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Who better to answer this question about how qualified your Realtor is to negotiate your short sale besides Michigan’s premiere Short Sale Negotiator and Trainer?
Joel will teach you the exact questions to ask so you can learn your Realtor’s chances of helping you with your short sale so you can avoid a Michigan foreclosure.
Check out the video on this page.
So you are behind on your house payments and think you have it handled. That’s great!
What is your plan B?
We talk to lots of people every week who thought they had it handled, until the lender denied their workout or Mom & Dad didn’t come through with all the money they promised to loan to them, or the settlement got delayed by months.
Life happens. That’s why you need a plan B.
If you are facing a Michigan foreclosure, you don’t have a lot of time to feel sorry for yourself, depressed, angry, and distracted by all that has gone ‘wrong’ in your life.
I once read an article by Dan Kennedy, a very successful marketing consultant. His philosophy for life is “Expect the best, insure against the worst (by having a plan B), respond creatively to everything in between.”
We are many people’s plan B. If you can’t keep the house, your next best option, heck your only option, may be to get out from under it by selling it. That is where we can help. Even if you owe more than it is worth, we can help. That’s what short sales are all about – and we’re simply the best there is in Michigan.
Give us a call and let us help you with plan B today.
“How Does Bankruptcy Affect My Ability To Get A Loan?”
This is a common question we get when people are facing a Michigan foreclosure and considering attempting a short sale. Keep in mind that none of us are attorneys and you need to consult with one if you are considering filing bankruptcy.
The timing involved to get a new mortgage has many factors and no one can tell you exactly how long it will take because loan guidelines are constantly changing. Here’s what my understand is, in order from bad to worse.
1) Chapter 7 Bankruptcy (BK-7), leave the house out, keep making payments on the house.
2) BK-7, put the house in, attempt to avoid the full foreclosure by selling via short sale*
3) BK-7, put the house in (this will still lead to a foreclosure)
4) BK-7, leave the house out (this will still lead to a foreclosure)
If you can’t afford to do #1, why not at least attempt #2? It can’t hurt, and if #2 fails, by default you’ll be at #3.
Leaving the house out of the BK-7 means the lender will be able to come after you for the amount of money they lose on the house. I don’t see why anyone would want to leave a house out of a BK-7 unless they intend to keep it long-term and you have some equity in it (that’s #1 above, which of course you need to be able to afford). Most people can’t afford to keep the house and have no equity because of the rate at which values are declining in Michigan.
* A short sale is when the lender agrees to accept less than the full balance. Of course this is our specialty which we do not charge for.
I’ve always believed in going the extra mile for the homeowners that we work with facing foreclosure in Michigan. But last week, I even think I went above the call of duty.
In our efforts to help someone we needed to take interior pictures of a vacant house. The only problem was the house was so infested with fleas that no one, including the Realtor®, wanted to enter the property. Against my better fashion sense, I donned a “bunny suit” (a full length, disposable coverall, complete with hood and booties) and headed inside with my camera.
We’re always here to help, and as we’ve show, we’ll go way beyond what anyone else will do to help you stop your Michigan foreclosure.
Editor’s Note (that would be Joel): Not only did she go above and beyond, this was for a case that we decide we could not take on (long story – but not because of the fleas). Plus she let me publish this picture! Click on the image for full size (and 100% entertainment!)
One of the most common questions we get is: “My house is about to be sold at a Michigan foreclosure sheriff sale. Do I have a chance of selling it before the end of the redemption period?”
Great question!
Of course there’s a chance it can sell! How big of a chance? That’s a big “depends” on at least…
1) When the sheriff sale is scheduled (even if it’s past, there’s still time – but you need to act quickly)
2) What you owe
3) What it’s worth (in this market)
4) Maybe you need a short sale (which of course we can take care of for you, at no charge, *IF* we decide to take your case on)
5) If you are able to stop your bank from drastically reducing the amount of time you have to sell it (we haven’t lost one yet)
6) ….
… and many other factors.
Emily (aka “Mom”) can discuss these with you. Of course you’d be much better off selling (even if you need a short sale [you lender taking less than owed]) as compared to doing nothing and having them come after you for the money they’ll end up losing.
We can help with all of this, and of course, there’s never a fee.
| Here’s a short video on how to avoid the 6 biggest foreclosure traps. So many people fall into these and I’d hate to see you fall into any one of them because of the devastating affects I know they will have on your family. |
If my house already sold at the sheriff’s sale, how am I able to still sell it? Great question!
You have certain rights from the time your house is sold at the sheriff sale through the end of your redemption period. Those include the right to occupy the house, the right to purchase the house back by paying cash or getting a new mortgage, and the right to sell the house to pay off the mortgage.
Of course after all of those missed or late payments, unless you have a ton of equity (40% or more), no one will give you a new mortgage because of the damaged credit. Coming up with that giant pile of cash to pay off the old mortgage in full is also unlikely.
This leaves your last likely option which is to sell it during the redemption period. If you owe more than what you owe (including all mortgages, not just the one that foreclosed), we may be able to help with a short sale (never a fee of course).
One of the questions we get very frequently is “Why do you guys complete about 70%-80% of your short sales successfully while the national average for Realtors® is only 10%?”
This is a great question, and there are several reasons.
1) All we do are short sales. It’s a specialty which requires a specific set of skills. Try this analogy: When you go to see your family doctor, he’s a “generalist”. He can handle many things that could be wrong with you (broken bones, high blood pressure, the flu, etc.) But if you need brain surgery, you expect him to send you to a specialist.
Most Realtors® are also generalists. They are great at what they do if you fit into a “normal” real estate transaction. Of course short sales are far from “normal”. Obviously, you need a specialist!
Many Realtors® come to my State of Michigan approved course specifically for Realtors® so they can learn from me. The families we work with have decided to have the experienced instructor on their team and not the student.
2) We can’t do what we do without Realtors® though. We team up with the best of the best. They know how to get houses sold in this market, in any condition. Plus we’ve trained them to work within our proven system. Learn more about our team of Realtors® here.
3) We take complete control of the entire transaction! This my make you uncomfortable, which is normal. After you meet our team, I doubt you’ll still feel this way and you’ll likely be very glad we’ve taken control so we can get you out of this nasty position you are in. One of the main reasons shot sales fail is because the unknowledgeable Realtor® or the seller says the wrong thing at the wrong time to the wrong person. We take complete control in an attempt to prevent that from happening.
4) We have inside contacts at most major lenders who put our transactions on the fast track for approval.
5) We’ve invested over $47,000 on training, education, legal & accounting advice over the last 3 years. Let that investment pay off for you by getting us on your team.
Just how big of a discount (“hit”, “haircut”, etc.) will your lender take on a short sale? When you’ve got me (Melissa “Bank Bully” Arp) negotiating the short sale, there seems to be no limit!
Last week we closed on a house in Waterford Township (Oakland County). The owners owed $190k on their house and I got Citi to agree to a $92k purchase price. After closing costs and commissions, Citi put $84k in their pocket. That’s over a $100k hit!
But most importantly, Citi settled the account. This means they agreed that it was paid in full (for less than the full balance of course) and will be reporting a zero balance to all three credit bureaus.
These things don’t happen overnight and without a TON of effort. If you think you owe “too much”, you probably don’t. Put the “Bank Bully” to work for you today!