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Here's an excerpt:

"Apparently Chairman Scott York is planning to propose a program to our Board at the June 3rd meeting that would help county employees get low interest loans to purchase foreclosed homes in the easternmost portion of Loudoun County.  It’s early yet for specific details, but according to the article it looks like York wants the program to focus on the Sterling Park area, which has a high number of foreclosures."

To read the full post, click here.

Related Articles

"Foreclosures Eyed As Opportunity" - Leesburg Today

-Danilo

Though we'd all like to see that percentage go down, it's definitely good news that it's not increasing. The fact that it's not increasing is another sign that the worse is behind us.

-Danilo

It has a 3-car side-load garage, upgrades throughout and is in good condition. It's on a cul-de-sac in the newer part of Broadlands (Broadlands South).

If you'd like more information, feel free to email or call me - 703-582-6900.

Listed by Carter Braxton Real Estate Company - 11 Loudoun St SW, Leesburg, VA 20175

-Danilo

Before you go off calling the seller and listing agent/broker "interesting names", let's look at a few things first that will help you understand why this happens so you know how to best protect yourself...

1. Listing agents/brokers are not allowed to disclose "confidential financial information" about the seller without the seller's written permission. Announcing to the public (you) that the it's a short-sale situation is considered to be disclosing "confidential financial information" about the seller. If the seller does not allow the listing agent/broker to do so, they can't. (I wouldn't accept a short-sale listing if the seller wouldn't let me disclose, but that's me)
2. Though most sellers know that it's much worse to not disclose that it's a short-sale than to disclose that fact up front, some may keep silent anyway. Sellers aren't obligated to disclose that they're in a short-sale situation. In fact, the burden is on the buyer to do their homework and find out.
3. What about the ones that are right on the cusp? These are the sellers right on the brink of owing money once all the costs of selling their property are paid. If they accept an offer at their current asking price, they'll be fine. But if they accept an offer lower than their asking price, they won't have the money to make up the difference in what they owe. This means that the "regular resale" just turned into a "short-sale".

Is there a way to protect yourself as a buyer? The answer is yes.

There is language you can add to your offer that, if the seller accepts it, will force their hand and tell you if they are facing a short-sale situation. An experienced and knowledgeable Buyer's Agent will know what that language is and where in the offer to put it.

-Danilo

• January 2008 saw 310 new foreclosure/bank-owned and short-sale listings come on the market. That's 10 new ones per day.
• February 2008 had 289 come on the market. That's 10 per day.
• March 2008 had 301 come on the market. That's 9.8 per day.
• So far this month (thru 4/22), there have been 253 new foreclosure/bank-owned and short-sale listings come on the market. That's a slight increase to 11.5 per day, but not too far off the 10 per day average.

The trend so far this year seems to be about 10 or so new foreclosure/bank-owned and short-sale listings on the market each day. I'll keep you posted on how April ends up and whether this trends continues or changes.

-Danilo

Let me repeat...

You must have a lot of patience and not be in a hurry to move if you're trying to buy a short-sale.

Why must you have patience and a lot of time? Because the bank makes the final decision on whether your offer is approved and that process takes an average of 60 to 90 days. In some cases, it may take up to 6 months.

Why does it take so long? Because the first thing banks did when profits plummeted is cut staff. When you mix a huge increase in case files and a staffing cut of 50 percent or more, you get overworked and underpaid employees that care more about finding a new job than your offer.

I have to move into something in the next 30 to 45 days...should I consider short-sales? I wouldn't say that you should not go after a short-sale, but have "Plan B" in place so that you're not homeless come time to move. You may get extremely lucky and get a response in less than 60 to 90 days, but don't bank on it (pun intended).

Should I call the listing agent regularly to check up on the situation? If you consider "being patient" calling the listing agent every week asking whether they've heard a response, think again. By calling the listing agent over and over, all you're doing is annoying the agent. The listing agent is trying to sell the house as quickly and as much as you're trying to buy it. Trust me, the listing agent will call you the second they get a response from the bank.

Why doesn't the listing agent call the bank and hurry things along? (insert "bank" for "listing agent" in the above paragraph)

So remember...when it comes to short-sales, you must be patient and not be in a hurry to move. You have to understand that the process takes much longer than a traditional resale. And know that the listing agent is doing everything they can to make the process go as quickly as possible.

-Danilo 

ABC 7 News (WJLA) was curious about this as well and ran a story on it earlier this month. Here's the video (couldn't get around the quick commercial intro, sorry):

-Danilo

You can search the map first by state and then narrow it down further by most counties and zip codes. The information on the maps includes:

• loans per 1,000 housing units
• loans in foreclosure per 1,000 housing units
• loans real estate owned (bank owned) per 1,000 housing units
• share of loans that are adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs)
• share of loans for which payments are current
• share of loans that are 90-plus days delinquent
• share of loans in foreclosure
• median combined loan-to-value ratio at origination (when loan was funded/settlement date)
• share of loans with low credit score and high LTV at origination (when loan was funded/settlement date)
• share of loans with low or no documentation ("No-Doc")
• share of ARMs with initial reset in the next 12 months
• share of loans with a late payment in the past 12 months

The maps are supposed to be updated monthly, which is good. But the data lags behind several months. While looking at the map of Loudoun County today, I noticed that the data is from December 2007.

The maps are color coded which makes for great visual interpretation of the numbers. There are hard numbers available, but only for the overall state, not by county or zip code.

Overall, the maps are decent especially considering that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York created and is maintaining them. In addition to showing the subprime loan conditions across the U.S., the maps also help show how regional and local real estate really is.

(via Wall Street Journal)

-Danilo