Foreclosures and Short Sale Information

Oct

Katy Texas Real Estate News: All Foreclosures Halted!

October 7, 2010 By Angela Kraushaar Leave a Comment

Good news, at least for the time being! The Texas Attorney General’s office has halted all foreclosures and all sales of properties previously foreclosed on. In addition, all evictions of persons residing in previously foreclosed on properties has been halted. This ruling is law until mortgage companies have completed a review of their company processes and have identified issues and provided responses to the Attorney General’s office on or before October 15, 2010.

For more detailed information, see the Attorney General’s letter to mortgage companies.

The Attorney General suspension notices were sent to 30 mortgage-loan servicers doing business in Texas.

If you or anyone you know is interested in Katy area foreclosures and/or short sales, please call me at 713-253-5678.

Jul

Top 5 Foreclosures in the Katy Real Estate Market

July 27, 2010 By Angela Kraushaar Leave a Comment

This month the chosen top 5 Katy Foreclosure Homes come from 3 of the top selling neighborhoods in the Katy area (Cinco Ranch, Grand Lakes, & Falcon Point). You can view all currently available foreclosures on the Katy Foreclosures section of my website. The Katy area has an average DOM (days on market) since January 1, 2010 of 57 days. Commanding a 95.69% of close price versus listing price.

Cinco Ranch, the nations number 1 selling community known for the area schools and amenities, has three of the top five. Cinco Ranch has averaged over the last 3 months an average closed home sales price of over $92 per square foot. The three homes that are currently in foreclosure in Cinco Ranch range in list price from $60-$77 falling well below the current list price per square foot in the area. Check out: 21323 Somerset Park Lane, 1310 Irish Mist Court and 4419 Branchmead Court to see if any of these homes meet your expectations.

The fourth foreclosure home to make our top 5 lists comes from the prestigious golf course community of Falcon Point. Falcon Point, also located in Katy Independent School District and located on a world-renowned golf course, currently has an $82 price per square foot for closed homes. 1310 Sand Pines is listed at $74 per square foot, not a tremendous savings, but well worth a look at.

The fifth and final foreclosure home to make our list, is located in Grand Lakes. Grand Lakes, located conveniently to the Westpark Tollway, I10 and the Grand Parkway is also located in the acclaimed Katy School District. With an average closed sale price of over $100 per square foot, this neighborhood is highly sought after. 6118 Breezy Hollow Lane is currently listed for $78 per square foot, making it one of the best deals currently on the market.

If any of the properties listed appeal to you, or if you would like to see any other properties currently on the market, foreclosure or not, please don’t hesitate to give me a call, 713-253-5678. You can view available foreclosures on my Katy Foreclosures section of my website. My name is Angela Kraushaar, and I am Your Katy Real Estate source.

May

Foreclosures May Dramatically Rise

May 22, 2010 By Angela Kraushaar Leave a Comment

Click here to view: Katy Foreclosures -

Who said the amount of foreclosure inventory was on the decline? Well guess what, you are wrong! Several newspapers have been reporting that there is a light at the end of the foreclosure tunnel, thus suggesting that the amount for foreclosure filings was on the decline. This information is very misleading. There is no true number for the amount of foreclosure filings that are truly pending. Homeowners are actually still waiting for many lenders to decide if their loans qualify for the loan modification program, and if so will their modification be permanent. These homes are not counted as a foreclosure at this point; however, their loan is in trouble and will most likely end up in foreclosure status.

A homeowner tries first to contact their lender to see if instead of foreclosing on their property they can try to modify their loan to more favorable terms. The majority of loan modifications lowers the interest payments on a loan, but leaves the principal balance unchanged. The balance owed is still usually high enough to send a modified home down the foreclosure road at some point in the very near future. Not every homeowner who applies for a loan modification will receive one; many homeowners are turned down by their lenders.

Analysts over at Barclays Capital reportedly estimate that banks and other lenders now hold close to 650,000 homes as of January 2010. This number is up a reportedly 4.6 percent just from the month of December 2009. The projections are now that the supply of foreclosed homes will dramatically rise by April of this year before ever starting to decline. The amount of foreclosed home inventory continues to distress the housing market. This foreclosure inventory depresses the prices on other homes in their market, making homes in high foreclosure markets worth less than the mortgages owed on them. Homeowners are upside down in their homes with no way to get out. Bottom line, things will get worse before they get better. Let us hope more people can hold on to their homes than have to let them go.

May

Short Sale: The Seller's Liability

May 9, 2010 By Angela Kraushaar 2 Comments

Sellers in a short sale may still be personally liable for full payment of the note if certain contingencies are not met. It is important that an agent representing a seller in a short sale advises their seller of the importance of getting a release of personal liability agreement from the lien holder. Without this essential agreement, the seller will remain personally liable and can and most likely will be taken to court for full repayment of the outstanding note. There are contingencies set out in the TREC Short Sale Addendum and the seller at closing may inadvertently waive them. It is very important that a seller’s agent is versed and understands all potential ramifications, so that they may explain these ramifications to their seller. These contingencies are dependent upon the lien holder’s consent to release the property from its lien in exchange for less than 100 percent payment of the mortgage, and also the lien holder’s ability to forgive the seller’s personal obligation to pay the balance in full. A title company must be confident that upon payment of the net sales proceeds to the lien holder, that the property will be released from the lien so that a title policy can be issued to a new buyer. If this assurance cannot take place, a closing will not be able to take place. However, with that being said, a title company never obtains a release of the seller’s personal liability. Sellers have been caught off guard when, after closing, they receive a deficiency note from their lien holder that obligates the sellers to pay the remaining short sale balance. Make sure that as a seller agent, you know that the release of the property from the lien is not the same thing as a lien holder’s agreement to dismiss the seller of personal liability for payment of the remaining balance. You, the seller’s agent, must understand that a separate written agreement from the lien holders is needed and you must protect your seller and inform them of the difference.

Apr

New Program to Aide Short Sales

April 18, 2010 By Angela Kraushaar Leave a Comment

On April 5^th, a new government program will go into effect that is aimed at speeding up the slow transaction process associated with short sales. Typically, lenders negotiate prices for short sales. A short sale is when a seller is offering the home for sale for less than is owed to the mortgage company. A short sale was usually only found by submitting an offer and waiting. Often a buyer would wait for many months for a response. After much delay, if you had a counter-offer from the bank, you would know your offer was within range, if there were no counter-offer, the buyer would know they were too low. Sometimes after such delays, the buyers typically would loose interest in the property moving on to a property with a faster process.

This new program implementing on April 5^th will hopefully change the process on short sales for the better. The federal government will start offering incentives to lenders to do more short sales. The rules of the new program will also standardize the process making your chances of negotiating a short sale property greater.

Before the government program was implemented, when a seller of a distressed property brought a buyer interested in a short sale, the bank would order an appraisal and then decide whether the offer was within range. Under the new program, banks will order an appraisal or broker’s price opinion before the property is listed for sale. This information will then be shared as to what minimum net proceeds they are willing to accept with the financially distressed seller. If a buyer is now brought and their offer is equal to or greater than the agreed pre-approved amount, the lender must accept the offer within 10 days.

Remember not all sellers are eligible for this program. Also, remember if you find a property that you like, chances are you will not be the only interested buyer. Make sure your offer is free of contingencies and always get a home inspection.