By Tom Branch, on December 4th, 2011 
Another happy home buyer in Allen, TX. This 4 bedroom, 3.1 bath, 2641 square foot foreclosed home with a pool was recently purchased by our clients. We were able to negotiate a sales price that was 85% of appraisal district value and get the bank to pay almost all of the buyer’s closing costs!
Distressed properties can be a good value but you have to do the research and plenty of extra due diligence since they are almost always sold “as is” and without a sellers disclosure (foreclosures are exempt from disclosure in Texas).
Looking to purchase a foreclosure? Contact us at 214-705-2470 for a current list.
Photo: Copyright 2011 Tom Branch
By Tom Branch, on December 1st, 2011  Licensed from iStockPhoto With Texas foreclosure sales set for next Tuesday, this is good news for many families:
Fannie Mae says it will suspend evictions for single-family foreclosures and two- to four-unit properties during the holiday season, from Dec. 19 through Jan. 2, 2012.
“The holidays are meant for families to spend time together, especially if they’ve gone through the stress of financial challenges and foreclosure,” Terry Edwards, executive vice president of Credit Portfolio Management for Fannie Mae, said in a statement. “No family should have to give up their home during this holiday season.”
While the holiday moratorium is in place, legal and administrative proceedings for evictions may continue, but “families living in foreclosed properties will be permitted to remain in the home,” Fannie Mae announced in a statement.
Source: Fannie Mae
By Tom Branch, on February 5th, 2011 I was out showing one of my Short Sale listings today. The showing went well, but the house did not really work for them. Before I could ask them if I could help them find something else, they asked me about a property they had seen on RealtyTrac.
 Licensed from iStockPhoto RealtyTrac bills itself as a ”Foreclosure Real Estate Listings” site. According to their website, “Save up to 50% off market value! RealtyTrac lets you search the most foreclosure properties in your neighborhood.” It’s a pay site after a free trial period.
In Texas, it appears RealtyTrac gets some of their data from the county records. The property they showed me was not listed, had not been foreclosed on, and the owners were still living in it. I suspect the lender filed for a substitute trustee (one of the recorded first steps in the trustee sales process) or actually posted it for a trustee sale.
Even if the property had been foreclosed on, it may not be available for purchase. The lender has to make sure the property is vacant and in some cases, wait for the redemption period to expire before they list it with a local REALTOR®. They asked about contacting the lender to purchase it directly from the lender. While I don’t have extensive REO experience, I have two big REO agents in my office and they tell me that it’s not possible to purchase a single property directly from the lender.
I explained this to them and I told them if they were truly looking for active foreclosure listings, the data was available in the MLS. I offered to set up a foreclosure search for them.
My advice to them was to work with the MLS data as it is likely the most accurate source of actual foreclosure real estate listings unless they wanted to try to purchase a property at a trustee sale.
By Leslie Ebersole, on January 3rd, 2011 If you are a homeowner having trouble making your mortgage payments, you may have considered doing a short sale or letting the home go into foreclosure. You must understand the difference between the two so that you can make the best decisions for your future.
A short sale of real estate happens when the sale proceeds fall short of the balance owed on the property’s loan(s). If a homeowner can’t make the monthly payments and the house can’t be sold for the amount of the loan(s) and other liens, then the lender may agree that selling the property at a loss is better than foreclosing on the loan. A lender may agree to a short sale if the homeowner can show financial hardship such as job loss, high debt from medical bills or business loss, or other financial difficulties that a homeowner will not be able to overcome.
A foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender or other lien holder seeks to take back a property if the homeowner stops making the payments or hasn’t met other commitments, like paying real estate taxes or homeowner association fees.
Illinois is a “judicial foreclosure” state. This means that the lender or other lien holder files a lawsuit to show that the borrower has missed payments. If the homeowner doesn’t make up the amount owed in a specific period of time, the lender may ask the court to allow that the property be sold at auction to pay off the debt. In Illinois the County Sheriff conducts an auction in which anyone can purchase the home to pay off the debts. Usually, though, the only “bidder” is the lender who owns the mortgage. The lender takes back the property and after a series of other legal steps is allowed to sell the home to pay off the mortgage.
Other options for distressed homeowners are loan modification programs or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.
Know your options: consult your lender, a real estate attorney, a government-sponsored counselor, a tax professional and a real estate broker experienced with short sales.
SHORT SALE VS. FORECLOSURE: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
| Item |
Short Sale |
Foreclosure |
| Fannie Mae Guideline (Primary Residence) |
Eligible for new Fannie Mae insured loan after 2 years, no restrictions. |
Eligible for a new Fannie Mae loan with restrictions after 5 years, no restrictions after 7 years. |
| Fannie Mae Guidelines (Non-Primary Residence) |
An investor who has done a short sale is eligible for a Fannie Mae backed mortgage after 2 years. |
An investor who has had a property foreclosed cannot get a Fannie Mae backed loan for 7 years. |
| Credit Score |
Late payments on a mortgage will appear after completion of a mortgage. The effect can be as short as 12 to 18 months. Credit score affected by 50 to 100 points. |
Typically will affect credit scores for at least 3 years. Scores may be negatively affected between 200 and 300 points. |
| New Credit Application Questions (Form 1003) |
No questions on an application regarding a short sale. |
Questions: have you had property foreclosed upon or given title or deed in lieu in the last 7 years? |
| Credit History |
A short sale may or not be reported by a lender on a credit history. |
Remains as a public record for 10 years or more. |
| Security Clearance |
Usually does not raise red flags regarding security clearance. |
Security clearance will be questioned. |
| Deficiency Judgement |
Negotiable between seller and lender. |
No negotiations between the home-owner and the lender. It is up to the lender to file a deficiency judgement. |
This post was written by Leslie Ebersole and originally published on FoxValleyRealEstate. Use or reproduction without express consent of the author is prohibited.
By Tom Branch, on January 1st, 2011 The Branch Team has relaunched HUDHomesDFW.com!
If you’re searching for HUD Foreclosures or HUD Homes, this website is for you. It contains information about HUD properties and links to all the available HUD homes in Collin, Dallas, Denton, Rockwall, and Tarrant counties.
Unlike many foreclosure sites, we will not ask you to pay us to look at foreclosure listings, nor will we require you to give us your contact information. Feel free to use the “HUD Search” links on the site and you can have immediate access to all active HUD Foreclosure listings in the greater Dallas – Ft. Worth Metroplex.
The Branch Team with RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs is a HUD Approved Broker and is authorized to place bids on HUD properties.
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