Fairfax VA – A homeowner – we’ll give him the alias Peter – recently asked me a question about  foreclosures.

Peter, who was facing foreclosure himself, asked, “I am six months behind on my mortgage payments. I just got the tax bill for 2010 in the mail. Should I pay it?”

Peter asked me what the consequences would be if he didn’t pay his mortgage.  He wondered if his home would be auctioned to pay the taxes.

Here is the answer to Peter’s Question: It all depends on what his plans are and how tight he is on money.

Most people in Peter situation fall into one of 3 categories.

Category A. They want to keep their home. These people are usually already working on a loan modification with their lender to save their home.  They might even be working a second job in order to save up as much money as possible.

Category B. They don’t want to keep their home. They might be thinking about a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.

Category C. They cannot afford to keep their home, but want to stay there as long as possible. They might have bought an expensive home and now are no longer making enough money to afford it.  Still, they can afford to rent a smaller, less expensive home.

By the way, here’s some additional background on Peter.  He is facing a Florida foreclosure.  According to Florida state statute, the county can’t auction his home to pay the taxes for at least two years. And usually, it’s 5 to 7 years before that actually happens.

So Peter has a long time before he absolutely must pay back that tax bill.  And usually, the lender will pay the tax bill for you.  But why would they do that, you ask?

By paying the tax bill, they are protecting their interest.  If the house gets sold at auction, the lender’s first mortgage may get wiped out entirely.

To prevent that, they will pay back taxes and tack it onto what you owe them.

Plus, in Florida, a lender’s failure to pay your tax bill could cost them big bucks.  The interest rate on delinquent property taxes in Florida is 10-18%. That can rack up pretty fast.

Here was my ultimate recommendation to Peter for how he should handle his tax bill:

If he falls into Category A: Pay the tax bill as soon as possible AFTER your loan mod is approved. But before he does that, Peter should try  to negotiate a successful loan modification with his lender.

Most lenders want a “good faith down payment” to modify a loan. So until the modification goes through, Peter saves all his money for that.

In the event that the loan modification is not approved, Peter will have wasted money paying the taxes. It will be just one less payment for the bank after they foreclose.

If he falls into Categories B or C: Do not pay the tax bill. The lender will end up paying the bill after they foreclose. Or, it will be paid as part of a short sale. That’s not something Peter needs to concern himself with if he doesn’t even plan to keep the home.

Thinking about a short sale? I can help you short sale your property and never pay the bank another penny.

Thanks for reading this,

Thierry Roche

Thierry is a Real Estate Agent at RE/MAX Premier, and Host of Talk Radio’s, ‘Inside Real Estate’

Phone: (703) 322-0600.

Thierry@ThierryRoche.com

Thierry is an advocate for Homeowners in Distress. Thierry has made it his personal mission to help as many people as possible avoid foreclosure and keep their home.

Thierry Roche specializes in loan modifications and short sales in Fairfax Virginia. Fairfax Loan Modification Help. Fairfax Short Sales. Fairfax Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax County Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax VA Short Sales. Fairfax Realtor.

Copyright 2011 Inside Real Estate, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This is not intended as legal, technical, or tax advice. Please speak with a licensed professional before making any decision. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed as of the date of writing. The views expressed here are Roche’s personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Premier. This information is provided as a courtesy to our viewers to help them make informed decisions.

Fairfax VA – I recently wrote a post about how banks will lose more money through a foreclosure than a short sale.  In fact, a recent study by Boston Consulting Group showed that a lender will net 20% more money on a short sale versus a foreclosure.

The reason for this is because short sales typically sell for a higher price than a foreclosure.

One reason is because the home owners usually take care of a home that is bound for a short sale than a home that is facing foreclosure.

Each foreclosure doesn’t just affect the lender and the home owner involved, however.  The truth is that they have a profound effect on the national economy.

After all, most economic experts will tell you that housing is one of the biggest drains on today’s economy. Thus, every single foreclosure that sells for less money than it’s worth just pours more salt in the wound.

Plus, foreclosure takes 18-24 months to complete.

And for every month that a foreclosed home is on the market, the banks lose more and more money from lost interest and property tax revenue.

This drags down the banks finances, meaning they have less money to lend out, which causes another drag on the economy.

I bet you didn’t know just how much one foreclosure can effect the local, regional and national economy.

That’s why we recommend that Fairfax VA home owners pursue a short sale before a foreclosure.

Short sales don’t stay on the market nearly as long as foreclosures and they often sell for higher prices.

More revenue to the banks means that those banks are willing to lend more money, which will stir activity in the local economy.

Thinking about a short sale? I can help you short sale your property and never pay the bank another penny.

Thanks for reading this,

Thierry Roche

Thierry is a Real Estate Agent at RE/MAX Premier, and Host of Talk Radio’s, ‘Inside Real Estate’

Phone: (703) 322-0600.

Thierry@ThierryRoche.com

Thierry is an advocate for Homeowners in Distress. Thierry has made it his personal mission to help as many people as possible avoid foreclosure and keep their home.

Thierry Roche specializes in loan modifications and short sales in Fairfax Virginia. Fairfax Loan Modification Help. Fairfax Short Sales. Fairfax Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax County Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax VA Short Sales. Fairfax Realtor.

Copyright 2011 Inside Real Estate, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This is not intended as legal, technical, or tax advice. Please speak with a licensed professional before making any decision. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed as of the date of writing. The views expressed here are Roche’s personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Premier. This information is provided as a courtesy to our viewers to help them make informed decisions.

Fairfax VA -Recently I read a book by former real estate agent Robert Ringer.  The book addressed the power of persistence in ensuring success.

He told a story about phoning a call center and I’d like to share it with you.

When he called, the first person told him that he wouldn’t be able to buy a product in bulk for a certain price.

Instead of arguing with her, he hung up and called back.

The next person who answered at the call center agreed to sell Robert the product in bulk for the price he wanted.

Robert was able to get what he wanted a lot faster and easier  than if he had spent time arguing with the first person.

In his book, Robert told another personal story about how persistence paid off for him.

When he was trying to change his account information with a phone company, the first person told him he would need to print out and sign a form and get it notarized and mailed to the company.

Not wanting to jump through all of those hoops, he hung up and called back.  The second person changed Robert’s information for him in the computer system within seconds.  Goal accomplished.

So what does this have to do with short sales?

Like Robert, we are persistent in getting the best outcome for you, our client.   If the first person won’t give us what we want, then we will ask someone else. Now, this can’t be use in all stages of the short sale.

But, it can be used to increase our odds of success. Remember, our goal is to help you wipe out the upside down debt, get rid of any tax liability, and keep your credit intact.

We might even be able to get you a $3,000 short sale incentive from your lender.

Thinking about a short sale? I can help you short sale your property and never pay the bank another penny.

Thanks for reading this,

Thierry Roche

Thierry is a Real Estate Agent at RE/MAX Premier, and Host of Talk Radio’s, ‘Inside Real Estate’

Phone: (703) 322-0600.

Thierry@ThierryRoche.com

Thierry is an advocate for Homeowners in Distress. Thierry has made it his personal mission to help as many people as possible avoid foreclosure and keep their home.

Thierry Roche specializes in loan modifications and short sales in Fairfax Virginia. Fairfax Loan Modification Help. Fairfax Short Sales. Fairfax Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax County Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax VA Short Sales. Fairfax Realtor.

Copyright 2011 Inside Real Estate, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This is not intended as legal, technical, or tax advice. Please speak with a licensed professional before making any decision. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed as of the date of writing. The views expressed here are Roche’s personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Premier. This information is provided as a courtesy to our viewers to help them make informed decisions.

Fairfax VA -Individuals facing foreclosure might wonder if it’s best to do a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure and just give their home back to their lender.

A deed-in-lieu does have its benefits – for  the lender that is.

Lenders like them because it speeds up the foreclosure process.  After all, a deed-in-lieu is basically like pleading “No Contest” during a criminal trial.

But contrary to popular belief, a deed-in-lieu does not release you from any unpaid debt automatically. There’s still a chance that the lender will come after you five years later after you’ve gotten back on your feet.

And even if you do decide to do a deed-in-lieu, you’re still going to have to spend several hours – I’m talking as many as 10 hours – simply filling out paper to your lender before you can be approved.

It’s a little ridiculous if you ask me.  After all, why should you have to submit paperwork to make it easier for your lender to foreclose on your house?

That is why I recommend a short sale instead of a deed-in-lieu.

When you decide to pursue a short sale, you’ll avoid the humiliation of a foreclosure.  Plus, most short sales mean that you can stay in your home rent free for 3 to 6 months!  You can even get up to $3,000 from HAFA.

And compared with foreclosures, short sales allow you to be able to purchase a new house a lot sooner.

With foreclosures – even those brought about by a deed-in-lieu – you are ineligible for a new mortgage for 5 to 7 years!  When you short sell your home, you can buy another home in 2 years.

Thinking about a short sale? I can help you short sale your property and never pay the bank another penny.

Thanks for reading this,

Thierry Roche

Thierry is a Real Estate Agent at RE/MAX Premier, and Host of Talk Radio’s, ‘Inside Real Estate’

Phone: (703) 322-0600.

Thierry@ThierryRoche.com

Thierry is an advocate for Homeowners in Distress. Thierry has made it his personal mission to help as many people as possible avoid foreclosure and keep their home.

Thierry Roche specializes in loan modifications and short sales in Fairfax Virginia. Fairfax Loan Modification Help. Fairfax Short Sales. Fairfax Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax County Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax VA Short Sales. Fairfax Realtor.

Copyright 2011 Inside Real Estate, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This is not intended as legal, technical, or tax advice. Please speak with a licensed professional before making any decision. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed as of the date of writing. The views expressed here are Roche’s personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Premier. This information is provided as a courtesy to our viewers to help them make informed decisions.

Thinking about a short sale, but can’t pay your homeowner’s association dues?

Fairfax VA – Many people think that if they have any unpaid homeowner’s association dues, they are ineligible for a Fairfax short sale.

This is not true.

Typically, when you short sell your home, your lender will pay the association dues for you.

It’s also important to keep in mind that a homeowner’s association dues are minuscule when compared to the overall short sale value.

And since lenders know they’ll come out better financially after a short sale rather than a foreclosure, they’re more willing to foot the bill for those unpaid dues.

Recently, I experienced this situation with one of my clients.

I showed a house that received a $119,900 short sale offer. The lender rejected that offer. The home was foreclosed on and sold for $96,400. That means that lender lost $23,500 by rejecting that short sale offer.

In fact, lenders are also willing to pay your title insurance and property taxes as well. Lenders will do all of this  in the name of avoiding a foreclosure and losing even more money.

The Bottom Line: All of the costs are borne by the bank in a short sale. You pay nothing.

Thinking about a short sale? I can help you short sale your property and never pay the bank another penny.

Thanks for reading this,

Thierry Roche

Thierry is a Real Estate Agent at RE/MAX Premier, and Host of Talk Radio’s, ‘Inside Real Estate’

Phone: (703) 322-0600.

Thierry@ThierryRoche.com

Thierry is an advocate for Homeowners in Distress. Thierry has made it his personal mission to help as many people as possible avoid foreclosure and keep their home.

Thierry Roche specializes in loan modifications and short sales in Fairfax Virginia. Fairfax Loan Modification Help. Fairfax Short Sales. Fairfax Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax County Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax VA Short Sales. Fairfax Realtor.

Copyright 2011 Inside Real Estate, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This is not intended as legal, technical, or tax advice. Please speak with a licensed professional before making any decision. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed as of the date of writing. The views expressed here are Roche’s personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Premier. This information is provided as a courtesy to our viewers to help them make informed decisions.

Fairfax VA – Short sales have a reputation for being frustrating and complicated.   Here is a story that illustrates why short sales have earned this reputation.

Let’s say you are negotiating a short sale with a lender.  You call them and get transferred to a call center in another country.  They are helpful and give you a fax number where you can send your short sale paperwork.

A few days after you send the package, you call to follow up.

They say that they have not received any paperwork from you.  You confirm the fax number with them to make sure you sent it to the right place.

“No, that is not the correct fax number”, they tell you. “Here is the correct fax number.”

That’s why you should always follow up with your lender to ensure that you sent your paperwork to the right place during a Fairfax short sale.

Mistakes like this happen all the time during a short sale.  That’s why you need to work with an agent who will follow up on a short sale at least twice a week.  This will ensure your best chance for success.

But most agents are not persistent enough to consistently succeed with short sales.  They have several other things going on at any given time: showing a home buyer a house, working on a marketing plan for a seller, etc.

You’re better off working with an experienced Fairfax real estate agent who specializes in short sales.

Everyone knows focus is the key to success. I have chosen to focus on short sales. Because of this, my short sale sellers know that I will handle their file properly.

Thinking about a short sale? I can help you short sale your property and never pay the bank another penny.

Thanks for reading this,

Thierry Roche

Thierry is a Real Estate Agent at RE/MAX Premier, and Host of Talk Radio’s, ‘Inside Real Estate’

Phone: (703) 322-0600.

Thierry@ThierryRoche.com

Thierry is an advocate for Homeowners in Distress. Thierry has made it his personal mission to help as many people as possible avoid foreclosure and keep their home.

Thierry Roche specializes in loan modifications and short sales in Fairfax Virginia. Fairfax Loan Modification Help. Fairfax Short Sales. Fairfax Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax County Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax VA Short Sales. Fairfax Realtor.

Copyright 2011 Inside Real Estate, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This is not intended as legal, technical, or tax advice. Please speak with a licensed professional before making any decision. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed as of the date of writing. The views expressed here are Roche’s personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Premier. This information is provided as a courtesy to our viewers to help them make informed decisions.

Fairfax VA – Wells Fargo is the second biggest short sale lender with whom we work.  As one of the largest lenders in the country, Wells Fargo has a Loss Mitigation Department that is much better than a lender’s loss mitigation department.

This national bank has two loss mitigation departments.  One is located in Fort Mill, South and the other is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Here is what we do to negotiate a short sale with Wells Fargo.

First, we call 1-877-216-8448 and ask the representative what the short sale fax number is. Once we have that, we fax the entire short sale package.

The current fax number to send paperwork to is 1-866-969-0103 but this number changes often and usually without any notice.  That’s why I always call to make sure.

I also must get your authorization to speak on your behalf to your lender. This requires that you fill out and sign a form giving me this authorization.  I will then send this form to Wells Fargo’s Authorization Fax, which is currently at 1-866-917-1877.

As soon as the short sale is approved by the owner of the loan, Wells Fargo will send us their Specific Addendums that all parties must agree to before a short sale is finalized.

They are the following:

Arms Length Addendum. This basically means there are no conflicts of interest with the short sale.  For example, you aren’t selling the home to your best friend for a low price.

Closing Date Extension Addendum. They want the buyer to sign this and agree to close within 30 days of the short sale approval.

Listing Addendum. This must be signed by the seller and the listing agent. It gives Wells Fargo a little more protection on the short sale.

Contract Addendum. This must be signed by the seller and the listing agent. Basically it spells out how a Wells Fargo Short Sale works.  Your signature is your agreement to the terms.

Thinking about a short sale? I can help you short sale your property and never pay the bank another penny.

Thanks for reading this,

Thierry Roche

Thierry is a Real Estate Agent at RE/MAX Premier, and Host of Talk Radio’s, ‘Inside Real Estate’

Phone: (703) 322-0600.

Thierry@ThierryRoche.com

Thierry is an advocate for Homeowners in Distress. Thierry has made it his personal mission to help as many people as possible avoid foreclosure and keep their home.

Thierry Roche specializes in loan modifications and short sales in Fairfax Virginia. Fairfax Loan Modification Help. Fairfax Short Sales. Fairfax Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax County Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax VA Short Sales. Fairfax Realtor.

Copyright 2011 Inside Real Estate, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This is not intended as legal, technical, or tax advice. Please speak with a licensed professional before making any decision. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed as of the date of writing. The views expressed here are Roche’s personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Premier. This information is provided as a courtesy to our viewers to help them make informed decisions.

Fairfax VA -  I recently saw an amusing video about loan modifications. In it the guy called Wells Fargo “Hells Fargo.”

Evidently, it can sometimes be difficult to get a loan modification because they’ll often lose your paperwork.

You have to talk to people in other countries where English IS NOT their first language. The people at the lenders treat you like dirt.

Plus, you’ll hear how much they love their customers but then wait for several hours on the telephone for a straight answer from a representative.

If you have experienced this, then you know how frustrating it is. But is the loan modification process really worth all of that stress?

I don’t think so. Most of these loan modifications won’t even reduce your payments. While it’s true that some do, most just cause the home owner more heartache.

A better solution would be to rent a similar home for less money. Here is one example of this. A homeowner gets a loan modification from her lender.

She borrows money from family for the upfront payment. Then, she suffers for a year while she pays a payment that is more than she can afford.

Money is so tight she can barely afford to pay for food. Little does she know that she could rent a similar house for 30% less per month.

I see this story happen more often than not. People don’t realize how competitive the rental market is today. They also don’t know how much better off they will be mentally. If you are experiencing a loan modification horror story, then stop.

You do have options. There may be another home you and your family can rent. Then you can short sale, wipe out the upside down debt, and move on with your life.

Thinking about a short sale? I can help you short sale your property and never pay the bank another penny.

Thanks for reading this,

Thierry Roche

Thierry is a Real Estate Agent at RE/MAX Premier, and Host of Talk Radio’s, ‘Inside Real Estate’

Phone: (703) 322-0600.

Thierry@ThierryRoche.com

Thierry is an advocate for Homeowners in Distress. Thierry has made it his personal mission to help as many people as possible avoid foreclosure and keep their home.

Thierry Roche specializes in loan modifications and short sales in Fairfax Virginia. Fairfax Loan Modification Help. Fairfax Short Sales. Fairfax Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax County Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax VA Short Sales. Fairfax Realtor.

Copyright 2011 Inside Real Estate, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This is not intended as legal, technical, or tax advice. Please speak with a licensed professional before making any decision. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed as of the date of writing. The views expressed here are Roche’s personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Premier. This information is provided as a courtesy to our viewers to help them make informed decisions.

Fairfax VA -It is very stressful to be upside down and facing foreclosure. You are worrying about everything.

You wonder: How will I pay back that huge debt? When will I ever be able to stop worrying about money? “I remember when I did not worry about money. How did I do that?

A short sale can end all of these worries.  It removes all of that uncertainty, making you one step closer to sanity!

Before a short sale, you were probably worried about how hard it was going to be to pay back the $100,000 the bank lost. Now you  don’t have to worry about that anymore.

You’re able to do better at work. Why? Because you won’t be  stressed out at home anymore.

After several months, you’ll discover that you are no longer worrying about money. You’ll have your life back. The fights over money stop.

Best of all you’ll find that you start enjoying life again.  You’ll realize that money isn’t everything and certainly not something to worry about.

You’ll find that you can repair your credit and buy another house in the future. More importantly you can enjoy their life together as a family.

Thinking about a short sale? I can help you short sale your property and never pay the bank another penny.

Thanks for reading this,

Thierry Roche

Thierry is a Real Estate Agent at RE/MAX Premier, and Host of Talk Radio’s, ‘Inside Real Estate’

Phone: (703) 322-0600.

Thierry@ThierryRoche.com

Thierry is an advocate for Homeowners in Distress. Thierry has made it his personal mission to help as many people as possible avoid foreclosure and keep their home.

Thierry Roche specializes in loan modifications and short sales in Fairfax Virginia. Fairfax Loan Modification Help. Fairfax Short Sales. Fairfax Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax County Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax VA Short Sales. Fairfax Realtor.

Copyright 2011 Inside Real Estate, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This is not intended as legal, technical, or tax advice. Please speak with a licensed professional before making any decision. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed as of the date of writing. The views expressed here are Roche’s personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Premier. This information is provided as a courtesy to our viewers to help them make informed decisions.

Fairfax VA – I recently talked with a Fairfax VA homeowner who was facing foreclosure.  She heard that trying for a shore sale would be difficult.

Someone told her,  “Banks never accept short sale offers. You are wasting your time if you try one.”

Consequently, she didn’t even try for a short sale and she lost her home to foreclosure.

The reality is: Many agents close short sales day in and day out. Although short sales are a little more complicated than most real estate transactions, they are possible and quite favorable compared to foreclosures.

Think about the first time you tried to ride a bike.  You probably crashed and fell off, right? But after a few tries, you got the hang of it.  And by the end of the day you were riding your bike around everywhere.

That’s how short sales are.  At first they can seem very frustrating.  But once you learn how the process works, they become easier.

And you realize that short sales are just like anything else in life. Once you figure out how the system works, then it becomes easy.

All of a sudden, you understand what terms like BPO, FHA, VA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, deficiency, servicer, sliced and diced, and delegated mean. And pretty soon, you can negotiate a short sale with confidence.

Just like everything else in life, experience and persistence are the keys to short sale success. Experience because you have learned what to do. Persistence to keep on going when others would quit.

While not every short sale is going to get approved the first time, persistence does eventually pay off.  Especially if you learn what the lender is looking for after that initial failed short sale attempt.  That’s what will make it easy to get the next short sale offer accepted.

Thinking about a short sale? I can help you short sale your property and never pay the bank another penny.

Thanks for reading this,

Thierry Roche

Thierry is a Real Estate Agent at RE/MAX Premier, and Host of Talk Radio’s, ‘Inside Real Estate’

Phone: (703) 322-0600.

Thierry@ThierryRoche.com

Thierry is an advocate for Homeowners in Distress. Thierry has made it his personal mission to help as many people as possible avoid foreclosure and keep their home.

Thierry Roche specializes in loan modifications and short sales in Fairfax Virginia. Fairfax Loan Modification Help. Fairfax Short Sales. Fairfax Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax County Short Sale Realtor. Fairfax VA Short Sales. Fairfax Realtor.

Copyright 2011 Inside Real Estate, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This is not intended as legal, technical, or tax advice. Please speak with a licensed professional before making any decision. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed as of the date of writing. The views expressed here are Roche’s personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Premier. This information is provided as a courtesy to our viewers to help them make informed decisions.