May 28th, 2011

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We recently conducted an experiment that proved us that there is a high interest level from renters wanting to eventually become homeowners through lease to own programs. We posted a classified ad on Phoenix’s craigslist with Lease to Own keyword in the title, and all related keywords such as rent to own, lease options in the contents. We posted another similar ad in the same classified section of craigslist two days later. Those two ads were re-posted every other day.

We surveyed all the respondents who responded either by emails or phone calls. The ratio of prospective tenants who are interested in lease to own program versus rental are eight to one. The outcome is no surprise to those readers who are experienced landlords. It is an American dream to be a homeowner, regardless what economic climate is.

Our simple experiment also shows that putting the right keywords in the “For Rent” classified section easily attracts 10x times traffic of just a regular for rent ad. In addition to higher interest, those inquirers are of higher quality. Read the rest of this entry »

February 22nd, 2011

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A few of our clients recently reported that they received calls from Loan Modification consultants who did not sound like your normal loan mod lawyers helping to negotiate with the lenders. These consultants claim that they are hired by the investors of your loan to work with the mortgagees directly. The banks have been in slow movement getting loans modified in the past few years; the investors behind those loans are getting impatient and decided to work around the banks.

These consultants provide pretty good terms. We’ve seen 2% fixed rate for the first five years and 0.5% annual increase afterward up to 5%. They also claim that the mortgage mod can be completed in 2 weeks. They also usually have a local office and ask mortgagees to bring all the related documents to the office for the first and only in-person appointments.

These consultants know your full name, account number, phone number, address and probably more. Whether it is legal for the investors to disclose borrowers’ confidential information to non-loan-servicer is one question, having your information certainly makes their story of direct investor authorization more believable. Read the rest of this entry »

December 18th, 2010

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Overall, compared to other large lenders, Wells Fargo is reasonable to deal with when it comes to loan modification. As long as you are persistent in following up with them regularly and work with the right person, your chance of getting the mortgage modified is very high.

However, it is not common that Wells Fargo will reduce the principal if your mortgage is upside down. They will usually enter you into a three to five month trial period where they reduce your monthly payment based on your monthly income and expense. During the trial period, it is imperative that you make the reduced payment on time on the first day of each month. Your payment is not considered received even if it is made within the grace period. Read the rest of this entry »

November 30th, 2010

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Lately a big news on banks’ bad foreclosure practice has brought a lot of national attention. Now many banks are accused of having used robot signers to sign thousands of foreclosure documents a day.  Robo-signers are banks’ employees or contractors who are hired to handle banks’ tremendous amount of documents in order to foreclose their borrowers’ properties. They generally do not have specialties or knowledge about the foreclosure process. You would think those complicated foreclosure documents should have been reviewed carefully and signed by qualified professional foreclosure specialists. But in reality, with the documents keeping piling up in a rate that has not been seen before, banks just don’t have enough resource to keep up during this real estate market meltdown. Therefore many home owners may have lost their homes and been forced out of their homes due to incorrect procedure.

Now the public is angry with banks who have received billions of dollars of bailout money from tax payers. Banks are also facing investigations from state attorneys general on the potential fraud. What do all these bring to the borrowers? Read the rest of this entry »

October 22nd, 2010

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Central Mortgage Company seems to be one the banks who are more cooperative in modifying investment property loans. Compared to other bigger banks, where the loan modification applications are mis-handled easily due to the complex of bank’s internal procedures and policies, Central Mortgage’s system is more streamlined and efficient.

However, in order to take advantage of their better system, your mortgage modification applications still need to be in the right hands. If you find the phone representative does not offer much help in advancing your application, prepare to escalate the issues to receive right attention. An indication of the process going nowhere is when your files have been transferred here and there without no one having a grip on what is going on.

Central mortgage requires the borrower to fill out the bank’s own financial worksheet. They do not consider self-made forms even if you have included all the necessary financial information such as asset, liability, and monthly expenses for them to evaluate your case. Read the rest of this entry »