Charming 3 bedrooms home in historic Niles, lot size 5,500 sq.ft.,  custom paint throughout the home, original restored golden oak hardwood floors, upgraded kitchen and bathroom, maple cabinets, Corian countertop, tile floors, pantry and laundry, dual pane windows, copper pipes, slate tiled porch, large backyard & front lawn with sprinklers.

Within easy walking distance to shops, grocery store, restaurants, museums, and entertainment (see niles.org for details). Within a couple of blocks of prized Niles Elementary School. Centrally located for commute to most of the Bay Area.

Priced at Only Mid $300′s

Call me at 510-366-9405 for any questions or to view this home!

Agnew Rd:  Luxurious and well maintained 2 bedrooms/ 2 baths condo, only 5 years old complex, gated and secured complex located right in the heart of Silicon Valley, just across the street from Oracle, large master bedroom with walk-in closet, upgraded kitchen with granite counter top, stainless steel appliances, pergo flooring, complex features swimming pool, children’s playground, gym, yoga studio, secure underground parking for owner and guest, close to all amenities.

Asking Price is in Low $300′s!!

Call me Now at 510-366-9405 to view this beautiful condo!

Now, major lenders are getting the importance of short sales and working with homeowners to avoid foreclosures.  I’m glad to hear that now major lenders are offering higher incentives for homeowners who are doing short sales.  They are just testing in few states and all homeowners are not qualified to get this higher amount, the lenders have their own formulas based on different factors.

Here’s the detail information on this short sale higher incentive program:

The nation’s leading mortgage lenders are extending extras for short sale transactions employed as an alternative to foreclosure – both in the form of monetary incentives for borrowers and streamlined procedures for real estate agents.

Wells Fargo says it has been making “enhanced financial relocation assistance offers” that can be as much as $10,000 or $20,000 to certain borrowers who choose to go through with a short sale or transfer the title back to Wells via a deed-in-lieu.

This extra incentive is being offered to distressed borrowers in Florida and other states where the foreclosure process is lengthening, a spokesperson for Wells Fargo explained. The exact amount of the relocation funds provided to individual borrowers varies based on a number of factors, the company says.

Wells Fargo noted that this type of additional relocation assistance is only available on first-lien loans that the company itself owns – which represent only about 20 percent of the loans Wells Fargo services. The company must follow investor guidelines for the remaining loans it services.

JPMorgan Chase is also offering a range of incentives to borrowers that agree to a pre-foreclosure sale “because if we can’t work out a modification, a short sale is a better result for the borrower, the servicer, the investor, and the neighborhood than a foreclosure,” the company said in a statement.

Chase says the amount of the offer “depends on a number of factors” but declined to share specific details on how much money it’s been providing to short sellers.

One agent in Florida confirms that he has indeed received a letter from Chase offering $20,000 to a borrower he’s representing in a short sale transaction.

Another agent in California says he closed a short sale with Chase where the borrower was paid $30,000 at closing for cooperating with the short sale.

“I have closed over 200 short sales and this was the most I have seen paid to a borrower,” the agent said.

Citi has confirmed that its average incentive offer is currently $12,000 for borrowers in cases where Citi owns the loan.

“Incentives are offered to customers experiencing financial hardship who need funds to proceed with the short sale,” a spokesman for the lender explained.

The amount, which is agreed upon upfront, varies according to the borrower’s individual circumstances and loan characteristics, Citi said. It is disbursed to the homeowner when the short sale is completed.

Bank of America says it is “committed to improving the short sale process” and has made procedural changes to cut some of the red tape for agents working with the bank on pre-foreclosure sales.

The lender now allows real estate agents to submit a backup offer on a transaction if the original buyer has walked away from the sale.

This means that agents no longer have to initiate a new short sale if the buyer changes, Bank of America explained. Instead, agents can move ahead with the original transaction in the Equator system, BofA’s short sale technology platform of choice, and continue to work with the same short sale specialist.

Bank of America says this policy change will save its agents time by not having to repeat a number of process steps.

By Carrie Bay: Dsnews

Bay area homeowners, let me know if you have any questions on short sale or would like to know your options to avoid foreclosure and possibly keep your house! Call me at 510-366-9405 or email me now for a 15-20 minutes free consultation with me.

Bay area homeowners – if you are thinking of about short sale then don’t delay the decision because mortgage forgiveness debt relief act is expiring on December 31, 2012, so it’s just one more year where homeowners are not responsible for taxes on the forgiven mortgage debt, which means if homeowners short sale their house by next year (December 2012) at less than what the owe to the bank, they can walk away free and clear and owe nothing to the bank or pay taxes on the shortage amount.

At this time, we don’t know whether the Congress will extend this for more years.  If it doesn’t extend then homeowners will be responsible to pay taxes on the forgiven mortgage amount. For example, if your mortgage balance is $800,000 but the house sells for $600,000 at the current market value then there’s a shortage of $200,000 to your bank. If you short sale by 2012 then there’s no taxes to pay but if sell after 2012 then the shortage of $200,000 will consider as your income because it’s a loss to your bank, in this situation you pay taxes on that $200,000 which will be a huge amount which will affect more to your financial situation.

According to the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, if a homeowner borrows money up to $2 million dollars to buy a house and does short sale due to hardship then the lender forgives the remaining balance and the homeowner is not responsible for paying taxes on the forgiven amount.  This act applies to primary residences and not for investment properties.  If you would like to know more about Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act and Debt Cancellation of 2007 then click here to view official website.

I hope it extends for another couple of years so that homeowners can avoid foreclosure and heavy taxes if they decide to do short sale after 2012, but if you think that you cannot afford any payments then consult with a professional to see if the short sale is the right choice or not.

We have helped many homeowners successfully sell (short sale) their house in bay area and avoided foreclosure.  So, if you are having difficulty in paying mortgage and wants to know your options to avoid foreclosure or have any questions on short sale then call me directly at 510-366-9405 for a free consultation to see what all options are available to avoid foreclosure.

Potrero Dr:  Well maintained beautiful 4 bedrooms/ 3 baths home located in a nice area of Newark, built in 1994, living space of approx. 1,720 sq ft. ,  one bedroom and bath downstairs, nice size living area, family room w/fireplace, recess light in kitchen, stainless steel appliances, gas stove, custom paint throughout the rooms, easy access to freeway, shopping mall and other amenities.

Asking Price is in low $400’s! Call me at 510-366-9405 to get the updated price and view this home!

I’m so glad to inform that we have helped 2 more families to avoid foreclosure from their credit.  One of the homeowner was in Fremont and another family was in Milpitas, CA.  The Fremont home was their investment home, tenant occupied and their 2 loans were with Chase bank. We got the short sale approval letter within 3 months and buyer was happy that they got their home sooner than expected because they heard most of the short sales take 6-8 months, well I’m glad that finally everybody was happy and seller avoided foreclosure, now they can move on with their life without any worries about this house.

Other family was in Milpitas and it was a condo, this one took more time to close the escrow because we lost first buyer by the time we got the approval from Bank of America HAFA team, it took 4 plus months back and forth negotiating with them for small changes. Finally seller also got frustrated and moved the file from HAFA to regular short sale department.  They had a second loan with CalHFA (California Housing Finance Agency), it was a down payment assistance loan.  The negotiator with CalHFA was nice and had no problem in getting approvals.  I have worked with them for 2 other short sale approvals and both times we got the approval without any problems.

Well, we relisted the Milpitas property and found another buyer within couple of days and we had also received approval this time in a month and closed in 3 weeks. So, I got a chance to help two more families with their short sale and stopping foreclosure.

If you or anyone you know in Fremont, Milpitas or close by bay area who wants to do short sale or wants to know other options to avoid foreclosure, please feel free to call me at 510-366-9405, I would be glad to assist you.

Most of the bay area homeowners and agents know what is short sale and the steps involved in short sale. One of the most important points in these steps is what all documents needed to submit in short sale package to successfully negotiate a short sale.

If you or the agent do not submit everything which are required in short sale package then the negotiator will not look at that file, it goes to their bottom files and most of the times, they won’t even call you if there’s anything missing and that’s one of the reason why the short sale process takes time and average agents blame the lender and negotiator for delaying the short sale approval process.

To consider a good short sale package, you need to include all the documents which are required by the lender.  Some of the lenders have their own forms to be submitted with the short sale package and the experienced short sale agents knows what all documents to be submitted at the first time itself so that it will help to get the short sale approval faster.

 The paper works which goes in a short sale package are listed below:

• Authorization to Release Information
• Hardship Letter
• Financial Statement
• Past 2 year’s tax returns
• Past 2 month’s paystubs
• Past 2 month’s bank statements
• Listing Agreement
• Purchase Contract
• Repair Estimate for the property
• Comparable sales for the property
• Net Sheet
• Lender specific forms (if any)

It’s always better to gather all these documents as far as possible in the beginning itself when you meet with an agent to list the house so that the agent can submit the package when you get an offer without any delay.  Now, if you don’t have any of the financial documents then you can write a letter with a reason why you don’t have which can also be submitted with the package.

Now, the next part after submitting the package is “follow up”, this is where most of the average agents fail.  If you don’t have a proper and consistent follow up system then it will delay the short sale process, so this is also very important step towards getting short sale approval quicker than average short sale files.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Day. Let me know if there’s anything I can assist you or have any questions on short sale, I would be happy to assist you.

Great news for home buyers those who are looking to buy in this market! President Obama signed into law for extending the higher FHA (Federal Housing Administration) loan limit to $729,750 from $625,500, effective 11/18/11.

It’s great time to buy in bay area with still lower interest loans and great bargain homes out there, so take advantage of this market and buy a home which you couldn’t afford to buy couple of years ago due to higher price. Let me know if there’s anything I can assist you.

Here’s the detail information from housingwire by Jon Prior
President Obama signed into law a government spending bill Friday morning effectively reinstalling higher conforming loan limits for the Federal Housing Administration through the end of 2013.

The House passed the minibus spending bill 298-121 Thursday afternoon, and the Senate approved it 70-30 Thursday night.

Effective Friday, FHA can insure loans up to $729,750 from $625,500 in the most expensive neighborhoods. In 2008, Congress elevated the limits for the FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but expired Oct. 1.

The Senate approved an amendment to the bill earlier in the month that would have reinstalled the limits for Fannie and Freddie as well. But a joint appropriations committee cut the government-sponsored enterprises out, leaving the FHA in.
By signing the bill, the Obama administration back-tracked somewhat from a white paper put out in February. The paper put forth three options for the housing finance system, precluded by the expiration of the higher conforming loan limits in order to begin ushering private capital back to the market.

FHA Acting Commissioner Carole Galante warned senators Thursday that the government should be looking to shrink the FHA market share.

“We maintain that it is appropriate to take a step back on the loan limits,” Galante said.

Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., made the case on the House floor Thursday to reinstall the limits for Fannie and Freddie as well, citing concerns that the housing market is not healthy enough to be taken off the government lifeline.

“Even now, private lenders remain incredibly risk-averse, hesitating to provide long-term, fixed-rate mortgages to the vast majority of the market,” Campbell said. “Until Congress decides how to move forward with broad reform to fix our broken housing finance system, we should not dismantle the few remaining support systems that are preventing the housing industry from collapsing further.”
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., shook his head Thursday, clearly frustrated at the decision his colleagues made.

“The white paper and a bill are two very different things,” Corker said. “I am absolutely so discouraged at Congress in lacking the courage to deal with this issue that we all know needs to be dealt with.”

Travertine Way: Approved Short Sale!! (Only in Mid $400′s)

Beautiful 14 years old single family home located in a desirable neighborhood, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath, year built in 1997, living space of approx. 1998, attached car garage, vaulted ceilings,  granite kitchen counter top, island, family room, fireplace, wood floor in master bedroom, walk-in closet, low maintenance backyard w/patio, close to Bart & Quarry Lake Park….

Call me at 510-366-9405 for viewing this home and updated price information!!

The four big banks – Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo has agreed to participate in HARP program.  It is the new program for homeowners to refinance who are underwater. This might be good news for our bay area homeowners also to keep their house with this new refinance program.

Here’s the detail information from DSnews by Carrie Bay about this new refinance program (HARP).

The industry’s four largest mortgage servicers all say they will be taking part in the revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP).

Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo have each expressed their support of the program and the changes that will allow more underwater homeowners to refinance at today’s lower interest rates.

Government officials expect the program’s revisions – particularly the GSEs’ waiver on representations and warranties – to increase competition for mortgage refinancing.

An executive with JPMorgan Chase told the company’s investors this week that HARP 2.0 will facilitate “cross-servicing refinancing” because with the rep and warranty waiver, the new lender is not required to assume responsibility for underwriting deficiencies that may have occurred with the original loan.

Chase explains that HARP may be used to replace an adjustable-rate or interest-only loan with a standard fixed interest rate loan, and typically reduces the borrower’s monthly payment.

Frank Bisignano, CEO of mortgage banking at Chase, estimates that with the new HARP guidelines, thousands of Chase customers could lower their mortgage payments by an average of $2,500 a year.

Citi said in an emailed statement that it “supports the program and expects to participate.”

Wells Fargo, likewise, said in a statement that it “welcomes the addition of the new HARP features.”

Veronica Clemons, a spokesperson for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, says the company is waiting for specific guidelines and requirements from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in order to put the changes into practice.

She adds that once the company’s mortgage servicing team has the guidelines in hand, “it will take us some time – depending on the complexity of the guidelines – to make the necessary systems changes to begin offering the new enhancements to our customers.”

The GSEs’ regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), says Fannie and Freddie plan to issue guidance with operational details about the HARP changes by November 15th.

“Since industry participation in HARP is not mandatory, implementation schedules will vary as individual lenders, mortgage insurers, and other market participants modify their processes,” FHFA said.

Bank of America says it will participate in the enhanced Home Affordable Refinance Program announced by the administration, and it expects the new guidelines and eligibility criteria to go into effect after December 1st.

“Despite ongoing economic challenges, nearly 90 percent of our customers remain current on their mortgage,” BofA spokesperson Rick Simon said. “HARP helps these homeowners who remain current on their mortgage with options to lower their monthly payment when, otherwise, conventional funding options are limited.”

The GSEs have removed the 125 percent loan-to-value (LTV) cap under the program. Now any borrower with an LTV ratio above 80 percent is eligible for a HARP refinance, as long as the loan was sold to Fannie or Freddie prior to May 31, 2009, and the borrower is not delinquent on their payments.

Since HARP was launched in 2009, nearly 900,000 loans have been refinanced through the program. Government officials estimate that an additional 1 million homeowners will receive assistance under the new guidelines.

In its announcement of the program changes, FHFA encouraged borrowers to “contact their existing lender or any other mortgage lender offering HARP refinances.”