoid Foreclosure |
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The Homeowner’s Guide to Foreclosure
July 26th, 2009
Sometimes, foreclosure is unavoidable. Things happen to make homeowners fall behind on their mortgage payments such as the falling of home values, the credit crunch, loss of jobs or medical expenses. Unexpected things can happen and sometimes it is beyond the homeowner’s control. However, when a homeowners cannot afford to pay his or her mortgage payments, it is a sure thing that the bank will soon start the foreclosure process. This book called The Homeowner’s Guide to Foreclosure will give the homeowners in foreclosure or about to be in foreclosure a chance to save their homes. The book will explain everything from the foreclosure process to what to do when there is a chance that you can be foreclosed on.
Foreclosure is the last thing that anyone wants to think about. However, for a growing number of homeowners, it’s something that is looming over them if not already on their doorstep. The Homeowner’s Guide to Foreclosure provides answers to all your questions as well as step-by-step guidance on what you can do. If you, a friend, or a relative needs to avoid, delay, or stop a foreclosure, remember that the homeowner can take charge.
About the Author
James I. Wiedemer is a licensed real estate agent and has been a practicing attorney in Houston, Texas since 1979. Wiedemer’s experience in Houston’s active market includes buying foreclosures, conducting foreclosures, and stopping foreclosures. The first edition of this title was widely praised for its in-depth coverage of procedures. As a long time Real Estate educator, he is a member of both the Real Estate Educators Association (R.E.E.A.) and the Texas Real Estate Teachers Association (T.R.E.T.A.).
Posted in Foreclosure Consequences, Foreclosure Laws, Foreclosure Process, Foreclosure Timeline, Help to Avoid Foreclosure, Ways to Avoid Foreclosure |
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The Mortgage Foreclosure Process
July 14th, 2009
The most common questions about foreclosure is about the actual mortgage foreclosure process. Most people have a mortgage or even mortgages when they are in foreclosure. Knowing what the mortgage foreclosure process is will give help you avoid or stop foreclosure.
Bear in mind, though, that the mortgage foreclosure process explained below is a general process. While the mortgage foreclosure process below hold true for most states, there are states that use different foreclosure processes. We will start explaining the mortgage foreclosure process from the time the Foreclosure Notice is filed.
Notice of foreclosure and Notice of Trustee’s Sale
Usually about 3-4 months after you missed your mortgage payment and have failed to pay or negotiate with the lender, you will receive the Notice of Foreclosure and the Notice of Trustee’s Sale. These notices officially start the mortgage foreclosure process and are mailed to you by certified, return receipt requested, or they can be ‘served’ to you.
Advertising of your foreclosed property
Before your home is sold in a Trustee’s Sale, the lender or the firm paid to foreclose is required to advertise the property for a minimum number of days such as 20 days. After your foreclosure is published, you will see many real estate investors driving by to see if they want to buy your foreclosure home.
You will get lots of people interested in buying your home for cheap coming by to see prior to the auction. If you don’t want your home sold cheap at a foreclosure auction, you have a choice to do something about it. See I Had to Move from My Home to Avoid Foreclosure. Alternatively, you can get a free foreclosure consultation to find out once and for all what
your options are.
Opportunity to pay off your mortgage
Before the foreclosure home actually go on sale at a foreclosure auction, the lender will give you the last chance to pay back your loan in full. However, this is usually not an option for most people. Not only you have to pay your mortgage balance in full, you will have to pay any additional fees the lender decides to slap on top of what you owe such as interests and penalties, attorney fees and back
payments. The lender may be willing to still negotiate at this point but they are usually past the point where they would accept lower payments.
Trustee’s Sale
If you have not come up with all the payments required then the lender will auction off your foreclosed home to the highest bidder at the auction. The price that your foreclosure home is auctioned off will be significantly lower than the market value of the home. This is why you should try to sell your home before it goes to foreclosure. In some states, the lender can even bill you or sue you for the difference between the amount you owe and the amount that was collected at the auction. So, if you think you can walk away from the foreclosure situation free and clear, think again!