Las Vegas, NV – June 5, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — With rules that take effect next month, federal regulators have hopes of greatly streamlining the short-sale process.
Starting June 15, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will require both agencies to give short-sale buyers a final decision within 60 days. (In a short sale, a lender agrees to accept less than the balance on a mortgage.)
Fannie and Freddie must also respond to initial requests for a short sale within 30 days of receiving the buyer’s submission.
“Short sales are huge right now,” said Peter Spino, the foreclosure services manager for Community Housing Innovators in White Plains, N.Y., a housing counselor certified by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Distressed homeowners often prefer them to a foreclosure, he noted.
Expedited sales as a result of the new directive will benefit the entire housing market, said Michael McHugh, the president and chief executive of Continental Home Loans and the president of the Empire State Mortgage Bankers Association, a trade group. They could also remove some risks for buyers — many of whom previously had to wait months for a decision and then ended up not getting the house they wanted.
In March, the most recent month for which data were available, short sales represented more than 14 percent of existing home sales, according to CoreLogic, a data analytics company, compared with 12 percent for all of 2011 and about 10 percent in 2010. And as the number of short sales has risen, foreclosures have fallen. Completed foreclosures represented 25.3 percent of home sales in March, versus 34.9 percent in all of 2011 and 42.7 percent in all of 2010.
Lenders favor short sales because they are less costly and more efficient than foreclosures. Yet the homeowners, trying to exit as gracefully as possible, never know how long the process will take or how badly their credit will be hurt.
A recent report named The Myers Team the #1 Short Sale Realtors in Nevada. Number one status was determined by actual short sale listings closed from January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2011.
According to the report, The Myers Team with the Caliber Realty Group has negotiated more short sale approvals and closed more short sale listing transactions than any Realtor or Broker in Las Vegas.
The Myers Team is nationally recognized as one of the most influential figures in Real Estate today. According to Myers Team owner, Bill Myers, “Surrendering a home worth half of what you owe is NOT a failure, it’s a business decision. A short sale is an opportunity for you and your family to take control and walk away free and clear. Nobody wants to lose their home; however, loan modification doesn’t work and there is no need to go down with a sinking ship. Homeowners need to know when to say enough is enough.”
Bill and Francoise Myers have helped hundreds of Las Vegas families avoid foreclosure. Myers said, “Sellers facing foreclosure must remember that banks are not looking out for you or your family. When you work with The Myers Team, our job is to get between you and the bank. We represent our clients, NOT the banks. It is our job to negotiate the best possible outcome. Ultimately, our job is to take away the stress, and make the transaction as smooth and stress-free as possible.”
Visit The Myers Team web site at http://www.NevadaShortSaleInfo.com
Also visit http://www.VegasShortSaleInfo.com
