WASHINGTON – Oct. 25, 2012 – Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have issued new rules effective Nov. 1 that will allow short sales for underwater borrowers who have never missed a mortgage payment. Previously, Fannie and Freddie allowed only homeowners who had missed payments to qualify for a short sale.
However, eligible short-sale owners [...]

Short sales outnumbered foreclosure sales in 12 states in January, indicating that more homeowners are finding an easier way out of a distressed home loan, according to USA Today.
Short sales – which occur when a lender agrees to a home sale for less than what’s owed – were up 33 percent in January year-over-year, and [...]

Big changes to Bank of America short sale process this weekend. Short Sales can become a great alternative to bank owned homes again!
“Finally the big bank has listened to our comments and is taking action”, says Axel Weiss, the Broker of Sea to Sky Realty. Bank of America is set to roll out a new [...]

Short Sale – now is the time to act!
A short-term IRS program that ignores lender-forgiven mortgage debt ends Dec. 31; if you need to short sale your home, you should consider listing now!
You may owe federal income taxes in 2013 if you have a short sale, foreclosure after this year. Now is the time to [...]

Starting Dec 1st, many homeowners with “underwater” mortgages can apply for a new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinance program geared for pretty much everyone who owes more on a home than it’s worth – including landlords and second-home owners.
The federal government’s previous foreclosure-prevention efforts, such as the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), lowered the [...]

After a year of fewer foreclosures, as bankers reeled from revelations that they were falsifying documents in foreclosure cases, the latest monthly numbers suggest banks are starting to repossess houses again.
Here is an excerpt of an interesting article from the Bradenton Herald on this topic:
The big banks are back in the foreclosure business.
 After a year of [...]

Bank of America, the nation’s largest mortgage servicer, is offering Florida homeowners up to $20,000 to short sale their homes rather than letting them linger in foreclosure.
The limited time offer has received little promotion from the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, which sent emails to select Florida Realtors earlier this week outlining basic details of the plan. [...]

Short Sale of investment properties – what is the difference?
Most federal laws regarding short sale relief etc., only apply to primary residences and do not apply to investment properties.
No debt forgiveness
Therefore a partial or full debt forgiveness as generally anticipated in a residential short sale procedure should not be expected in a investment short sale. [...]

Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) Program

Many homeowners may feel that they can no longer afford their home, but want to avoid the negative effects of foreclosure. The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) Program offers homeowners, their mortgage servicers, and investors an incentive for completing a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. With these options, under [...]

Bradenton – Sarasota: If you own a home in Sarasota or Bradenton, you could be one of 44%  Sarasota and Bradenton homesowners that is UNDERWATER!
As local Real Estate Experts in Sarasota / Bradenton we compiled  the  “top 5 thoughts”.
If you owe more than your home’s value,  you have basically three choices.

Keep on paying your mortgage.
Try and get the bank to [...]