Mortgage Companies and Dallas Foreclosures

Mortgage Companies and Banks own Dallas real estate because they have acquired these properties through the foreclosure process. Properties on the bank's books are called REOs, which stands for "real estate owned." When banks receive property through a Dallas foreclosure, it's because no one bid the minimum amount of the existing mortgages at the courthouse steps. These foreclosures may not seem like a good value, especially if the bank wants to sell these properties for the amount that was owed to the bank by the previous property owner. With all that said, here are at least two reasons why an REO can be a great Dallas home value for you:

If there were two mortgages on the property the second lender may not want to foreclose on the property. If the second lender does not make up the back payments and cost to the first lender and that first lender goes forward with its own foreclosure, the second lender will get wiped out in the foreclosure, a devastating loss to that lender.

The bank does not, and cannot sit on its foreclosed property. Since the bank did not receive its minimum bid from a buyer during the foreclosure sale at the courthouse, the bank is likely to price that REO property for less than what is owed to them just to get that property of its books.

Negotiating for REO Properties

If the DFW home listing is new to the market, it is very likely that the bank will not come off much from its listed price. You will have better negotiating power if you go after properties that have been on the market for more than 30 days. Here are a few more tips:

Many banks will not paying typical closing cost for the property buyers. Some fees such as title policies, county and state fees, are paid by the buyers and not the bank. Banks generally will not pay for termite inspections, repairs or home warranties.

Banks often negotiate bulk-rate discounts with title and escrow companies. If you choose to use the bank's title/escrow company, check the fees of those companies. Typically, fees not paid by the bank but paid by the buyers will be higher because title and escrow companies often make up those discounts by charging the buyers more.

Some banks will not sign a counter offer until all the terms are mutually agreed upon between all the parties verbally.

Expect that the bank will require you to sign its own addendum to your standard purchase contract. Read it thoroughly and ask a real estate attorney for advice if you do not understand everything in it. You can bet the bank's lawyers drew up that addendum, and it's not in your favor.

If the bank won't budge on its price and you receive a rejection, wait 30 days and then resubmit your original offer.

You might wait 10 days, or more, for a response to your offer from the bank: be patient.

The bank may ask for you to submit a loan application to them so they can prequalify you so they will be sure you can close on the property. You will not be obligated to obtain your mortgage from that bank.

If you cannot close by the closing date listed in the contract, the bank may charge you a penalty for each day you don't close pass that date. Make sure you have get a mortgage pre-approval from your own lender before submitting an offer to the bank so you will have assurance that you will receive the financing from your lender without running into unexpected delays.

There are some drawbacks to buying a foreclosure property. In almost every case you will likely be required to buy the property in "as is" condition. You still have the right to make your offer subject to a home inspection though.

It is in your best interest to retain the services of a professional Dallas Realtor to guide you through the ins and outs of the Dallas foreclosure market. The best thing is that you get 100% representation and it cost you nothing because the bank pays the Realtors commission. You Win!

Tips for Buying Your First Plano Home

There are only 5 basic steps to buying your first Plano home.

Hire a Buyer's Agent

It is best to hire a buyer's agent first but if you prefer start looking for Plano homes online or visit open houses first. If you retain a Plano Realtor first it will save you a lot of time and frustration. Your buyer's agent will know and do the following:

•• Agents many times know of new listings coming up that are not yet in the MLS.

•• An agent can send you listings directly from the Realtors MLS that meet all of your search criteria, and you won't waste time looking at listings that are already under contract.

•• You can save your gas and go to view home in your Realtors car and not your own.

•• Some agents will preview homes for you to ensure the homes that they show you meet all of your needs.

•• An agent can usually spot over priced listings and advise you accordingly.

Find the Right Home to Buy

Buying a home can be an overwhelming process and emotionally draining. Finding the right home is not an easy or fast task. Buyers are advised to look at a maximum of 7 homes at a time because any more than that will make your head spin and all of the homes will start blending together. Most buyers do a lot of online research before ever stepping foot in a home. According to the National Association of REALTORS, buyers spend an average of 6 to 8 weeks, trying to figure out where they want to live. But once the community is chosen, most buyers end up buying a home after 2 or 3 home tours.

Get a Mortgage

It's not always necessary to have a approved loan in your back pocket before looking at homes, but it is paramount to get a mortgage pre-approval letter in advance. This way you know for certain how much home to you can afford and it shows the seller that you are a serious, qualified buyer. Many sellers won't look at an offer if the seller doesn't have assurance that the buyer can get a mortgage to buy their home.

FHA financing is becoming more and more prevalent because the minimum down payment requirement is much less than a conventional loan. However, if you are thinking about buying a Plano foreclosures home, for example, buyers with cash or conventional mortgage tend to get priority with REO banks. You can ask your agent for a referral to a mortgage broker or check with your own bank/credit union.

Negotiate Your Home Offer

Plano real estate buyers sometimes make the mistake of comparing the sales price of a home they are interested in to other homes they have seen, active listings. It's a mistake to compare sales prices among homes for sale that have not sold yet. That's because sellers can ask any price they want but it doesn't mean the home will ever sell at that price. An agent can provide comparable sale information and look at pending sales. Comparable sales are similar type homes in the same condition and location that have sold within the past 3 months. Pending sales will become the comparable sales by the time your home closes. In some markets you may have to pay over list price especially if many buyers are going after the same homes. Your agent can give you a price range and help to manage your expectations. A good buyer's agent knows there is always more to an offer than its price, but price is the main factor.

Do a Home Inspection

A home inspection is a contingency in the sales contract. A contingency means that a buyer has the right to cancel the contract for different reason like a low appraisal, financing falling through, etc. You might not want to be locked in to buying a home that has a faulty foundation or other structural problems, for example. When repair items turn up it opens up the door for more negotiations. Maybe you can get the seller to pay for, or give you a credit for, certain repairs. If a home inspection uncovers a major defect you will have the right to back out of the sales contract.

DFW Real Estate – Buying Foreclosures, Short Sales and REO’s

Dallas foreclosures, short sales and REOs are all dangerous animals but they are different from each other. However, they are also similar because without knowledge about how each of them work you could find yourself in dangerous territory and in trouble. As an example, while most short sales are foreclosures, not all foreclosures are short sales. To further complicate things, REOs are not short sales either, but some intended DFW Real Estate short sales can end up as an REO property. Retain the services of a professional Dallas Realtors with experience in these areas to advise you.

What is a Foreclosure Home?

A foreclosure home is when a notice of default has been filed in the public records by the mortgage company. It means the owner has stopped making their mortgage payments and the lender has given notice that unless the payments are brought up to date, it will sell the home at auction to the highest bidder. Lenders can foreclose for other reasons, but the most common reason lenders file a notice of default is when a borrower is two or more payments in arrears. If the home owner does not bring the mortgage current, the lender will file to take the property away from them.

Not all homes that fall into foreclosure go to public auction because owners have the right to make up back payments up to a certain point; this time varies from state to state. Real estate investors and home buyers see profit in buying foreclosed homes because they can often buy the property for the amount owed on the mortgage, picking up the home owner's equity for free. Even high end areas like Highland Park homes are not exempt from foreclosures, short sales and REO’s.

What is a Dallas Short Sale Property?

A short sale generally occurs when a home owner is in foreclosure but before the property goes to public auction. With a short sale, a lender must agree to accept less than the amount that is owed on the mortgage balance. Unlike with a foreclosure, investors generally buy the home for even less because investors are not paying off the existing mortgage and they aren’t making up the back payments. Investors attempting to make a deal with the existing mortgage company to take less than what the lender was originally due in order to avoid dealing with the time and expense of a foreclosure.

It's a myth that mortgage companies are not going to accept an offer from an investor unless the seller has fallen behind on their obligation to make timely mortgage payments. Sellers don't need to be in default for a short sale to occur. For a buyer who wants to live in the home, buying a short sale makes financial sense but the short sale time line may pose a challenge for some.

What are REO Propertied - Real Estate Owned?

• Buying an REO is similar to buying a short sale except the property is already owned by the mortgage company.

• The property was acquired by the lender through a foreclosure action where no one bid higher than the amount owed on the mortgage.

• Many time lenders will sell repossessed homes for less than the past mortgage balance to get them off their books.

• Bank-owned properties are called REOs, meaning “real estate owned” by the lender.

Mortgage companies end up owning the property when no one at the foreclosure auction bid high enough to cover the amount owed against the property. REO homes are often considered one of the best ways to buy a distressed property. This is because the seller is already out of the home and of the picture. It's just the investor or person wanting to live in the home, the real estate agent, the bank and the bank's asset manager who are negotiating the transaction.

DFW Real Estate – Counter Offers

What Does Counter Offer mean?
Counter offers on Collin County real estate come into play by a home seller after a buyer has submitted an offer to purchase their home. Generally, a counter offer will state that the seller is interested in the buyers offer subject to the following changes. Some examples:

•• Price (generally a higher price)

•• Increasing the amount of the earnest money deposit

•• Changing service providers

•• Refusals to pay for certain fees

•• Altering closing or possession date

•• Excluding personal property from the contract

•• Modifying contingency time frames

How many Counters Should You Expect?
Just the same as a seller submitting a counter Tarrant County real estate offer to a buyer, a buyer can counter the seller's counter, which will then become counter offer #2. There is no limit to the number of counter offers that can be submitted back and forth. The offer and all subsequent counter offers are handled through you're your DFW Realtors office.

How are Counter Offers Rejected and Should you Reject it?
The seller is not required to respond to any offer. That may come to a surprise to you? Here are some of the most common ways to reject an offer:

•• Most Denton County real estate contracts provide at the bottom of the page for the seller to initial that the offer has been rejected.

•• Most offers specify a date of expiration, a "deadline clause" in the event the seller elects not to respond.

•• Sellers can also write "rejected" across the face of the contract, initial and date it.

Can There Be Multiple Counter Offers?
Depending on your specific state laws, sellers may or may not be able to issue multiple counter offers at one time. In many states sellers can counter more than one offer and each counter can be different. Even if one of the buyers accepts the seller's counter under these circumstances, the seller does not have to accept the buyer's acceptance. When Dallas foreclosures are involved many banks and mortgage companies will use this method in order to get then highest offer for one of their properties.

How are Counter Offers Accepted?
If the counter offer is issued by the seller, the buyer can simply accept the counter and deliver it back to the party designated to receive it. Time is always of the essence, meaning, counter offers contain expirations just like purchase offers, which means the seller can accept another offer while the buyer is deciding whether to sign the counter offer. When I've called Realtors to find out the availability of a home and whether any offers have been received, it's very common to hear, "We have a counter out." Some Realtors become discouraged at this news. But this is a great time to get your clients offer in. You may be pleasantly surprised when the offer is accepted by the sellers. What commonly happens in these situations is the seller accepts the second buyer's offer and then simply withdraws her counter offer from consideration, kicking out the first buyer.

Dallas Short Sales and the Effect on Your Credit Score

Dallas short-sale vs. foreclosure: Many sellers wonder if a short sale will affect their credit less a foreclosure will and what the other advantages and disadvantages between the two. A homeowner in foreclosure, depending on state laws, could possibly stay in their property, rent free, for three to four months and sometimes up to a year before they are forced forced to vacate. But this fact alone does not mean a Dallas foreclosure is better for them than a short-sale. A short-sale involves offering the property for sale, generally listed through the Dallas MLS. Potential home buyers will take a look at the property, some of them will make lowball offers.

Basics of a Short Sale

A Dallas short sale happen when a bank agrees to accept less than the amount owed on the mortgage because there is not enough equity to sell and pay the costs of sale. Not all lenders will agree to a short sale, and that is why a Dallas Realtor can be a tremendous help by contacting the lender's loss mitigation department to find out. You can't just unilaterally decide that you are going to sell your home at a loss and list it as a short sale. It used to be that lenders wouldn't even consider a short sale if your payments are not behind on your payments, but that has changed. However, lenders will be more agreeable to negotiating if your payments are in arrears.

How is a Seller's Credit Affected?

•• Dallas Foreclosures or Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure: Both of these choices affect credit ratings poorly. A foreclosure can lower your credit score by 200 points and take up to seven years to recover.

•• Short Sale: A short sale can lower your credit score by as little as 50 points and only take two years to recover from.

Waiting Period Before Buying Another Home

•• Foreclosure or Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure
A seller who wants to buy another home after foreclosure will need to wait about up to 72 months before they can qualify for another mortgage.

•• Short Sale
The good news is a short sale will allow you to obtain a mortgage in about two years. Unlike with a foreclosure, always negotiate with your lender a release of liability when doing a short sale. This means that the lender will take the money it receives from the short sale as payment in full. This means they won't be able to come after you for a deficiency judgment and lien you bank accounts and salary.

FHA adopted guidelines in 2010 that say a seller who is current and does a short sale may qualify to immediately buy another home. Lenders aren't so quick to follow those guidelines. Fannie Mae guidelines allow a seller to immediately apply for a new loan to buy another home if that seller kept the payments current, had no delinquencies exceeding 30 days and did not agree to repay the debt relief. Moreover, it's the late payments that dramatically affect your credit report, not the short sale.

Foreclosure or Short Sale - The Decision

If you are trying to decide whether to let your home go through foreclosure or selling it via short sale due your due diligence, speak with a professional Realtor how specializes and seek legal and account advice. There are other advantages to a Dallas short sale over a foreclosure.

Choosing a Plano Real Estate Listing Agent

Two of the biggest mistakes Plano real estate sellers make when choosing a listing agent are: selecting an agent solely based on how high they will list their home for or how low of a commission they will charge. Of course sellers want the highest possible price and to pay the least amount of commission but these two things have very little to do with hiring a competent listing agent and, in most cases, are completely irrelevant.

The Highest List Price

Agents can't tell you how much your home will sell for but they can show you comparable sales, found in the Plano MLS, and what your current competition is. But you are the one who ultimately choose the listing price and a buyer will tell you if that price is the right price.

Choosing an Agent Based on Commission

Plano Realtors are all not equal. Remember about 10% of the agents do 90% of the business in any market. Each of them has their own marketing techniques and advertising means. By choosing an agent with a large advertising budget you will gain greater exposure to the largest number of home buyers. Reaching these greater numbers of buyers means you will have a better chances of a good offer sooner rather than later.

•• Why would an agent willingly work for less than competitors?

There is a reason why a real estate agent will discount their commission. Sometimes it's the only way the agent feels it's possible to compete in this highly competitive business. Maybe they think this because the agent can't seem to stand apart from the competition on service, knowledge or skill. If the sole benefit an agent brings to a table is a cheap inexpensive fee, ask yourself why. Is the agent desperate for business or unqualified?

Sometimes a full service agent will negotiate a lower commission with you under special conditions such as if:

•• You are buying a home and selling a home at the same time with the same agent.

•• You are willing to do the legwork, marketing. advertising, and pay the cost for expenses related to the sale.

•• You are selling more than one house.

•• You don't have enough equity to pay the full commission.

•• The agent will lose the listing unless he matches a competitor's fee.

When you are interviewing real estate agents who offer similar services and you can't decide which one to higher, ask to see their track record of the each agent's original list price and final sale price. More likely than not, the agent with the lowest fee will show more price reductions and longer days on market. The difference between an agent who charges 5% and 6% is only 1%. Ask yourself how you come out ahead if your price ends up being reduced 2% because you chose a lower fee agent who could not afford to effectively market your home.

Importance of Agent Marketing

A good listing agent grows their business by marketing. Because marketing sells homes. Ask to review an agent's marketing plan. Find out what they are going to do to sell your home? Here is the bare-bones minimum you should expect:

•• Professional signage.

•• Electronic Lock Box.

•• Follow-up reports on buyer and agent feedback.

•• Incentives for broker / office previews.

•• Staging advice.

•• MLS exposure with many photographs.

•• Virtual tour.

•• Listed on major Web sites.

•• Updated CMAs after 30 days.

•• E-mail feeds of new listings that compete.

•• Updates on neighborhood facts, trends and recent sales.

Remember, no single marketing item sells homes. It's a combination of all those methods that sell homes.

Characteristics of a Good Listing Agent

Here are some of the characteristics sellers say they want in agent:

•• Education. Ask about designations and certifications.

•• Experience. Honesty. Trust your intuition.

•• Networking. This is a people business. Some homes sell because agents have contacted other agents.

•• Negotiation skills. You want an aggressive negotiator, not somebody out to make a quick sale at your expense

Top Reasons to Higher a Realtor to Find Your DFW Home

With more and more information bring readily available online, clients sometimes ask "Why should I hire a real estate agent? We can look for a home ourselves online" They wonder if they could buy or sell a DFW real estate on the internet or through regular, old school, marketing and advertising means without using a DFW Realtor. It's possible, a very few do okay but most don't. If you've wondered the same thing, here are good reasons why you should want to consider hiring a professional real estate agent.

1. Experience & Education

You don't need to know everything there is to know about buying and selling a DFW home if you hire a professional Dallas Realtor who does. The trick is to find the right Realtor. In most cases, the seller pays your Realtor for you. Why not hire a Realtor with more education and experience than you, than most other Realtors?

2. Agents are Your Defense

Realtors take much of the stress out of your property showings and visits. If you're buying a new home, your Realtor will keep the builder's agents at bay, preventing them from over aggressive sales tactics. If you're a seller, your Realtor will filter all the phone calls that lead to nowhere and try to induce serious buyers to write an offer. If you are buying Dallas foreclosures your Realtor will act as you liaison between you and the bank.

3. Community Knowledge

Realtors possess intimate knowledge about your community. They can identify comparable sales and provide this information to you, in addition to pointing you in the direction where you can find more data on schools, crime or demographics. You may know that a home down the street was on the market for $235,000, but an agent will know it had upgrades and sold at $217,500 after 57 days on the market.

4. Value Guidance

Contrary to what many people believe, Realtors do not set the listing prices for sellers or buyers. A Realtor, however, will help to advise clients to make wise decisions. If a listing is at 6%, for example, a Realtor has 6% vested in the sale, but the client has a 94% interest. Selling agents will ask buyers to weigh all the data supplied to them and to choose the listing price. Then based on market supply and demand and the conditions and upgrades, the agent will devise a negotiation strategy.

5. Market Conditions

Realtors can determine market conditions, which will dictate your selling or buying process. There are many factors that determine how you should proceed. Data such as the average price per square foot of similar homes, median and average sales prices, average days on market (DOM) and ratios of list-to-sold prices, among other criteria. These things will have a huge impact on how you ultimately decide to proceed.

6. Professional Networking

Realtors network with other real estate professionals, many of whom provide services that you will need to buy or sell. Due to legal liability, many Realtors will not directly recommend a certain individual or company, but they do know which service companies have a good reputation for efficiency, competency and competitive pricing. Realtors many times, however, provide you a list of vendors with whom they have confidence in.

7. Negotiation Skills

High producing Realtors negotiate effectively because, unlike most buyers and sellers, they can remove themselves from the emotional aspects of the transaction. Because they are skilled it's part of their job. They are professionals who are trained to represent their client's as best as possible and hold client information confidential.

8. Handling Paperwork

Today's contract packages run 20 pages or more. Most real estate files average thicknesses of one to three inches of paper. One little error or omission could land you in court or in or cost you thousands of dollars.