A Great Reason to Sell Now

by The KCM Crew on May 8, 2014 in For Sellers

The price of any item (including residential real estate) is determined by ‘supply and demand’. If many people are looking to buy an item and the supply of that item is limited, the price of that item increases.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the supply of homes for sale is still below the normal 6 month level of inventory. That means less competition.


However, a recent study revealed that 71% of current homeowners are considering selling their home this year. Putting your home on the market now instead of waiting for this increased competition to come to the market might make a lot of sense.

Buyers currently in the market are motivated purchasers. They want to buy now. With limited inventory available in most markets, a seller will be in a great position to negotiate their best possible price.

If you are ready to sell and want the best marketing plan and ideas around, give us a call and let's get your house ready to SELL.

Noemi Cardoso
Local Office. Local Agents. Local Knowledge.
William Raveis Real Estate
www.DistinctiveHomes-NE.com
Cell: 508-558-1945

Selling a House? Don’t Overprice It

by The KCM Crew on July 15, 2013

in For Sellers, Pricing

 

There is no doubt that the housing market is coming back nicely. What, if anything, could slow down the current momentum? We believe it may be sellers’ over exuberance when it comes to pricing. There is little doubt that house prices have appreciated over the last twelve months in most regions of the country. However, with both the inventory of homes for sale and interest rates increasing, we have to be careful to not over judge what the market can bare.

Trulia just reported that asking prices have jumped dramatically and the increase is accelerating:

• Year-Over-Year prices jumped 10.7%
• Quarter-Over-Quarter prices jumped 4.1% (16.4% annualized)
• Month-Over-Month prices jumped 1.5% (18% annualized)

No expert is expecting home prices to shoot up 18% in the next twelve months. If anything, price appreciation may slow as rates and inventories increase. Investors will begin to slow their purchases and the first-time buyers expected to take their place will be working within a pre-set budget in many cases.

Buyers’ Purchasing Power

Let’s look at an example: A young couple is looking for a home and have predetermined that their budget will only allow them to spend $1,000 a month on a mortgage. At today’s mortgage rate of 4.5%, they could afford a $200,000 mortgage ($1,013 principal & interest). However, if rates jump to 5%, they would have to lower their mortgage amount to $190,000 in order to keep their monthly payment where they need it ($1,020). At 5.5%, the mortgage would need to be no more than $180,000 ($1,022).

The Impact on Prices

This decrease in buyers’ purchasing power will have an impact on home values going forward. We do not believe it will cause a decrease in prices. However, we do believe it will likely cause current rates of appreciation to slow.

If you are thinking about selling your home, don’t get carried away with current headlines about home price increases that have taken place over the last twelve months. Instead, call a local real estate professional. They will be best prepared to explain where prices are headed over the next six months.

Ready to sell and move forward? If so give me a call and let's discuss the best marketing strategy to get your home SOLD!

Noemi Cardoso
William Raveis Real Estate
Licensed in MA & RI
Cell: 508-558-1945
www.DistinctiveHomes-NE.com

Short Sale Question: Who Owns the Loan?

by Brandon Brittingham on April 29, 2013

The short sale process can be very complex. Every bank and investor has a slightly different program and set of guidelines they follow. Since each investor has different rules and guidelines, it can help you considerably to find out who the investor is before starting the process.

Whether you are a homeowner in need of help with a short sale or an agent trying to help a homeowner, one of the best things you can do is to understand the situation you are getting into. A key piece of this short sale puzzle is finding out who actually “owns” the loan not just who services the loan.

Understanding the Back-end Process

To understand short sales, you need a basic knowledge of the back-end process of the mortgage market.  A few years ago, when the market was booming, mortgages would be originated by a servicer such as Wells Fargo and then sold between the big mortgage investors like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Today, in most cases, you are dealing with a servicer like Wells Fargo or Bank of America that “service” the loan but do not actually own the loan. The bank who originally lent the money is unlikely to still own it unless it is a small community or regional bank. In fact, Bank of America and Wells, the two biggest servicers, only own about 8-10% of their portfolio. The rest of their inventory is made up of loans they service for other investors. The investor guidelines ultimately determine whether to provide relocation money on the short sale, if there will be a debt release on the sale and also define a slew of other details.

How to Find Out Who Owns Your Loan

1.) First, you can look on your mortgage statement. If the loan is FHA backed it will have an FHA MI line-item on your statement that usually says” FHA insurance”. You can also look at your original Deed of Trust, as it will have your FHA case number on it. If you want to see if your property is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, you can also find it directly under the loan look-up tools available on their websites. Here are the links:

Fannie Mae  Freddie Mac

2.) If your loan is not owned by one of these three entities you can ask the servicer of the loan who owns it – though they will not always tell you verbally. You could also research it by getting the title pulled. Chain of title will not always be conclusive either. However, in many cases, it has helped make it easier to “track” down the investor.  In some cases, it could also be owned by the servicer; Wells Fargo could be the servicer and also the investor on the loan. This is called a “portfolio” loan. You can also request for your servicer to disclose in writing who the investor is if they will not verbally disclose that information. This is called a “qualified written request, or QWR”.  On its website, the U.S. Department of Urban Housing and Development (HUD) provides a sample QWR and gives a brief explanation of this process.

3.) Another way to find out who owns your loan is through the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, Inc. (MERS). MERS is a company that was created by the mortgage banking industry. It maintains a database that tracks mortgages for its members as they are transferred from bank to bank. You can look up a loan to see if they have the investor information here.  

Different Guidelines Used by Different Investors

The three biggest mortgage investors in the country are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA. VA is another big investor but does not have a portfolio nearly as big as the other three mentioned. With the exception of FHA/VA (because they insure their own loans), there also could be a mortgage insurer who provided insurance on the loan. The reason this is important to understand is that, when there is a servicer, investor and mortgage insurer on the loan, all three of them have to agree to the terms of the short sale. It is very important to find out from the very beginning of the process the identity of the actual end-investor on the loan. An FHA-backed mortgage has a totally different process for a short sale compared to a Fannie Mae loan.

Every investor has a different set of guidelines they set for short sales and foreclosure procedures so you have to understand that ultimately it is up to the end investor-not the servicer. The servicer has their own guidelines but they do not make the final decision. It is important that you know who the investor is because there will be times when you may have an issue with a servicer and you have to go to the investor to get it resolved.

There have been many transactions where the servicer and I disagreed on a particular issue and I went to the investor and got the approval.  So make sure going in to this situation you know everyone involved and go to the servicer’s and the investor’s website to get familiar with their guidelines and any specific documents they may require.

Attention Agents:

On your third party authorization letter (the letter that gives you permission to speak to the bank on the homeowners’ behalf) always put the investor as well as the servicer so that if later you have to reach out to the investor you already have permission from the seller to do so. This also puts the servicer on alert that you know what you are doing and have already researched finding out who the end-investor is.

If your family is going through financial hardship, you are not alone. Many families have gone through this process and made it out. We have experience on dealing with short sales and are here to assist you. Feel free to contact us for a private appointment to discuss your options before it is too late.

Noemi Cardoso
William Raveis Real Estate
911 Main Rd, Westport MA 02790
Cell: 508-558-1945
www.DistinctiveHomes-NE.com
Noemi.Cardoso@Raveis.com
Fluent in Portuguese and English
 

Can You Get Me the Best Price Available?

Whenever a person sells anything, they hope to get the highest price possible for the item. This obviously applies when a homeowner sells their house. In many cases their home is the largest investment they have ever made and hope to get the highest possible return on that investment. For that reason, they will want to see that you can give them the right advice in order for them to get them ‘the best price possible’.

Here are the things we (the KCM Crew) believe that you need to help the seller accomplish this goal.

A COMPETITIVE MARKET ANALYSIS (CMA)

Be prepared to share with the seller the completed sales of houses similar to theirs that have taken place in the last 90 days. Also share with them their current competition: homes similar to theirs that are now on the market and will be attracting the same purchasers.

AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE SUPPLY & DEMAND THEORY

The price of anything is determined by the supply of that item in relationship to the demand for that item. The direction the value of houses in a marketplace is headed can be determined by this principle. Here is a good guideline:

1-4 months available inventory identifies a sellers’ market with prices probably appreciating
5-6 months available inventory depicts a normal market with stable prices
7+ months available inventory identifies a buyers’ market with prices probably depreciating

INSIGHTS INTO WHAT MAY IMPACT PRICES IN THE NEXT 6 MONTHS

The volatility of a market can often be foreseen by examining the underlying data points that may influence prices in the future. (For example, if an area has a large percentage of homeowners 90 days behind in their mortgage payment, there is a good possibility that foreclosures will begin to increase in the region. An increase in distressed properties usually results in a decrease in home values.) Insights like this should be shared with the homeowner. (By KCM Crew )

If you are thinking of selling contact me for a FREE market analysis and to learn about our Market Plan to get your home SOLD.

Noemi Cardoso
RE/MAX Welcome Home
Cell: 508-558-1945
Home Office (Westport) 774-264-9085
www.DistinctiveHomes-NE.com
noemi@DistinctiveHomes-NE.com