Going Through Foreclosure is

Never Fun

However… understanding the foreclosure process will certainly help out in getting rid of the fear/stigma associated with a foreclosure. Homeowners often seem to be under the impression that the big bad lender is going to send people over to kick down the door and throw you and all of your belongings out on the street. They get a notice and they think they have to move out right away.

Not true… I suggest you read over my Las Vegas Foreclosure Process page for an understanding if you, a friend, a family member or your landlord are in the foreclosure process and what can be done. Once you understand the process… foreclosure is actually very tolerable with the right planning considering the circumstances. You are stuck with a home worth far less then the mortgage, your income has gone down, the mortgage payment is far higher then renting the same type of property.. face it.. you need to change some things to get back on track with life.

We can help you do that.

Sharing Real Life Examples of Real People

handling Foreclosure

I’m not going to specifically give names or the properties we’ve helped people with but I will go over their story (with their permission) and what we did to help.

Today… we have a fairly successful small business owner who owns a store that primarily sells home furnishings. As we all know, the slowdown of the free money flow from using Homes as ATM machines has pretty much ended which has caused a significant decrease in income for many business owners.

I was first contacted by this person from a referral of a commercial real estate agent that we successfully sold their Las Vegas Home as a short sale. They were thrilled and pretty much could not believe how well everything went… so like many of our clients, they referred us to somebody else in a rather bad situation.

This referral was a particular person that owns several homes and even land in Las Vegas. The general myth you might see out there on the unregulated internet is that anybody who owns more then one home can not do a short sale. NOT TRUE. Anybody who tells you this is obviously does not have an understanding of the true requirements to qualify for a short sale in the first place.

I first met this person at their beautiful Las Vegas home that they had purchased for over a Million dollars during the peak of the Las Vegas real estate boom. They had been trying for months to do a loan modification with their lenders and the best their lenders would give them is around $50,000 off of the principal and 1% off of their interest rate which really did not help them out too much considering the value of the Luxury Home had dropped over $400,000 in value. The worst part was it had taken over four months for their lenders to give them those terms. They had stopped making their mortgage payments and the foreclosure process had already started with a notice of a trustee sale on the near horizon. We obviously did not have much time to get everything going, market the home and find a buyer before their lender became the proud new owner.

To make things even a little more difficult, they had two loans on the property from two seperate lenders.

The stress this particular seller was going through was obviously evident and I sensed they really did not trust just anybody which is fine. They did tell me that their commercial real estate agent had spoken very highly of us and that’s really the only reason they were even going to attempt to do a short sale on this particular home in the first place. Otherwise… they were just going to let it go through foreclosure and give it back to the bank. I did explain what a short sale would do to their credit vs. a foreclosure on their credit report and that certainly motivated them to really want to do a short sale.

I went through the listing paperwork needed including evaluating their financials to make sure they had gathered everything that I needed to submit to their lenders.  A trustee sale was already scheduled by their lenders and they made the decision to move out of this particular home to their previous home that had a far lower mortgage balance that they could afford.

Marketing the Las Vegas Home for Sale

Once I was done… the magic starts in marketing the home and finding a highly qualified buyer at the best price possible ASAP to greatly improve the chances of the lender approving the short sale. This includes extensive internet marketing and the services backed by a company such as Prudential that markets everywhere. Keep in mind a Trustee Sale is already scheduled and we need a solid offer that will help the lenders agree to a short sale.

Why would lenders even consider approving a Short Sale?

Las Vegas short sales have been classified as a waste of time by those not in the know or uneducated in the process. It’s been shown several times that Short Sales for the most part get more money for the lenders then an actual foreclosure when it’s all said and done. The lag time (time value of money) and process of a foreclosure is generally more expensive to a lender then just approving the short sale and allowing a happy homeowner get out leaving the home in one piece. (It’s not too often you come across a short sale that is completely trashed.) So I’ve personally always harped that helping homeowners from going to foreclosure that can’t do a loan modification or are relocating is in the best interest of the lenders and home values in general.

They obviously want the most money possible…. They also want to work with their clients in helping them out in these hard economic times so that somewhere down the road when the economy impoves… their clients are not going to hesitate to use them for any future loans. Certainly a VERY smart business practice. (If your lender helps you out… who wil you use for your next loan?)

I’ve come across the tactic of listing Las Vegas homes far below market value just to get a buyer in and I find this practice somewhat a waste of time for everybody involved in the current Las Vegas real estate market with sales taking place all over.

Some Las Vegas short sale services have little marketing skills or systems in place… which means they are going to get a lower price for your home to submit to the lender which decreases your chances of the lender approving the sale. Make sure you take a look at the numbers of Las Vegas short sales actually closing escrow on my last post.

Short Sale Offer Two Weeks after it was Listed for Sale

Two weeks after we listed this Las Vegas short sale for sale, we got a great offer in from another Las Vegas Realtor® that was actually from the past Las Vegas real estate company we used to be with. He knew we know what we are doing with short sales and was comfortable in working with us to buy this great Las Vegas Home. Once the property actually closes escrow, I will sincerely thank him for having the patience during the process.

Presenting the Offer

Here is the whole point of this story that I’m sharing. Two weeks after putting the property up for sale, I went to the homeowner to have the purchase agreement signed. They had already moved to their new home which was actually the home they owned and lived in before they had purchased their dream home. The sense of relief that I experienced vs. the first time I met them at their old home was as evident as night and day from our first encounter. It was sort of late in the evening and the sellers were still unpacking but they took the time to invite me for some pizza as we sat around their table for signing.

This is when the Seller Really Opened up to me and

what a Great Story of Moving On in Life

Foreclosure is never a great experience. But how somebody handles it tells me of what type of person you are and how they are able to adapt to the changes of the U.S. economy and moving forward in life.

The story is quite moving….

They worked over 12 hours a day running their own business to get ahead in life which gave them less time with their family. The seller has taken very little time to enjoy life since moving to the United States when they were 24. No movies, no restaurants and pretty much no life. Their children are now in their teens.

The Short Sale Sellers are Now enjoying Life

Their stress levels have gone down significantly and it’s MORE THEN obvious in their personalities. They have moved to another home that they can afford and actually enjoy all of the fantastic things that Las Vegas has to offer. Basically… they are no longer married to a mortgage they can’t afford with the current economic conditions. They could have just closed up shop but they are true fighters and have made changes to their business which also includes buying nothing on credit. These are the people that make a community a real community.

They don’t want a government bailout… they don’t want free money. They just want a chance to move forward in life and get back on their feet. They honestly admit they made a mistake by getting too leveraged out but they are not blaming anybody.

We had Two Weeks to get the Short Sale Approved

An impossible task but we did get the trustee sale extended from the lenders. This one was obviously much more difficult then the typical short sale but the great news is that after several extensions and some incredibly hard work, the Short Sale Just Got Approved.

It took tons of hard work and patience but probably the most difficult short sale possible has been approved. It certainly breaks the rules of the rules you might see on the internet and this is a great time to remind you that when it comes to rules for Las Vegas Short Sales…

It Depends on the Seller’s current Financial Situation

While not everybody can qualify for a short sale, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions out there on what automatically qualifies or does not qualify somebody to do a short sale. I have yet to come across any two home sellers that have the exact same financial situation, the exact same jobs, the exact same homes or the exact same expenses. The statistical probability of ever coming across this is probably astronomical.

Tough to come across any set rules when you consider these factors..

Paul Francis, CRS
Prudential Americana Group
Las Vegas Short Sales
702.592.3058