Minnesota Short Sale Expert

I receive many different types of calls from homeowners who are desperate to figure out what options they have when they cannot pay their mortgage. However, some of these calls are from homeowners who simply want to move and get out from a situation where they are upside down on their mortgage. Meaning they have no equity but what they have is what we consider as negative equity.

With any potential short sale we need to determine if the home owner’s situation fits within the criteria of an acceptable hardship. There needs to be a financial hardship of some kind where the homeowner is either not able to make their mortgage payments now or in the near future. If someone simply wants to move and they cannot sell the home for what is owed but they have the financial ability to continue making the mortgage payments then the lenders will NOT accept a short sale.

If you are experiencing difficulties with your mortgage and need to know what options are available please do not hesitate to send me an email and we can discuss your situation. Foreclosure is NOT your only option..!!

Rob Reinke, CDPE

We see it all the time on the news but the reality is that the mortgage default rate (homeowners entering into some level of delinquency or foreclosure) is going through the roof. Here are some REAL numbers that came out recently from the Mortgage Banker’s Association…

• Over 12% of ALL mortgages nationwide are in some level of foreclosure.
• SUB-PRIME mortgages have reached a level of almost 40% of all mortgages are in default right now. This number is expected to continue increasing.
• The total estimated number of properties nationwide that are currently in distress is 8,700,000.
• In May 2009 the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.4% and the highest rate ever recorded by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics was 10.8% in Nov/Dec 1982.

All of these numbers give a clear indication that more and more homeowners will be or already are facing the possibility of losing their home through foreclosure. There are options other than letting it go back to the bank. The best option would be to keep the homeowner in the property through a modification if possible. However, these modifications simply do not work for a large section of homeowners and get turned down by the lenders.

The next best option that a homeowner can choose is to short sale the home. This is where I can help. I am a Certified Distressed Property Expert – CDPE and I specialize in helping families avoid foreclosure by handling a short sale on the home. If you or anyone you know might be facing some of these challenges, please do not hesitate to pick up the phone and call me directly. You can also simply send an email through the website for additional information.

Thanks for reading..!!

Rob Reinke

When doing a short sale and there are 2 mortgages on the property there are a couple things that happen. The first mortgage holder in most cases will release the lien and satisfy the mortgage. The second however has two options (actually three) when making their decision to allow for the short sale.

1. In some cases the second mortgage holder plays “hardball” and requests that an unreasonable amount be paid in order to accept the short sale. What I mean is if there is a $50,000 second mortgage they may respond by saying that they will accept the short sale but they require like $10,000 to be paid to them in order to move forward. In most cases this will NOT  happen as there is no money available for this either from the first lender, the seller or the buyers. This is where we continue to negotiate with them to get them to understand the final outcome if they will not budge from this number. If they hold firm and we are not able to provide this amount to them the seller’s only other option may be to let it go to foreclosure, in which case the second mortgage holder gets wiped away getting NO MONEY.
2. The best option for the seller is having the second lender realize that there is no money to be squeezed from the sellers whether it is now or after the short sale takes place. They simply have nothing left. In this case the second lender makes the decision that the best option is to release the lien and satisfy the mortgage for the amount being offered by the first lender…typically $1,000-$3,000.
3. The most common scenario that we are seeing currently is for the second lender to accept the terms of the short sale (whatever the amount is offered from the first) and release the lien allowing for the property to be sold and titles transferred. By releasing the lien ONLY they retain their right to file a deficiency claim (collection notice) against the seller(s). This is not to say that they WILL file the claim but often times if the balance on the second mortgage is high enough they will do so to try to recover at least some of it. Please understand that the second lender realizes that the chances of them recovering all of the money is very low based on the fact that most sellers will either file bankruptcy (which will wipe it away) or they negotiate for a % of what is owed, typically 10%-25%.

Please understand that these are “general scenarios” and that every short sale process and potential outcome can be different. My team is committed and works very hard to negotiating with the lenders with the seller’s best interests in mind. We specialize in short sales and would be happy to speak with any seller that is looking for a way out and needs help.

I can be reached anytime at 763-242-6303 or via email at Rob@MnShortSaleExpert.com if you have questions about the short sale process.

If you have been watching for a specific type or style of property you will notice that there are far fewer of them showing up in your property search results recently. This market “frenzy” with low interest rates and the $8500 tax credit has really helped to get the buyers out there purchasing homes. The overall number of actively listed properties continues to decline along with the total number of lender mediated sales (foreclosures and short sales).

But wait…!!!

There is going to be another round of foreclosure properties coming to the market this fall. This is because of the moratorium that was placed on foreclosures by the President earlier this spring. So when that was lifted the banks need to wait for the 6 month redemption period to come to the end. That’s when these properties will be hitting the active market sometime between August and October. This will mean some great values are just ahead again for those buyers that are willing to do the fix-ups and repairs.

Short sale opportunities continue to exist as well because of the large number of homeowners facing the possibility of foreclosure. These homeowners are taking the step to sell the property rather than let it go into foreclosure, thus saving at least some of their good credit.

If you or someone you know is facing the possibility of foreclosure, please feel free to call me directly for more information of how a short sale can save you from foreclosure. 

Rob Reinke…763-242-6303

Short sales are tough. Plain and simple.

The real estate market is ever changing and short sales are no different. One day we may have information from a lender that they want things done in a prticular way and the next day it may be different. We can argue and fight with the representative that we are speaking with but it is easier to simply follow their directions and get them the appropriate documents that they need. In fact, these changes seem to happen from one negotiator to the next..!!

However, unlike many agents that are trying to do one here and one there, my team has a 97% success rate in getting them approved by the lenders. yes we have to jump through hoops and re-fax documents all the time because they claim that they did not get them. But we do what we need to do for the homeowner to push the process along towards an approval. When we submit a file to the lenders we know exactly what documents and paperwork that the lenders require. This saves a lot of time and frustrations for all parties involved. Our package may be 50-80 pages in length where most agents will send in the minimum 20 or so documents. Please see Frequently Asked Questions for all of your other concerns about short sales.

I have extensive additional training in handling short sales and have earned the CDPE designation (Certified Distressed Property Expert) specializing in helping families to avoid foreclosure through the short sale process. I currently carry about 30 short sales listings at any one time so this process is something that I am very familiar with.

Please do not hesitate to call and ask as many questions as you like. I always want to be sure that the homeowner is informed about the complete process before we begin. I can be reached at 763-242-6303 anytime or via email at Rob@MnShortSaleExpert.com.