Valencia Homeowners Facing Foreclosure, Don't Just Walk Away, You Have Loan Modification & Short Sale Options.

Are you facing a home foreclosure? Has your financial hardship landed you in a position that may cause you to lose your home? Don't just walk away from you home, you have options.

Homeowners who are in the pre-foreclosure process need to speak with Jennifer and I as quickly as possible. For many homeowners foreclosure is not the only option however most are to fearful to take the opportunity to explore solutions. By dealing with an agent who has earned the Certified Distressed Property Expert Designation (CDPE) designation, homeowners ensure that they are working with a real estate professional that is equipped to handle their specific needs.

Jennifer and I will teach you, free of charge, how to request a loan modification from your lender. Please don't pay fee's for something you can do. With the education Jennifer and I can give you, your lenders will want to work with you. You need to understand their are guidelines you must follow in order to prove you financially qualify for the modification. Also loan modifications take time, due to the high number of loan modification requests.

Should you not qualify for a loan modification, a short sale may be the answer. Selling your home by doing what is referred to as a "short sale", by which the lender agrees to accept less then what is owed, may be just what you need to get on the road to recovery.

In order to complete a short sale, you must have a Licensed Realtor list your home for sale to communicate and negotiate with the bank for you. The bank will not communicate directly with homeowners in regards to short sales, why because the lenders are not part of the Real Estate transaction, which requires Licensed Realtors by law. The Lenders are not parties on the Real Estate contract, however they must give the approval to accpect less then whats owed on the mortgage(s).

A Short sales proposal tells the bank that you have a purchaser that has agreed to purchase you home for less then the current outstanding mortgage balance. Lenders lose money by doing this, however if the short sale is priced correctly submitted correctly with a committed buyer the lender will save money because foreclosures cost lenders tens of thousands of dollars.

A short sale offer that is as close to the actual market value as possible will more likely be your best approach to getting the bank to consider this option. If the offer is considerably less then the market value, you will need to convince the lender that the offer on the table is in their best interest, and to move forward with the short sale of your property. Keep in mind that mortgage companies are in the business of lending, not property management.

Currently the short sale process can take anywhere from 30 days (highly unlikely) to 90 business days before a short sale offer is approved. And, to make things worse, each lender has its own guidelines. For example Countrywide's short sale approvals are buyer-specific, so you cannot transfer an approval as to price and terms to a new buyer... if the first buyer is not committed and walks, you have to restart the entire process with a new buyer. IndyMac on the other hand has allowed buyers to be replaced as along as the offer matches the approval, however they have a time frame in which you must replace the buyer, or the new offers must be resubmitted.

Understand the foreclosure process is very costly to the lender, and can be very complicated. Lenders would rather avoid having to complete the expensive foreclosure process, and avoid the costs associated with getting the home back as an REO, otherwise known as a "Real-Estate Owned" property.

If you sell your home as a short sale, your credit report will show wording similar to this: "Account paid in full for less than full balance" rather than showing "foreclosed". While this is still a derogatory comment, it is not as strong as a foreclosure. The disadvantage to a short sale is that in some cases the bank may require the homeowner to sign a promissory note for a portion of the shortage. However, the request for a promissory note is not very likely unless the homeowner has other assets that may be used to cover this shortage, and if the homeowner files bankruptcy after the short sale is complete, this promissory note may be completely wiped out.

Foreclosure is quite possibly the most devastating financial and emotional process a homeowner or family can go through. The reality is that many foreclosures should never happen and homeowners have options only they don't know where to turn.

Please contact Jennifer & Gary Ricco, CDPE's at Keller Williams VIP Properties. 661.290.3837. For a free consultation on the Loan Modification process. During this consultation we will review & evaluate your financial situation. At that point we will know and explain what options are available to you. You will be guided and educated throughout the process. Should you not qualify for a loan modification we will consult you on the benefits of a short sale vs letting the property go to foreclosure.