Foreclosure

Lakeland Foreclosures – Be Prepared to pay Full Price

Every buyer I talk to and represent want to get a great deal when purchasing a Lakeland Foreclosure. Lakeland real estate in foreclosure are the best deal on the market, however, be prepared to pay full price.

Buyers still think that they can make low ball offers on bank-owned properties and go against what Lakeland FL Realtor’s professional advise. Believe me when I share with you my market report for Lakeland Foreclosure and tell you that the listing price may not be sufficient to get your offer accepted. You want the best deal and I want to get you the best deal, but keep in mind when great deals are out there, more and more there are more buyers for one Lakeland Real Estate, which results into a bidding contest.

Here is the proof! Since October 1st, 2009 – 19 single family homes (bank-owned) in Lakeland built in 2000 and after sold for 99% of Listing Price vs. Sales Price (LP/SP).

Looking for a great deal on distressed properties, such as Lakeland Short Sales, Lakeland Pre-Foreclosures and Lakeland Foreclosures, then look no further.

Foreclosure

Lakeland Foreclosure Epidemic may be saved by Short Sale Remedy

With Polk County’s unemployment rates, this foreclosure epidemic is going to continue and it may even grow. Lakeland Short Sales are at an all time high, there are currently over 400 Lakeland homes for sale that are short sales.

The jobless rate in Polk County is at an all time high since 1992 – 13.6%

The jobless rate in Lakeland-Winter Haven for September is recorded at 12.7%

If you are in a situation where you can’t no longer afford to make your mortgage payments because of job loss, divorce, health, or other hardship; a short sale would be your best remedy to save your home from foreclosure and salvage some of your credit.

I’m a member of over 400 real estate agents and growing at Short Sale Superstars, who are committed to help sellers and buyers with short sales in Florida and across the America. Short sales can be difficult at times and this is why this group of professionals is so helpful not only to us real estate agents, but for you, especially. I would say that we are a Short Sale Agent support group, helping each other, solving uncommon issues for our clients, making suggestions that can only help you the seller or buyer. We are not complainers – we are solvers, here to help you.

There is information about lenders, such as Bank of America aka Countrywide, Wachovia, SunTrust, Wells Fargo, Saxon, and Chase just to name a view. This is a place where agents help, inform and reach out to consumer by providing valuable information to make a short sale a success.

There are over 1,000 Lis Pendens filed within the city of Lakeland Florida alone. Since September 1, 2009, 143 Lis Pendens were filed with the Polk County Clerk of Courts for properties that are located in Lakeland – a city with a population of an estimated 97,000 people.

What is a Lis Pendens?

In essence, a formal notice is filed on behalf of the lender, who holds the note on your mortgage. It is considered a lawsuit; however, the homeowner still has possession and the right to sell the property. Short sales can be your best remedy to a foreclosure.

Give me a call at (863) 619-6918 or email me at petra@petranorris.com to arrange for a confidential consultation – I’m here to help.

Foreclosure

Beware of Lakeland Florida Real Estate Foreclosure Scam Artists

First of all, I am not an attorney and therefore this blog is for your information only. If you are facing foreclosure for your Lakeland real estate, beware that foreclosure scam artists preying on you. It is important that you seek an attorney, who specializes in foreclosure.

What is Foreclosure?

Foreclosure is an action by the lender to take back your property. If you have been served with a foreclosure complaint, in the State of Florida you and/or your attorney have 20 days to respond to this notice. It is critical that you hire an attorney, who specializes in foreclosure. You still have the right to fight foreclosure, however hiring an attorney is essential. There are steps you can take when you cannot make or have already fallen behind on your mortgage payments.

• Contact your lender immediately
• Work out a prepayment plan with your lender
• Modify your current mortgage by extending the length of your loan
• Piggy back past due amounts
• Short Sale is also an option

Another option would be Forbearance. Your lender may allow you to delay payments for a short period of time, with the understanding that another option will be used afterwards to bring the account current.

Did you know that your foreclosure notices (Lis Pendens) are public record?

This is the most vulnerable time of your life and scam artists just waiting for you to fall for it with all kinds of tricks up their sleeves:

Lease-Back or Repurchase Scams – they simply try to convince you that they will continue paying your mortgage and renting the home back to you by signing the deed over to them. You could be out of your home and still be held responsible for your mortgage. Don’t be fooled!

Bait and Switch – posing as mortgage brokers or lenders offering to refinance your loan with affordable rates and payments by con you into signing over home ownership instead of refinance documents. Don’t be fooled!

Phantom Help – charges you high fees upfront for work you as a homeowner could do yourself. Don’t be fooled!

Foreclosure Prevention Specialist – phony counselors, if it is too good to be true turn the other way. Don’t be fooled!

Don’t sign any documents, such as your deed to your home. The Federal Trade Commission’s web site has some valuable information regarding avoiding foreclosure as well as info for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help you spot, stop, and avoid them.

Since October 1, 2008 the Florida Foreclosure Fraud protecting homeowners is in effect.

In 2008, the foreclosure rate increased by 133% from 2007, an estimated 385,000 Florida homes facing foreclosures in the state of Florida. Unfortunately, this is heaven for scam artists and criminals a niche market by defrauding homeowners making false promises to save homeowners from foreclosure.

Foreclosure rescue consultants and/or equity buyers are prohibited from starting services without first executing a written agreement with you, the homeowner, and charging upfront fees before completing or performing all services as agreed. There are further protections with regard to cancellation of such agreement, and other prohibited acts of offering or providing foreclosure related services you should read in this bill.

Foreclosure

Lenders are more apt to approve Short Sales for Lakeland Real Estate

Foreclosing on your home is not cheap for the lender and with bank-owned inventory on the rise in the Lakeland real estate market in and around Polk County, FL.  Banks are more inclined to encourage short sales.  First of all, it is very time consuming from the start of a foreclosure to finish, which can take more than a year and the cost of foreclosure is far below their net from taking back to property, maintaining and managing the property.

It is all about the lender’s bottom line!

Banks are also encouraging short sales when there is a 2^nd mortgage or a home equity line of credit with different lenders. It may complicate matters more but both lenders have to be in agreement to facilitate and close a Lakeland short sale. The second lien holder will not allow a zero dollar amount and the first lien holder offers very little to the second lien holder, which may require you to owe a note and pay for some of the loss.

Depending on your situation, the lender may only ask you for a small amount of the deficiency to be paid back and the terms are mostly very favorable. Please take that into consideration when evaluating your situation before, now and after.

Foreclosure should never be your first step solving your crisis.  A loan modification may have helped you short term and now you are perhaps in the same position again having difficulties or are behind on your mortgage payments.   Call me at (863) 619-6918 today for a confidential consultation to do a Lakeland Short Sale or email me directly Petra.Norris@servinglakelandfl.com

Foreclosure

Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure – Lakeland Real Estate

I receive a lot of phone calls, emails and questions about Lakeland Florida short sales, foreclosure, and more and more I’m asked about Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure.

I am not an attorney and this information below is by no means legal advice, it is for your information only and is the opinion of the author.

Definition – In Florida, a deed in lieu is giving your house back to your lender instead of the lender follow through with foreclosing on the property owner.

This transaction is “easier said than done”. Although a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure is similar to a voluntary repossession where you are signing over the deed to your property and the lender agrees to cancel the mortgage. There is, however, a long list of requirements that the lender requires the owner to complete; followed by an extensive evaluation and deliberation of your situation before you are permitted to sign over the deed to your property. Generally the lender draws up the Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure Agreement that must be signed by you the homeowner/grantor, witnessed and notarized. After execution of this agreement, the deed in lieu must then be delivered to the lender/grantee, which then will be recorded at the local clerk of court into the public records.

There are certain criteria you must meet first for your lender to accept a Deed in Lieu

• Lien free except for your mortgage
• Current on property taxes
• Current on fees, such as Homeowners Association, Condo fees, etc.
• Your offer to turn in your deed to the noteholder must be approved.
• It may be treated as a foreclosure when purchasing a home in the future

Please note that prior to engaging in a consensual deed in lieu, which may fail during the course of process that there are also specific requirements that you must adhere to. The borrower must have suffered a hardship such as loss of job, sickness, dissolution of marriage, etc;

• The property is generally an individual’s homestead or former homestead; hence generally not for abandoned properties or investment properties
• The borrower must have exhausted other options / financial resources
• The property must have been on the market at fair market value for at least 90 days
• No other liens may be recorded on the property, i.e. 2^nd Mortgages, judgments from creditors, tax liens.

In some cases, the lender may still come after you with a default judgment. Negotiation is a must – you have to negotiate with the lender and require that they do not come after you after you turn in the deed for a deficiency judgment when they sell the home at a loss. Whatever the bank sells the property for they will come after you for the balance. But you may be able to get this waived.

You must get this in writing from your lender that they are going to waive their right to a deficiency against you and you have to get an attorney to review the paperwork to make sure you are in the clear.

There is also of course credit issue with short sale, deed in lieu, and foreclosure, which I will address in another blog – Stay tuned!

Copyright © 2009 http://www.petranorris.com| All Rights Reserved

Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure – Lakeland Florida Real Estate

Petra Norris – Realtor®

Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

CDV TransAtlantic, Inc.

P.O. Box 92050 – Lakeland, FL 33804-2050

Telephone (863) 618-6919