Pacific Coast Properties

THE NATIONAL MORTGAGE SETTLEMENT

Steve Holderfield — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:24:00 +0000

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Nearly two years ago the State’s Attorneys General across the country along with Federal Officials collectively began to investigate the largest lenders regarding the foreclosure practices of the banks. This led to the “Robo-Signer Scandal”, the discovery that many lenders were just ramming foreclosures through with falsified and fraudulent documentation.
In response, the Attorneys General of many States filed lawsuits against the five largest banks: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Ally Financial (formerly GMAC). Yesterday they reached a Settlement. Although the details of the Settlement are still being worked out, here is what we know so far:
1. The Banks will pay $25 Billion – While this sounds like a large amount of money, the allocation of these funds to solving the nation’s housing problems will be what matters. Here are the designated allocations:
(1) $10 Billion for Loan Modifications & Principal Reduction for up to 1 Million Homeowners – if evenly allocated, this would provide at best a principal reduction of $10,000 per homeowner. California will receive $430 Million of these funds. But with California alone having 2 million homeowners upside-down an average of $50,000 or more, this is unlikely to enable very many people to keep their homes.
(2) $3 Billion for Refinancing of Loans – for those who can qualify for loan refinancing, these funds will effectively result in principal reduction of existing balances. It is unclear how this will be handled.
(3) $1.5 Billion for People who were by Robo-Signer Foreclosure Abuse – this fund will provide a payment on $2,000 to up to 750,000 homeowners who were improperly foreclosed upon.
(4) $10.5 Billion to the States and Federal Government – the highest portion of Settlement funds will go to Government agencies – not homeowners – to compensate for loss of public funds related to servicer misconduct. It is unclear what these “losses” are but they may include loss of property tax revenue, legal costs, public housing, etc.
2. The Settlement Does Not Apply to Loans Owned by FNMA and Freddie Mac – These two Government Sponsored Agencies (GSE’s) agencies now own approx. 50% of all loans in the U.S. and up to 80% of all the subprime loans that are in the most trouble. This Settlement will provide no help for these homeowners. Even though FNMA is under a Government Conservatorship, FNMA actively opposes any principal reduction of its loans.
3. The Settlement Money will NOT be Available Immediately – While the website touting the Settlement talks about “Immediate Aid” and “Immediate Payments”, that will not be the case. It will be 30-60 days before anyone is designated to Administer the Settlement and start working out the details. After that, it will be 6-9 months to somehow identify those homeowners who were affected by the lending abuses and contact them with details on how they might apply for benefits through the Settlement. The Banks have 3 years to perform their obligations in paying the Settlement Money.
4. The Banks Will Gain Immunity from Government Prosecution for Robo-Signer Abuse – The biggest beneficiary of the Settlement may well be the Banks who for a relatively small sum of $25 Billion (they earned $317 Billion last year) will end the existing litigation and be protected from any more State or Federal claims related to the Robo-Signer scandal. This will not stop any individual claims by homeowners nor will it stop any claims for other lending abuses.
The bottom-line: This Settlement is only a drop in the bucket of the monetary relief that is truly needed to enable upside-down owners to keep their homes and get our nation’s real estate and economy back on track. It will have no real or lasting effect except for the few lucky homeowners that get enough funds to make a difference. For the lenders, this relatively small penalty will not be likely to punish them for their abuses nor deter them from such conduct in the future. So, who wins from this Settlement? Once again, it’s not the homeowners.
Meanwhile, if you or someone you know is struggling with an upside-down property and don’t know what to do, our Consultation Program can offer knowledge of what to expect and form strategies to either keep the property or move on with as little financial risk as possible. To schedule a Consultation, please contact our office at 916 966-2260.
The information presented in this Article is not to be taken as legal advice. Every person’s situation is different. If you are upside-down on your loan(s), especially if you’re facing a lender lawsuit, get competent legal advice in your State immediately so that you can determine your best options.
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Mortgate Settlement Could Bring Relief For Homeowners (chicago.cbslocal.com)

Tax Law Change Coming On Short Sales

Steve Holderfield — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:31:00 +0000

Image by 401K via Flickr
Did you know that if you are upside down on your home and process a short sale, that the amount that the bank forgives is scheduled to become taxable in 2013? That means that, for example, if the bank forgives say, $100,000 in order for you to sell you home, that $100,000 would be taxed at your tax rate. For a person in the 25% tax bracket that means they would owe $25,000 to Uncle Sam. If you are having trouble making your payments, I can think of no better reason to do a short sale in 2012. Contact us today. You do have options!

Short Sales Will Explode in 2012

Steve Holderfield — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:14:00 +0000

Here’s a great article that is well worth your attention as you face the new year. Banks are embracing and staffing up for the coming short sale boom. The banks are embracing the short sale as a way for them to save money as they have found that they lose significantly less on a short sale vs a foreclosure. There will be more short sale opportunities 2012 than there were in 2011. Read more about it here: Short sales set to explode in 2012. If you know anybody who is upside down on their home and can’t afford their payment, there is hope for them. Do to www.morethanashortsale.info or call us at 925-408-2911. People who are underwater in terms of their mortgage vs value do have options. Contact us and let us help. Collectively we have successfully packgae over 500 short sales. Our broker, Steve Holderfield, has received a certification a CDPE, Certified Distressed Property Expert and has personally packaged over 500 short sales. The sooner we are contacted the more options we can pursue for you. So don’t delay. Contact us today.
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States With the Highest Foreclosure Rates

Steve Holderfield — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:27:00 +0000

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For the fifth consecutive year, Nevada continues to have the highest foreclosure rate in the country, despite a 31 percent drop in the state’s foreclosure activity from 2010 to 2011, RealtyTrac reports.
Several states continue to see a large amount of foreclosures, which are putting downward pressure on overall home prices.
The states with the highest foreclosure rates for 2011 are:
1. Nevada: 6 percent (1 in 16 housing units received at least one foreclosure filing in 2011)
2. Arizona: 4.14 percent (or 1 in 24)
3. California: 3.19 percent (or 1 in 31)
4. Georgia: 2.71 percent (or 1 in 37)
5. Utah: 2.32 percent (or 1 in 43)
6. Michigan: 2.21 percent
7. Florida: 2.06 percent
8. Illinois: 1.95 percent
9. Colorado: 1.78 percent
10. Idaho: 1.77 percent
Nationwide, 1 in 69 housing units or 1.45 percent of home owners received at least one foreclosure filing during 2011, which is down from 2.23 percent in 2010, RealtyTrac reports.
Source: RealtyTrac

Successful Habits

Anne Skeffington — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:38:00 +0000

Whatever you do again and again turns into a habit. And your habits have a profound effect on the quality of your life. Look honestly at what you do each day. What things are moving you forward, and what things are you doing that keep holding you back? Example – do you come to class or do you skip it? That’s also habit just like Someone with a gym membership who has a goal to lose weight exercising, however they never go the gym and wonder why they remain overweight.
Your actions are yours to control. and your habits are yours to develop or abandon. Make sure when you are working by referral that you leave no stone unturned because doing so becomes a habit. Though habits rarely come or go overnight you can indeed choose and control them. Add an empowering habit, or get rid of the destructive one, to dramatic improve your life. Even a small positive habit will make a big difference. Because each time you do it, you steadily add more power to it. Think of what you can do, beginning right now, to add a habit of success to your life. And watch as that small success, done again and again, turns into plenty of big achievements. I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they do their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change. Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day, while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. Is the cumulative weight of our disciplines that lead us either to fortune or failure. Success is neither magical or mysterious, is that natural consequences of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.

12 tips for maximum productivity

Anne Skeffington — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:25:00 +0000

welcome to 2012 it’s a new year and lets make the most of this new year.
whether you work for yourself or work for somebody we can all benefit from being more productive, so here are my top 12 tips for higher productivity.
Number one health. Everything hinges on as being healthy so it’s vital to take care of oneself enough, exercise frequently, sleep well, eating right. In order to best in the game of life we must take care of our health without our health we have nothing.
Number two make a schedule for the week. I suggest on a Sunday evening take an hour or so and write out your schedule for the week so that you know what you’re doing and you can keep your commitments.
Number three work in time blocks. Try concentrating really hard on one task at a time for about one half hours to two hours. you will find your focus increases when you eliminate all distractions and you will be more productive.
Number four eliminate distractions. What I mean by that is don’t get distracted by answering e-mails when you are working your timeblocks, don’t pick up the phone let it go to voicemail, don’t let a coworker start talking to you don’t get up and get coffee. Focus in on this time..
Number five learn to say no. Pretty simple learn to say no so you can continue on your path to success you don’t have to say yes to everything saying no is very powerful.
Number six avoid office energy drainers. Well we all deal with these, for example, people that come and start gossiping to you, office politics, she said he said, they are things that really have nothing to do with the work at hand. But can certainly delay you into getting your work done.
Number seven steer clear of time zappers. time zappers are people or things that distract you. Checking your Facebook and spending way more time on Facebook then you should. Answering emails, surfing for best travel deals, online shopping etc….you get the picture, anything that takes away time from what we doing.
Number eight concentrate on the most important not the most urgent. In other words first things first, you get the most important things out-of-the-way then you can attend to the everyday “urgent” things, people always say urgent urgent urgent but the truth is nothing is ever never that urgent and you must focus on the most important things that make you money.
Number nine recharge. Recharge recharge recharge. When you have focused your energy on doing important things and working in time blocks. You need to take time to recharge, we all have different ideas of what that might be, for me it definitely going outside, taking a walk at least 30 min, doing yoga stretches, making sure I rest for at least a couple of hours a day and making sure that I sleep well. We expect a lot of ourselves so recharging is number one important thing to do so that we can be our very best when focusing in on making money.
Number 10 invest in yourself. We want to be successful so if there’s opportunity to learn more about whatever trade we’re in, spend the money, learn to earn more. Don’t be shy when it comes to investing in yourself and your progress, sometimes it’s money, sometimes it spending time with other people, mentors, going to seminars, further education, invest in yourself, it always pays off.
Number 11 don’t go it alone. Find people that are like-minded people that can be mentors or accountability partners. Find support for what ever your journey is
And finally number 12 enjoy the journey yes please enjoy the journey, it’s the only one we have.
Thank you for reading, peace, love and happiness and true prosperity

What’s in Store for Housing in 2012?

Steve Holderfield — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:15:00 +0000

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There are 2 answers to this question. 1. Home values are likely to fall another 4 to 5%. 2. It depends on many factors. Most economists seem to agree that 2012 is likely to be a flat to slightly down market in terms of values. However, we do seem to be hitting the bottom in terms of the the dropping values. Also, the number of foreclosures in the California has dropped over 14% in the last year. The number of successful short sales rose 25% of all sales in California last year from 18% in 2010. It is expected that the number of short sales to continue to rise in 2012. The other wild card is next year’s Presidential election which could bring much needed certainty back to businesses and the financial markets which could positively affect job growth. So 2012 will be fun to see unfold. If you or somebody you know needs to buy or sell any Real Estate, please contact me with a name and phone number. I’d be happy to bring my over 30 years of real estate experience to the effort. Have a great New Year! More info here: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2011/12/28/what-s-in-store-for-housing-in-2012
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What Needs To Change To Improve Our Economy?

Steve Holderfield — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:05:00 +0000

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I’ve been in the real estate business for some 33 years. Over that tenure I have endured some pretty daunting markets. In the past I could always point to one or two problems that, once overcome or fixed in some way, would improve the market. It always felt as though it was just a matter of time before things got better. I have to be honest and say this recession has been different. I have been unable to identify the one or two problems that need to be overcome that will make tings start moving again. I just read this article and it is quite obvious that our problem is jobs: http://economistsoutlook.blogs.realtor.org/2011/10/07/job-growth/.
For me, jobs, are not some dead end, temporary government funded stimulus attempt by some Washington bureaucrat, but real, career building, long term employment that an employee can strive at and achieve the rewards that we all desire. Until we see that kind of change in the job market, we are in for more of the same… falling incomes, high unemployment, more foreclosures, etc. The jobs are out there and will be created once our Government gets out of the way and empowers our job creators with lower taxes, certainty about the future costs of running a business, less government regulations, etc. At least that is my opinion.
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Banks Are Healing, But Not Reinvesting

Steve Holderfield — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:21:00 +0000

http://economistsoutlook.blogs.realtor.org/2011/09/28/financial-industry-corporate-profits/
Why? Uncertain regulation by the Feds. Our current administration needs to, in my opinion, find ways to provide confidence in our markets and the future. Unfortunately, I think this means the need to cut the government spending back to the Clinton levels. We just cannot sustain the current spending levels. Another thing that could be done is to get rid of all this overregulation and red tape… Let’s start bt appealing Obama Care!
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At Times Like These, You Need an Experienced Realtor That You Can Trust

Steve Holderfield — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:31:00 +0000

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Does it feel like the current poor real estate market just keeps getting worse? The real estate bust followed by the “Great Recession,” the “Jobless Recovery” and now the threat of a “Double Dip Recession?”
Weren’t we assured that home values were destined to go up and up and up? Failed assurances are on the news every night.
Here’s the bottom line: the choices that homeowners make when they feel they are at the end of their rope will have ramifications for years to come on their ability to qualify for credit, their job prospects, their security clearance and their overall finances. When a family’s financial trajectory is rapidly heading in a negative direction, there’s no substitute for the helping hand of a knowledgeable expert who has the integrity, the experience and the training to reverse the course—someone who is tapped into regulatory initiatives and can separate fact from fiction.
It is my mission to serve as a credible source of information and perspective to homeowners who have found themselves in a tough situation and need help sorting through their options. That’s why I sought out the Certified Distressed Property (CDPE) designation—the most renowned and recognized credential in the distressed property field, and it’s why I continue to stay on top of regulatory and industry developments that impact options available to homeowners who are struggling with their current financial situations.
My message to homeowners who do not know where to turn: there is hope. Foreclosure is not inevitable and neither the government nor your bank wants to see that happen. No one expected to find themselves on the brink of foreclosure, but I have worked with countless clients who have managed to turn their financial trajectory around and get on a path of financial recovery.
It CAN be done! And it would be my privilege to help. I have help many homeowners avoid foreclosure and I can help you. I have assembled a team that can help you through the short sale process, help you with repairing your credit so that in a short time you will be ina position to own a home again. Call, we can help!
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