The new bill being debated to help the slumping housing market is interesting to say the least and you can read a summary about it by clicking here.
The only direct help in the measure to homeowners threatened with foreclosure is $100 million to provide counseling to people threatened with foreclosure and help them in negotiating with their lenders.
So, let’s get this straight – New Home builders and Banks are going to be offered some major tax incentives for their current losses in the tune of Billions of Dollars even though there is no doubt that they made millions just a couple of years ago. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t feel all too bad for them especially since I know some developers that made a pretty penny or two not too long ago. If lenders and new home builders did not have the education to understand that markets run in cycles and blew all of their profits from a couple of years ago, that’s their problem.
One of my best friends from High School who became a developer stopped building in 2006 because he saw it coming and he never even went to college. (Pretty funny when you consider that somebody with no formal education made better decisions then the so called experts that get paid Millions of dollars in compensation packages.)
Let’s face it, the Banks and New Home Builders kept rolling the dice on a hot streak and sevened out. There is ZERO doubt that Las Vegas New Home Builders made an absolute killing in 2004 and anything they built (no matter how bad it was developed to squeeze in as many new Las Vegas homes as possible) sold. Let’s not even get into the millions of dollars that the companies who put together the lax lending packages made.
Here is an update on the bill that the Senate just passed you can read by clicking here.
Now, back to the original quote at the top of this post. $100,000,000 of taxpayers money is being offered for counseling services to help homeowners facing foreclosure to negotiate with the banks. I certainly find that interesting considering there are over a million REALTORS in the United States and while there are a small percentage that have a true understanding and have experience in short sale negotiations with banks, we are here.
The real problem is in the banks themselves. For absolutely free, a homeowner who needs to sell their home but owes more then it’s worth can just contact us for free. A quick interview with some simple question and We can start the process in the negotiations with the bank if the homeowner qualifies and the homeowner is not going to pay commissions or closing costs. (Contact us directly at 702.592.3058 if you fall under this category. It’s called a Short Sale and it certainly requires experience.)
If a homeowner really wants to keep a home but the homeowner is getting buried in debt, you need to contact an Attorney and discuss the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy process.
My opinion, but a short sale or Chapter 13 is far better (and a much more responsible process) then a straight foreclosure.
So, why did I mention that the problem may be in the banks themselves? Well, in a previous post we highlighted an article about a decision maker at Bank of America taking their sweet old time in approving a short sale where the seller was willing to sign a note to pay the difference. The seller just needed to get out and instead of just letting the home go to foreclosure, they did the right thing. (The update on that post was the short sale was finally approved by Bank of America.)
It’s not just Bank of America. I can tell you that Washington Mutual is not being very responsive on another short sale that we are involved in. The seller even offered to sign a note to pay half of the difference to make the deal work which is more then Washington Mutual is going to receive if this Las Vegas home goes through foreclosure. This particular decision maker named Ruth that has been assigned to this deal by Washington Mutual can’t seem to find paperwork that has been sent in four times since March 14th.
In other words, this deal could have been approved a couple of weeks ago and Washington Mutual could have moved on in the world and cut their losses. Instead, they are dragging out a deal where if it goes to foreclosure, they more then likely will receive nothing and that’s the problem.
Trust me, it’s no problem finding several other REALTORS that will share their stories of Banks dragging out the process even further resulting in more losses to the bank (and their investors) then what is necessary. Time is money and Banks should certainly know this.
It is what it is and unfortunately as the old saying goes, sometimes it’s got to get worse before it gets better.
I can’t specifically speak for other real estate markets across the United States but obviously Las Vegas has already gone through the major price drops. The buyer interest is certainly there for Las Vegas real estate that is priced right in today’s market — the banks just need to get it together to help the healing process.
Providing $100,000,000 for counseling services to homeowners to negotiate with banks that can’t even respond to short sales that are in their best interest is just going to be a waste of money with the current process. Until the banks wake up and realize they have a responsibility to their investors to solve the very problems they created in a timely manner, a counseling service (even if the counselors have any experience) certainly is not going to change anything.
Once again, if you are a Las Vegas homeowner and need to sell but think you can’t in the current market, contact us at the information below because we are selling Las Vegas homes. Our Las Vegas real estate marketing resources and experience in short sales will certainly help out. Just giving up and letting a Las Vegas home go to foreclosure without exploring your options is absolutely the wrong way to move forward… especially when it’s already absolutely free and being provided by Las Vegas real estate experts.
Paul Francis, ABR,CRS | Coldwell Banker Premier | 702.592.3058 | Las Vegas Home Value Request
