I need YOUR help. I am in a contest at work and need to get 10 referrals PER DAY. These are people who need to sell thier home, buy a home or build a home.

Think really hard, it could be someone who just had a baby and needs more room, it could be somone who is retiring and needs a smaller home. It could also be a neighbor who is down on thier luck and needs to liquidate fast!

I need 10 per day so please, please help. This is a monumental task and I can only do it with the help of my freinds, family and business partners.

We have a new listing that is right around the corner from my brothers' elementary school, Highcroft. Talk about knowing the neighborhood...I also know where the mean dogs might be!

Taylor' surgery is over and she is recovering. Mad as hell coming out of anethesia. Despite being mad she is doing good.

My new computer is arriving tomorrow! Do you think it will make me more creative? :)

Great townhome in Treetop, will this be :ate's new home?

Updating from phone.

Ping test to Twitter, FB and Blog.

Short Sales: What Does this Mean for Buyers?

Here’s a quick review of Short Sales. This week I am going to talk about Short Sales for Buyers.

A Short Sale is the sale of a house in which the proceeds of the sale fall short of what the owner still owes on their mortgage. Many lenders will agree to accept the proceeds of a short sale and forgive the rest of what is owed on the mortgage when the owner cannot make the mortgage payments. In many scenarios the homeowner owes the lenders as much or more than the current value of the property, therefore, selling the property via traditional methods is no longer possible. By accepting a short sale, the lender can avoid a lengthy and costly foreclosure process, and the owner is able to pay off the loan for LESS than what is owed. This will prevent a foreclosure form being on the homeowner’s credit report.

When a home is listed as a Short Sale in the Multiple Listing Service it usually means that the seller is attempting to sell their home before the foreclosure process takes place. The seller still owns the property but since it will be sold for less than the seller’s loan amount, all contracts need to be approved by the bank.

Sounds fair, right? We have had ACCEPTANCE DATES on these contracts take anywhere from 5 weeks to several months. The banks have so many properties in the foreclosure process that currently acceptance dates are 90 days and above.

What does that mean to the buyer? Well, the buyer makes their initial offer and NO ONE responds their offer for over 3 months. You don’t know if it’s accepted, rejected or if the bank is going to counter offer.

Banks don’t always take the highest offer. There are other items that make the purchaser’s offer attractive. Often the bank gives much consideration to the type of financing or CASH offers.

Short Sale properties are almost always sold “As Is”. The seller makes no repairs and ALL inspections are the responsibility of the purchaser. The purchaser can still have an inspection and make the determination if they would like to continue with the contract from the inspection information, but any request for repairs are usually turned down.

The banks usually will not accept a contract with a Home Sale Contingency. On rare occasion, they will accept a contract with a “Home Sale Contingency” when the purchaser’s home is under contract and only needs to close.

If you are a patient person, the process can work quite well. Joann and I have had a couple who saved over $100,000 and another first time buyer who saved about $35,000. In both cases, the buyer’s had the patience of saints. Since banks operate by their own set of rules, much of our sales contract has bank addendums added to comply contractually with bank rules.

Short sales are great for:

*Investors
*Buyer’s who don’t have anything to sell OR can make a purchase not contingent on the sale of their existing home
*Buyer’s who are renting with a flexible lease
*A buyer who is not emotionally attached to the purchase

Short sales aren’t great for:

*Buyer’s who need to use the proceeds from a sale
*Buyer’s who need a specific closing date
*Buyer’s who need a fast closing
*Buyer’s who like a fast, stead fast responses

So, there you go! When you hear someone talking about a Short Sale and what a great deal it was, you have additional information to make the determination if that’s the route you would like to take.

Our next blog will be addressing Short Sales once again and how the affect Sellers.

Foreclosures, Short Sales and Trutee's Sales: What Does this All Mean!

If you have listened to the radio, watched TV, or read a newspaper in the last 12 months you have heard words such as foreclosure & short sales. I wanted to give you a quick definition of a foreclosure vs. short sale.

Foreclosure
This is the process used to enforce a payment or obligation on real property when a deed of trust (mortgage) is in default. These notices are usually filed after missing 3 or 4 payments.

Short Sale
A sale of a house in which the proceeds of the sale fall short of what the owner still owes on their mortgage. Many lenders will agree to accept the proceeds of a short sale and forgive some of what is owed on a mortgage when the owner cannot make the mortgage payments.

Trustee’s Sale
When a homeowner is delinquent on their mortgage (typically 90 days past due or more) their underlying lender will attempt to foreclose on the property. This is done to protect the interest of the lender, and to attempt to recoup as much of the original investment (if not more) back to the lender and to their investors. A “Trustee” will prepare the Notice of Trustee’s Sale. This notice includes, among other information, a description of the property, an estimate of the amounts owed (the “opening bid”) and the time, date and place of the sale of the property. The Notice of Sale is then sent to a legal newspaper to publish the notice once each week for 3 consecutive weeks, the first publication to occur at least 21 days before the sale is conducted. A Notice is also posted on the property.

I know when you hear about purchasing foreclosed properties images of bidding on the court steps probably come to mind. Yes, that does happen at the end of the foreclosure process. However, what happens more frequently is that someone or some company will purchase homes at the court house and then sell the property or some properties will still be bank owned.

Some people commonly mistake a short sale for a foreclosed property when actually, a short sale happens before the Trustee Sale. A short sale can benefit the home owner from going to foreclosure. A foreclosure negatively impacts your credit for years. There are some credit ramifications associated with short sales as well, but once again, it will not impact a credit history as negatively as foreclosure will.

I hope this made this murky mess a bit clearer for you. Look soon for the following articles.

Short Sales for Buyers
Short Sales for Sellers
Homeowner’s: What You Should Know about Foreclosures

Welcome 2009

We couldn't be happier that 2009 is here. The New Year motivates us for change, and this year is no different. We are working really hard to provide you with updated, useful information so we can remain your real estate experts.

In the spirit of change, our office has moved. We are now located in Chesterfield Valley at 17050 Baxter Rd. This locations positions us just minutes from St. Charles County. It has great highway access so we have quick access to St. Louis and surrounding communities.

Our new office is in the MidWest Bank building on the corner of Chesterfield Airport and Baxter Roads. If you frequent Annie Gunns, you have driven past many times. Feel free to drop in and check out the new diggs.

Also, expect to see changes soon to our website incorporating Facebook, Linked In, and more.

And, check or subscribe for the latest blog posts!

As always, we'd love to hear from you.

Julie