This past week I took a special course in Short Sales and Foreclosures from the creator of the course Frank Serio. Frank is a Broker owner of his own real estate firm in Deleware and has been in the real estate business for 26 years. He is also the President-elect for the Council of Residential Specialists (CRS).

To put it succintly, I was blown away by the incredible content of the couse as presented by Frank Serio! Hence the purpose of my blog, to try to present some of the info I received to help you to either avoid a bank foreclosure or to understand how to work thrugh it, if it has happened to you or you find yourself in this situation.

Here are some strategies to avoid foreclosure:

Be proactive about the problem when the first warning signs appear. Not only does this reduce the stres of not knowing what is going to happen, but it makes it easier for the creditors to work out a plan.

Contact your lender when you become aware that you have a problem. The last thing that a lender wants is to foreclose on the property. Financial institutions lose a significant amount of money by foreclosing on a property ($50,000+/-). Foreclosure is a lose/lose for the lender and the homeowner. It is important to be honest and forthright with your discussions and be prepared to discuss the reasons for your problems.

Read the mail! Not knowing does not solve the problem, it just delays the final result. By not reading the mail, a person avoids the opportunity to get help before it is too late.

Contact a HUD approved housing counselor or call a REALTOR for advice. Call 1-800-569-4287 to find a nearby counselor, or go to www.HUD.gov

Priortize your spending by paying for the necessities of life first. Always pay the house payment and health payment first.

Look for ways to generate cash. Sell those items that have value but are not used or needed, or seek a part-time job to get through the crisis. Not only does this reduce the emotional and financial stress, but it provides evidence to the lender that the borrower is proactively seeing a way to remedy a bad situation.

Don’t get scammed by a private “foreclosure prevention specialist,” instead go to www.HUD.gov to obtain valid information about foreclosure prevention.

Make an appointment with a REALTOR to discuss the problem and to get their advice.

The Reality of a Short Sale!

Over the past ten days I have been working with a property that is heading towards foreclosure. To sell it, the price will need to be less than the outstanding loan balance. This is called a short sale because it will be short of funds at closing to pay the loan balance and the closing expenses.

It is obvious to everyone that there is tremendous value in this property at the listed price which is below both the assessment value and the market value. So why is it, when we finally got an offer on the property, and we got two offers, that they are another $15,000 under the listed price?

Quite simply, Human Nature!!! The buyers are in the driver’s seat and the banks need to sell the property at the price the market will bear out, however low it is! Unfortunately, they are not helping the property values for the neighborhood that they are moving into by putting a sales comparable on record at that price. But at least, they are taking a vacant property off the market by buying it and moving in.