HUD Home Program

Every Friday I receive a report containing all of the Notices of Election and Demand  that took place that week along the front range.  A Notice of Election and Demand  (NED) is the very first step in the foreclosure process.  During the peak of the housing bubble bust, we were seeing 700 to 1000 NEDs being filed every week in Colorado.  Over this past year, the number has dropped, but continues to still be high.  There have been weeks where the numbers were in the 300 range, but over the past couple of months, they have consistently been in the 500 range.  For the week ending on December 16, 2011, there were 583 Notices filed.

Below, is the Foreclosure Process Timeline Highlights as described by Land Title Guarantee Co:

 

 

Foreclosure Timeline Highlights - Effective January 1, 2008

Pre-foreclosure:

• Lender decides to foreclose and elects to foreclose with the Public Trustee on their Deed of Trust or through the courts judicially on their PromissoryNote

• Attorney hired and documentation sent from lender

• Attorney prepares Mailing List and all documentation for presentation to the Public Trustee

• Attorney sets hearing for Rule 120 Order that authorizes Public Trustee to auction property if no cure occurs before sale date—Public Trustee must have prior to sale Cure period:

• Notice of Election and Demand recorded by Public Trustee within 10 working days

• Determination made by Public Trustee if property non-agricultural or agricultural within 10–20 days—based on legal description of property

• Sale date set from NED recording date

• 110–125 days for non-agricultural property

• 215–230 days for agricultural property

• NED and Combined Notice sent to owner, any guarantor on the note, and occupant only

• Notice of Intent to Cure must be filed 15 days prior to sale date

• 45–60 days prior to sale, NED and Combined Notice sent to all parties on Mailing List

• Sale date published for 5 consecutive weeks prior to sale

Sale occurs and Redemption begins:

• Certificate of Purchase to highest bidder recorded by Public Trustee

• No owner redemption period.

• Any junior creditor with lien recorded prior to NED or with any involuntary lien such as a judgment,HOA lien, mechanic’s lien or IRS lien that records after the NED, can file a Notice of Intent to Redeem within 8 business days

• 1st junior creditor: 5-19 business days to redeem

• 2nd or after: 5 business days to redeem

• Redemption prior to 12 noon on last day

• If junior creditor redeeming, Certificate of Redemption and Public Trustee’s Deed

• If no redemption, Public Trustee’s Deed to holder of the Certificate of Purchase or any assignee

• All other liens no longer affect property after Public Trustee’s Deed unless HOA, mechanic’s lien(s), municipality lien(s), taxes, omitted party or senior lien(s)

 

Disclaimer: This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is distributed with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal or accounting advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

 

 

December 8, 2011, my friend Jason Gosser over at Guild Mortgage is reporting that 30 year fixed rate loans for Conventional, FHA and VA are all at 4.0% (4.22% APR) right now.  With these rates, it clearly gives the buyer the option of either purchasing more house for the same payment, or buying down and having a significantly lower mortgage payment which frees up funds for other joys in life.

This is still a buyer's market.  Record low interest rates continue to help buyers manage their budget while purchasing the home of their dreams.  There are plenty of homes on the market that make for a very attractive alternative to renting.  The forecast is that it will be a while before we see any significant increase in values.

 

 

 

I often get some really valuable advice from people with whom I do business and I like to pass those along to you.  Here is some current information about how to help get a loan approved and how come items on a Credit Report are viewed and handled...

We talk with many people who have had to put their home buying plans on hold because they got bad credit advice from poor lenders.  Here are the biggest goofs we see people making with their credit:

1. Never pay old collection accounts!  When you pay off an old account that has been turned over to collections or has been charged off, the date of last activity for that account becomes the current date.  Your score goes down!  Neither Fannie Mae, FHA, nor VA require collections and charge offs to be paid to get approved for a mortgage.  Some lenders may have underwriting overlays and require it, but we work with plenty of lenders that do not.  If a lender tells your clients to pay off collections, they just don't know what they're doing.
2. Never close credit card accounts!  Closing accounts lowers your score.  If you pay off an account, keep it open and use it once a month to buy something inexpensive.  That way, the bank won't close your account for inactivity.  There's no need to pay interest to keep your score high, either.  Charge something and pay it right off.
3. Never dispute an account thinking it will be removed from your credit report.  There are new underwriting guidelines that force lenders to underwrite your loan manually if there are disputed accounts.  That means you no longer get to use the higher debt-to-income ratios that the automated underwriting software allows.  If you have questions about the difference between automated underwriting and manual underwriting, please call us.  You absolutely need to know the difference and the advantages offered through automated underwriting.
4. Never use a credit repair company.  They are rip-offs, 100% of the time.  We get offered huge referral fees from credit repair companies all the time.  If they are willing to pay us $1,000 to refer our clients to them, how much do you think they are charging those people to "repair" their credit?  A lot more than the referral fee!  We can show anyone how to fix their credit for free.  It's a service we have offered for years now and it has closed many, many deals for us and for the agents who refer their clients to us.

Getting a loan approved is easy - if you know what to do.  The Mortgage Experts know what to do!!!

Want to make sure your loans close?  Call the Mortgage Experts at 303-345-3683.

Freddie Mac to Require More Equity in Purchased Loans


Freddie Mac said last week in a bulletin to lenders that performance of loans with loan-to-value ratios of less than 5 percent has been “unacceptable,” and starting June 1, the GSE will no longer purchase them.

“In our continuing effort to support responsible lending and sustainable homeownership, we are reducing the maximum loan-to-value (LTV), total LTV (TLV) and Home Equity Line of Credit TLTV (HTLTV) ratio requirements to 95 percent for all conventional mortgages we purchase,” the memo read.
Relief Refinance Mortgages are excluded from the new requirements.
The idea that borrowers with more equity in their homes are less likely to default has been a popular subject lately. A study released in February by the Federal Reserve said homeowners with equity in their homes have more flexibility when attempting to sell their homes in troubled times.
Freddie Mac currently accepts loans with an LTV of 97 percent or less, but acknowledges purchases of loans of this type have been “minimal in recent years.”

The bottom line here is that if the Freddie Mac will not purchase loans with less than 95% LTV, the folks writing mortgages will be forced to raise the minimum down payment to 5% so the loan will be marketable.  Get ready.  This will mean that home buyers will need a little extra cash in their pocket when shopping for a home.

Published in the Denver Business Journal....

 

The number of Coloradans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest level in nearly two years, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The number of Coloradans receiving continued unemployment benefits also fell, to 54,293, down nearly 27 percent from mid-July and at the lowest level seen since January 2009.

A total of 3,143 people filed for new benefits in Colorado during the week ended Sept. 11, the smallest number since the week ended Sept. 27, 2008. The four-week moving average, which smooths out fluctuations, was 3,594, down from 3,838 in the previous four-week period.

Nationwide, initial jobless claims rose unexpectedly by 12,000 to 465,000 last week, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. State initial unemployment claims data lags national data by a week.

In a growing economy, jobless claims normally drop below 400,000 per week nationwide. Although national jobless claims have been trending downward, recovery has been slow.

This week, the National Bureau of Economic Research announced that the recession officially ended in June 2009.

Meanwhile, the number of Coloradans who have been receiving unemployment benefits for more than one week continued to decline. It's now down by nearly 20,000 from 74,026 in the week ended July 17.

Read more: New jobless-benefits claims at 2-year low in Colorado - Denver Business Journal

Both Colorado Springs and Denver have been named top housing markets by investors by Forbes.

A North Carolina-based real estate research firm called Local Market Monitor helped Forbes assemble the list, which was published on September 10.

Specifically, the study was "looking for markets where strong job growth is predicted, the population has expanded rapidly and home prices are at or near their bottom."

Denver was ranked as the 8th most attractive market for investors. Colorado Springs came in at number 6.

Both earned points for having a high population growth over the last ten years.

Raleigh, North Carolina was named the most attractive city for investors.

Yes, it is a buyer's market.  While it is not the buyer's market of the boom days, it is a good buyer's market for investors to hold and rent and smart buyer's who are buying for the long haul (5+ years) and have pretty good credit.

There is a decent inventory on the books and loan rates are still at an amazingly low point.   I just had a deal come together in Castle Rock on a $215,000 property.  The buyer has good credit and got a 30 year fixed FHA loan at 4.25% with no buy down points and a down payment of 3.5%.  The payment on the principal and interest for the $212,143 loan is only $1,043.62 per month.  I remember paying that much on a $100,000 property in the early 1990's. 

Property prices seem to be stabilizing. It is still a "by area" scenario.  Prices are still slowly sliding down in one area, while they are starting up just a little ways down the road.   If a buyer is looking to own for more than 5 years, it is a good time to buy with today's prices and interest rates.   Even if the property value goes down a little more, it will return and increase as the market begins to grow again.   If you are in for the longer haul, you are not likely to get hurt.  

There are not a lot of fix and flip opportunities right now, but for investors looking to buy and hold as rental property, there are deals to be made that can create good cash flow.  It is about location and being patient while you look.