Arizona Active Adult Communities

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Foreclosure

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Purchase and Remodel a home with only 3.5% cash out of your pocket

Today I attended a class on the FHA 203 K loan.  It has always been one of those things that sounds really good but is practically impossible to get done.   But I met a team of peeps all working together and getting the FHA 203k loans closed and people into their beautiful homes.

One of the challenges in todays market is that so many of the homes (foreclosures and short sales) are in poor condition.  Having items and issues that need repair in order to get a loan on the property; and with both short sale and foreclosure properties being “As Is” transactions, and no repairs being completed by the seller, getting a loan approved, funded and closed can be like pulling teeth without any Novocain.

In comes the FHA 203K team!

Together, a lender who will complete this type of loan; the home inspector, termite inspector, general contractor, HUD inspector, and a handful of other people that together know what is required, are working in unison to help people purchase these distressed properties, make the needed repairs and do some remodeling and updating at the same time.

How does it work?

The home buyer finds out what they will qualify to purchase.  Working backwards from there, if you qualify for 200,000 and you are going to put 20-35,000 into repairs and remodeling; look for homes priced around 160,000.  At the same time you have the home inspection, also bring in the general contractor and maybe the HUD inspector too.  Find out the cost for what is needed to be repaired and what you would like to have remodeled.  The cost of repairs and remodeling are rolled into the final loan amount. At closing the general contractor gets in the house and makes the repairs and remodeling, a few weeks later the home owner gets to move into their beautiful newly re-done home.

This takes an experienced team, a well oiled machine and fantastic communication.  I am glad to know the players! and to have been invited to join the team and help a few more buyers get into their dream home.

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Why isn’t the bank doing a short sale?

I had a great question asked this week. The person asked me about a house in their neighborhood. It had been vacant for a while and they were interested in the stats and possibly purchasing it. I looked up the house and found out the property was scheduled for foreclosure in less than a month.

The question: “Why isn’t the bank doing a short sale?”

The consideration for a short sale is requested by the owner of the home. It may be in the owner’s best interest to do a Bankruptcy, and let the property foreclose. If the owners had consulted with a tax attorney, they may have been advised to move forward in the manner they were.

Doing a short sale is not the choice of the bank. They (the bank) cannot opt to sell the property, as they do not own it. The current owner could at the last minute pay the bank the fees owed, renegotiate their loan and get out of default. The foreclosure process allows the owner to get out of trouble if they can.

The bank is not at liberty to do anything until they have ownership of the property.

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Foreclosures in the Active Adult Communities

With today days real estate market I get asked about foreclosures all the time. Specifically about foreclosures in the adult communities. As people are looking thru the listings from our website (Active Adult Communities in Arizona) they don’t see many foreclosures. I am not hiding them, or keeping them from the selection available, I promise.

It is the nature of the buyer in Adult Communities. They are much more conservative. Many if not most, purchase with cash. If they require a loan, the amount down is usually greater than 10 or even 20% and the loans are all fixed rate loans. Only investors in those communities purchased with interest only, adjustable loans. And most new build communities did not sell to investors.

So we don’t see many home foreclosures in the adult communities. When they do come on the market, many times was an investor that got in over their heads, or some major personal issue, or the property passed on to the family and they couldn’t handle paying the additional mortgage.

The result, the housing prices in the adult communities have not been affected by foreclosures like the all aged communities. Instead, the conservativeness of the buyers, and the balance of retirement accounts has kept the buyers away, bringing the prices down in those communities.

In conclusion, the adult communities see far fewer foreclosures, and though the prices have come down with the real estate crisis, they prices have not come down as much as the all aged communities.

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Castles in the Sand

This is a cautionary tale of buying foreclosed homes. The documentation you don’t get when you purchase a home is just as important as the documentation you do. One of the things missing in a foreclosure purchase is disclosure on the history of the property.

… A young buyer found the home of his dreams. He won the bid and eagerly awaited his closing date. In his excitement he would come by the neighborhood, walking his dog, meeting some of the neighbors, and peeking in the windows of his soon to be new home.

His enthusiasm was growing each day, until he peeked in the window of his soon to be castle and discovered the ceiling of the kitchen had fallen and was strewn across the counters and floor. Water was pouring down into the kitchen and upon further inspection into the living room as well.

The beautiful new carpet, the fresh paint, new kitchen and bath cabinets. All ruined…

With this type of news, the neighborhood gathered to commiserate with the saddened buyer. From this gathering it was revealed that this house had had similar issues in the past. In fact when the bank foreclosed, they had to do the same repair, and apparently the source of the water leak had not been corrected by the banks cleanup crew.

Now, the future of this young and disappointed buyer is still not known, but the banks cleanup crew is back again, doing the same job, with less mold to remediate, due to the speed the water damage was reported and addressed….

And the Bank, did they disclose the repairs they had to do prior to selling the property – No –

Will the bank disclose the damage and repairs that are being done today… No

Because when you purchase a bank owned property you are purchasing “As Is”, “Where Is” and you not only do not receive disclosures, but sign documentation that says you can’t sue the bank for any items you discover in the future either.

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New Real Estate Scam to be aware of


Brooklin Bridge

Originally uploaded by [desta]

I don’t mean someone selling the Brooklyn Bridge: When you are working with money, there is always a scam around. Some are easy to detect, others a bit harder.

This past week I was at a training class sponsored by Lawyer Title. They identified and shared with us the newest scam to be aware of. Sellers having a “dirty” Release of Lien. The release has been filed with the recorder’s office, so when the title company goes to provide clear title, there are no mortgage notes attached to the property. (Those have been released)

The scam is: the release if fraudulent. The seller still owes. The seller continues to make their payments, so no one is aware and once the home closes they walk away with all the proceeds from the sale of the home. Then they stop making payments and the house starts to foreclose.

When a call is made to the previous mortgage lender, the fraudulent actions are exposed. If this is detected by the title company prior to closing, the buyer is out of luck. They will get their earnest deposit back, but they won’t be getting the house. If it is not detected and the house closes, the title company is in for a big payment to the sellers bank as they guarantee clear title to the buyer.

So if a seller recently paid off their mortgage, and has the ‘paperwork’ to prove it. Be aware. Things may not be as they seem.

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Home Owners Associations – some not doing so great

Recently, at a continuing education class, the instructor shared some facts about HOA’s. There are currently around 11,500 Home Owners Associations (I am not sure if that is in the state, or in the county I didn’t write that tidbit down) and of those HOA’s 3000 of them are upside down financially.

I was surprised to learn that as little as 15% of properties going into foreclosure in an HOA can cause financial stress to the balance sheet.

With our residential purchase contract, you the buyer, do get to check out and approve during the inspection period, the CCR’s (rules and regulations of the HOA). We are now suggesting adding in that the buyer to also receive the current financial records for the HOA. Knowing what the financial status is of an HOA, you will have a better idea if there are going to be large assessments in the future, does the HOA have reserves, and are they adding to the reserves each month.