Dave Werner Earns Prestigious Designation to Help Homeowners in Danger of Foreclosure

Dave Werner of RE/MAX Traditions in Northern Colorado has earned the prestigious Certified Distressed Property Expert^® (CDPE) designation, having completed extensive training in foreclosure avoidance and short sales. At a time when millions of homeowners are struggling with the possibility of foreclosure, the skills and education accumulated y Werner will help benefit Northern Colorado.

Short sales allow the distressed homeowner to repay the mortgage at the price that the home sells for, even if it is lower than what is owed on the property. With plummeting property values, this can save many people from foreclosure and even bankruptcy. More and more lenders are willing to consider short sales because they are much less costly than foreclosures.

“The CDPE designation has been invaluable as I work with homeowners and lenders on complicated short sales,” said Werner. “It is so rewarding to be able to help families save their homes from foreclosure.”

Alex Charfen, co-founder and CEO of the Distressed Property Institute in Austin, Texas, said that agents such as Dave Werner with the CDPE Designation have valuable training in short sales that can offer the homeowner much better alternatives to foreclosure, which can virtually destroy a credit rating. “These experts also better understand market conditions and can help sellers through the emotional experience,” he said.

The Distressed Property Institute provides live and online courses to train real estate professionals how to help homeowners in distress, with a particular emphasis on handling short sales.

“Our goal is to help as many homeowners as possible, by educating as many real estate professionals as possible,” Charfen said. “Dave Werner has demonstrated a commitment to the struggling homeowners in Northern Colorado, and will provide much-needed assistance in stabilizing the community.”

Don't let anyone you know be foreclosed.  If you know anyone behind in payments or in danger of foreclosure Dave can not only help but he can save their credit plus his service is asbolutely fee free.  For more detailed information on how to save your home...please click on the "SAVE YOUR HOME!!!" link on Dave's home page.

Short sales can be complicated, lengthy

North American Title and Bank of America sponsored an REO/Short Sale Summit in Denver on Tuesday with hopes of educating Realtors on how to make such sales successful.

It was an informative meeting that gave a lot of background on the issues that Realtors and their buyers are encountering in the purchase of a shot sale or REO property.

A short sale is where the loan and any other expenses against the property, including brokerage fees, exceed the sales price of the home and the bank agrees to accept less than what is owed so the sale can occur. In order for sellers to qualify for a short sale they must show they have some sort of legitimate hardship, such as tremendous medical expense or job loss. Lower value on your home by itself is not enough to justify a short sale.

The lender will want the borrower to initiate the short-sale process by completing a short-sale packet, including a letter outlining the hardship and a complete financial package. They will be comparing this financial package to the loan application submitted when taking out the loan. They want to make sure there is a legitimate hardship.

Loans were bundled in packages of $100 million and bought as mortgage back securities by investors. The bank servicing the loan (where a mortgage payment is made) may not actually own it. The loan might be serviced by one bank and owned by another investor (or bank). The bank servicing the loan may have limited authority to accept a short sale. The short sale may need investor approval to close.

They also will have the home evaluated by a local broker for current value in today's market. This broker's price opinion is ordered after the seller accepts a contract and short-sale package is submitted to the lender servicing the loan. Keep in mind if there is a second loan on the property, that lender also will require the same information.

Along with this package, a settlement statement, or HUD, is provided to the lender(s) involved showing that the seller will get no money at closing. This will be a requirement of the lenders involved in order to accept a short sale. They will not accept less for the loan and allow the seller to walk away with money.

Because banks and investors need to compare the current and previous financials as well as the current and previous value on the home, it takes time. Missing documentation is a common reason for the file to be delayed, so the Realtor and seller should be sure that the package is complete. Realize that the typical short sale negotiator at Bank of America is handling 400 cases at any one time.

If you want to buy a short sale, realize that it will take a minimum of two, four or six months for the bank to approve the short sale. Some Realtors in the room indicated they have been waiting as long as nine months.

If you are under contract on a short sale, the seller has accepted your offer subject to getting his lenders to accept less than what he owns them. This is what the short-sale addendum in the Colorado Buy Sell agreement is all about. This explains that the bank(s) also must be willing to accept less for the loan(s) that exist on the home.

Generally, these banks will not do any repairs or fix up. When you make an offer on the home realize the property is being sold "as is."

Your offer price should be net of any repairs the home likely will need. Keep in mind that the seller has no money, otherwise the short sale would not get approved and it is extremely unlikely the bank will agree to make any repairs. You will have limited time to get an inspection and appraisal done on the home once the short sale is approved.

If the seller is not getting any money out of the home, why would they go through the short sale? Why not just let the home go back to the bank in foreclosure. While the short sale does negatively impact credit, it is not as devastating as foreclosure. Foreclosure on a record can prevent you from obtaining a security clearance or government job, it might impact your ability to get employment, will adversely affect future mortgage rates and it stays on your record longer.

If a seller is in a short-sale situation they should get counsel from their CPA to see what tax ramification there may be in doing a short sale and also get advice from an attorney to see what options are best. In some cases, the seller may be best served by filing bankruptcy.

Sometimes, negotiators deny the short sale, the home goes to foreclosure and several months later the home sells for less than the offer originally presented. This seems like a waste from our end, however, if the loan had mortgage insurance, the investor or bank might have lost less by taking advantage of the mortgage insurance on the loan instead of taking the short sale

Buyers for short sales need to be patient and realize that the banks are dealing with a tremendous number of files across the county and each file may be with a different investor. The negotiator needs to review the short-sale documentation, the original financials the appraisal and BPO before they can make a decision. This is a lengthy process, and it is best if the buyer realizes that up front.