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Over the past several days three of the major banks have released to the news that they have stalled foreclosures.  A closer look reveals that the lenders GMAC, Chase, and Bank of America have only stalled foreclosures for an estimated two to four week window in 23 states.  The 23 states are those which specifically [...]

Don’t Get Caught Off Guard

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Why Real Estate? What do Creative Real Estate Investors have to gain? How about early retirement? How about a shorter work week with more pay? How about loads of money in the bank? Sound good? This is the perfect atmosphere in which to get started.

I’d like to discuss a couple of things with you. Defaults are at an all time high. People are spending way beyond their means and this is not only on their homes, but with credit cards and other forms of debt as well. We have the bank as well as the home owners to thank for that.

Let’s take a step back and look at the root cause of all of this. Basically, banks would give money to anyone in almost any financial situation. In many cases, this was way beyond the means of most people. So, fastforward a few years and it only makes sense that the real estate market for all kinds of homes is suffering more foreclosures than ever.

We are also seeing more bankruptcies, along with more bank repossessions. There are more VA, HUD, FHA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other government-insured loans defaulting than ever before in history. Can you say Short Sale?

The number of homes selling below market value is at an all time high. Because so many people are in a bind and can’t sell their homes when they need to, it’s a buyer’s market. That means we have Motivated Sellers. With so many options, it should be much easier to find a profitable deal.

We have all heard this saying – “in real estate you make your money when you buy and get paid when you sell.” You may put money in your pocket when you sell the property, but if you bought the property correctly, you have lots of money making options. But if you bought the property incorrectly, you may not have any options. So finding motivated sellers and properties below market value is the first goal while investing in real estate.

A key thing to point out about investing in real estate is that there are a multitude of people looking to buy homes, assuming you can tell the prospects from the suspects. Because of the financial crisis around the world, many of these would-be buyers are having a tough time getting money from banks. An investor can turn these lemons into lemonade with the right amount of innovation. With the know-how and some ingenuity, an investor can take the place of the bank and take a pretty penny for their time. Are you able to finance the transaction with the sellers money? Whos on your buyers list? Do you include only traditional buyers?

Now that seems crazy doesn’t it? If there are more properties than ever before and at better prices, and if there are more buyers, then why don’t the buyers just buy those properties? The reality is in most cases they don’t have the techniques that I told you about. So now that you know it can be done, it’s time to start investing!

With the economy heading downhill, more and more people are hearing about real estate short sales. The concept of real estate short sales is not new to most experienced real estate investors but for a homeowner it is an eye opening concept worth knowing about.

There are no need for real estate short sales if homeowners do not have mortgages larger than the worth of their homes. You can say that real estate short sales are invented to help homeowners get out of the upside down mortgage situations. When a homeowner is upside down, he or she owes the bank more than he or she can sell the home for. If a home is worth only $100,000, for example, then the homeowner cannot afford to pay off a mortgage that is more than that amount. He or she is basically “upside down.”

Homeowners with upside down mortgages have one solution left to them; Real estate short sales. For a home that is upside down, even if the homeowner were to sell it on the market, he or she wouldn’t make enough money to pay off the mortgage balance and will still owe the bank even when the home is gone. This can be a real financial burden on the homeowner. Many people in this situation end up filing bankruptcy.

With real estate short sales, the lenders are willing to accept the amounts less than the actual amounts owed by the homeowners. For example, if Bob owes $200,000 in his mortgage payments and Bob cannot afford to pay them ongoing. Even worse, Bob’s house is valued at only $150,000. Bob has no choice but to do a real estate short sale or he would end up in a foreclosure or have to file bankruptcy. If the bank accepts a real estate short sale on Bob’s home, Bob walks away from the debt free and clear.

One problem is that Bob cannot stay in his home after the bank accepts the real estate short sale. In other words, Bob cannot do the short sale himself. This is because if Bob shows that he could afford some payments then the bank is less likely to want to forgive the debt. Too many people tried to con the banks into accepting less than what they owe even when they are not in financial trouble at all.

For a real estate short sales to be accepted, there must be a buyer who is not the homeowner. The buyer must be convincing enough to show the bank that it is in their best interest to accept the real estate short sale. For example, if the homeowner has lost his or her job, just gone through a divorce, has piles and piles of medical bills, then the bank is likely to see that if they did not accept the real estate short sale, they may end up having to foreclose on the home.

Homeowners in the middle of real estate short sale deals should not rest assured because not all real estate short sales are accepted by the lenders. Some real estate short sales are rejected because the buyers are not experienced enough to do them right. Some times, banks feel that the real estate short sale offers are too low and prefer to foreclose and sell the homes in auctions instead of accepting the real estate short sales.

Because of the depressed real estate market, finding a foreclosure is relatively easy. Although it is sad that someone has lost their house, good investments will actually help the American economy. There are different ways to find a foreclosed home that will be a solid investment, and can be relatively simple.

So how do you know if the foreclosed home you have in mind is a good deal? If you are somewhat unsure, or new to the real estate business, then you may need to find a place that can help make sure you are making smart decisions. They will make sure you are identifying the right choice of home that will be good investment.

If you are looking for a good deal on a foreclosed home, here are some places you may want to look at:

1. Talk to your real estate agent if you have one. With access to MLS they can input the numbers and deliver you a comparison of foreclosure listing that will best suit you. If you need a real estate agent, then simply drive through your city suburbs and look for foreclosure signs. When you find some you like, take the name and number down and “interview” agents until you find one that will work with you the way you want. They will be very happy to offer you some solid advice.

2. Another place where one can find foreclosed homes is at the websites of the major banks in your particular location of interest or even on national bank’s websites. Most of the banks keep an online listing of foreclosed homes. Asset management companies, which are mostly hired by lenders, can also be a source of information on foreclosed homes. The lenders hire the companies to handle foreclosures on their behalf.

3. Also, many web-based companies have become popular in finding foreclosure listings. They will gather current foreclosure lists from all across the nation. They are competitive enough that you should only be charge a one time, or small monthly fee for as long as you access the list.

4. The inventories of auction companies are another place where you can find details of foreclosed homes. Since they hold auctions of homes daily, the companies can advise you on the best deals in your location of interest.

The above places can be very helpful in finding you the home or investment of your dreams. You may want to check out more than one place and do your homework. Make a list of questions to ask each place and educate yourself. If you are well-informed you will have a solid investment.

If you had been watching the real estate foreclosure investing market closely during the massive housing boom of 2000-2005, you could have seen the current foreclosure crisis coming; and with it, the many foreclosure investment opportunities which have proliferated nationwide.

The number of defaults and indeed, foreclosures have been on the rise as sub-prime lenders have been going out of business. However, there is a lot more foreclosure investors out there than you may think.

Will You Be Able To Capitalize On This Foreclosure Boom? On the surface it seems easy enough. Get a list of properties in default. Contact homeowners. And get the deal done at a juicy discount, before the bank takes the house. Then you can fix it up and flip it, or keep it as a rental with an instant built-in equity profit. Right? Well, not quite.

You may be able to make a lot of money in foreclosure investing; enough to support yourself and your family, even pay for luxuries. However, foreclosure investments could also turn into a money pit which could take up all of your time and your money.

In fact, there are only a relatively small number of investors who have managed to make their foreclosure investing profitable on a consistent basis. Many investors make the mistake of not trying hard enough to set themselves apart from others in this very competitive market.

How Will You Differentiate Yourself in a Crowded Foreclosure Investing Field? To say it’s crowded is a huge understatement. The field of foreclosures is probably the most competitive area of real estate investing. It routinely gets more attention from mass media. So more people flock to pursue it. Hundreds of investors in your metro area are mailing to homeowners facing foreclosure. They’re even harassing homeowners on the phone and knocking on doors.

In short, if a homeowner is behind on payments, you can be prepared for a major fight for his attention. Just imagine for a moment that person sitting at his kitchen table plowing through a pile of letters from lawyers, bill collectors and investors. Your mailing piece is just one of many that goes straight to the garbage can. You must find a way to differentiate yourself from the investment crowds. Here’s an idea that will put you ahead of the competition.

Take An Ethical Approach To Help Homeowners Facing Foreclosure. Most people who are in danger of losing their home are not that interested in talking to a property investor about selling their home. More than likely, they perceive these investors as vultures preying on the misfortune of others.

The way to get these homeowners to contact you is to offer them something none of the other investors are, the opportunity to remain in their homes.

Three-Step Highly Profitable Foreclosure Investing Strategy That Stars With An Offer To Keep Homeowners Facing Foreclosure In Their Home. First, trying to help a family in financial trouble is the ethical thing to do. You’ll be preserving the American Dream.

Yet another reason is, you’ll actually make money doing it. You can help them negotiate a repayment plan with their current lender (the process is called loss mitigation) and collect a fee for your service. There’re several companies nationwide with an in-house list of Loss Mitigation department contacts for literally every lender in the country that will do all the work for you. So, even if you never buy a single home, with tens of thousands of foreclosures in your hometown, offering loss mitigation services could turn into a lucrative income stream by itself.

Lastly, this is the most profitable foreclosure investing approach. In many cases you will end up buying the home. Remember, the loss mitigation process will only work for those owners who got behind, but now recovered their ability to pay. Most won’t qualify for a repayment plan because they can’t prove their hardship is behind them. And they won’t know it until you, the foreclosure investor, helped them to pencil their income and expenses on paper and submit it to their lender. Now they have undeniable proof they can’t keep it and youre right back to your original foreclosure investing game plan. Once the reality settles in, they’ll start talking sale. Who will they sell to? You, of course, the foreclosure investing pro. You have now earned their trust and it’s the only next natural step to take.

Your house is the last thing that you want to loose. Unfortunately even though we know this for a fact, we tend to take our mortgage payments for granted and end up loosing our homes. In this case, a home foreclosure will happen. When a borrower fails to pay his or her mortgage for a number of payments (usually 3) the lender will foreclose by selling the house or repossessing it.

More often than not lenders often lead their borrowers to believe that they don’t have other options available. There are other alternatives that homeowners can use to keep their house off the auction block. The following is a list of ideas to consider if your in the foreclosure process.

1)Short stop

This is a short refinance for the foreclosure of your property. If you don’t want a new loan to cover an existing one, you can ask the help of a friend. A borrower’s friend or relative can buy or pay off the mortgage.

2)Negotiate a payment plan

In this case the homeowner agrees to pay a portion of the amount and agrees to pay the rest in the succeeding months. The homeowner shows proof of their income and pays a down payment. This is a much easier way and most lenders agree to this plan. Keep in mind that some lenders will contract out the agreement. (normally 3 to 5 months)

3) Change of plans

A temporary change in the terms of the loan can be given when properly negotiated. These changes include amortization extension and reduction of interest rate. A foreclosure negotiator handles the job of getting these plans approved.

4) Third party sale

The property on foreclosure is sold to a third party. The proceeds will go to the mortgage lender as a settlement for the debt.

5) Friendly third party sale

The third party who buys the property sells it on foreclosure to clean the deed of other holders. Then the property is sold back to the original owners/borrower.

These are just some of the options that borrowers can use in attempts to retain their properties. Remember these alternatives are outside the original terms of the agreement. Homeowners will have to negotiate their way with lenders and banks. Preventing home foreclosure is still better than looking for a cure.

Buying a home is one of the happiest times in a person’s life and they last thing they think about is unforeseen circumstances and the possibility of foreclosure. Unfortunately now that the economy is in the pits more and more people are facing foreclosure; and it is one of the most terrible things a person will ever have go through.

The fact is that you never know when you may become ill or lose your job. People tend to think in the here and now and don’t realize that they could be in an accident or be struck down with some disease that puts them out of work for a long period of time or even permanently. With no or limited income it becomes harder and hard to meet a mortgage payment. All it takes is a few simple steps to keep from falling behind with the mortgage company. Don’t just leave it to hope and fate that things will work themselves out.

It is embarrassing enough to be unable to pay your mortgage payment without having to actually admit it to your mortgage lender. Avoiding phone calls and hoping things will get better is not the answer and it is probably the worst thing you can do, especially when it comes to your mortgage lender.

Luckily there are options out there that can help to put a stop to foreclosure and it begins with contacting your lender before they contact you. Most lenders will have some sort of stop foreclosure program where they will work with you to help you get back on track with your payments. They have specialists that help to work out an arrangement that is affordable so you can avoid foreclosure.

If you find things are too far gone and your mortgage company will not help you, then you may want to seek the advice from a financial institution other than your mortgage company. There are many lenders out there that can help you negotiate a good repayment program with your mortgage company. They will speak on your behalf to help you work things out in your favor.

The next option available is to consider getting your home refinanced. With this choice if you have any equity in your home you may even be able to get some extra cash back so that you can pay off other debts and free up some of your monthly outgoing amount. This is an option that many use when they find they are short on funds each month because of excess credit card debt. By paying off the credit cards you have more cash flow to afford your house payment.

Another alternative that will keep you from facing foreclosure is to do a quick sell your home. With the present state of affairs in this economy, there are a number of quick sale options available that were not available before. In previous quick sales it was possible to avoid foreclosure, however you only had 15 days in which you would have to move.

Now with quick sales there are a number of lenders that will purchase your home so you avoid foreclosure. These same lenders will then allow your to stay in the home as a renter and in many cases will offer you the option to purchase your home back.