You can’t get solid and accurate information on short sales unless you talk to an agent that has sold a few short sales. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. We have been involved in hundreds of short sale transaction, so we know a little bit about what we are doing. But, that doesn’t mean we know everything. This industry is constantly changing every day. Anyways, this article said that a lender will not consider a short sale if there are any liens on the property. I know this is not true, because I have sold several short sales with liens on them. We do short sales with two mortgages all the time. A second mortgage is simply a lien. The key is that the lien has to agree to accept what the first mortgage is willing to pay the... 04/04/2012

Seven Best Investment Properties in Antioch Ca This week I put together a list of the 7 Best Investment Properties in Antioch California. All have projected Return on Investment of over 8% (and we estimate very conservatively) and Cap Rates of well over 10%. Yes we have even figured in Property Management Fees - a sinking fund for repairs and future vacancy factor – and still get these great rates of return. Many companies provide great projections but never take into account these cost. Would you like this List of Investment Properties? Home Point Real Estate is committed to working with Real Estate Investors and helping them to find the best Investment Properties. We will personally review properties that meet your criteria and look at all the factors you think are important. Not only... 04/04/2012

  Antioch CA – I am frustrated that people can be perpetuating these kinds of myths online. These experts on financial websites have never sold a short sale. Some of them are not even licensed realtors. I recently saw an article on a well known financial website. The article falsely claimed that ” A home has to be on the market for at least 90 days before the lender will review the short sale file. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Obviously this person has never sold a VA Short Sale, nor reviewed VA Short Sale Guidelines. Not many people know about it, but a lender must give an answer on any short sale file within 45 days. They must make a decision within 45 days of their receipt of all necessary documents from the home sel... 04/03/2012

    Antioch CA – We recently received a question from Nathan. Here was his question. “I’ll stop making the payments on my condo. That way we can start on the short sale process with my lender. How far behind do I have to be before they will start negotiations. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Nathan’s comment reveals a common myth people have about short sales. They believe that a lender won’t approve a short sale unless the borrower has defaulted. Here is the truth. Yes, some lenders will not approve a short sale unless a borrower is behind on their payments. But, that is only in certain specific instances. But, most lenders will approve a short sale for a borrower that is current on their payments. They will ask if there ... 03/28/2012

Antioch Ca Investment Properties – What rent will I get? – March 2012 Antioch Investment Properties are some of the most popular Real Estate Investments in Contra Costa County. The question Real Estate Investors always ask me is, “What Rent will I get?” That is a tough question as there are many factors with Investment Properties that effect What Will the Rents Be on an Investment Property. I completed a detailed chart on What Antioch Properties Will Rent for and posted it at HomePointBrentwood.com. You can see the post here. If you are a Real Estate Investor or interested in Buying Investment Properties click here to get the Free Book of Real Estate Investing.  <a href="http://askgene.wufoo.com/forms/z7x3x5/" data-mce-href="http://askgene.wufoo.com/forms/z7x3x5/">Fill out my Wufo... 03/26/2012

    Antioch CA – We get all sorts of questions from buyers trying to purchase short sales. “We made an offer on a short sale almost 2 months ago. We haven’t heard anything back from the bank. Why won’t they approve my offer?”, they ask us. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. So why do some buyers wait for 2-3 months and never get a response on their short sale offer? Are the banks really that bad? Here is the answer to those questions. In some cases the reason that short sales are not approved quickly is because of the lender. The lender may just be backed up. I know that we have waited a week for a call back from the bank. We had a designated short sale negotiator at the bank. But, they were so overworked and backed up on fil... 03/22/2012

  Antioch CA – We are explaining the steps to approving a short sale in 90 days or less. Today, we’re going to explain Step 4: Use the BPO information and knowledge of the loan owner’s short sale guidelines to force the lender to approve the short sale. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. After doing the steps detailed in the previous posts your agent has two important pieces of information now. First, they know who owns the loan. They know if it is owned by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, or if it is a portfolio loan or “Sliced and Diced.” Second, they know the BPO value. Now, your agent is ‘loaded for bear.” They are ahead of 90% of all the other realtors negotiating short sales. As a result they will get some respect from... 03/21/2012

  Antioch CA – We are explaining the steps to approving a short sale in 90 days or less. Today, we’re going to explain Step 3: Find out the BPO value. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. This seems fairly simple. But, most agents never find out this number. as a result, they don’t know why their short sales are not being approved. We talked to another agent a little while ago. “I’ve got 5-6 short sale files under contract. But, none of them are being approved.” “The short sale negotiation company is working on them, but they can’t get any of them approved. What do I need to do?”, he asked us. We started asking him for more info on the files. “What are the BPO values?” What percentage of that are the homes selling for?” What ty... 03/21/2012

Antioch Real Estate Investors – You need to get in Front of the Market! Antioch Real Estate Investors – Water always runs to the lowest point and investors always run to the biggest profits. Well there are still good buys on Antioch Investment Properties – Prices are up on Investment Properties – but interest rates are down – rents are trending up. When the market was in free fall about 5 or 6 years ago sellers were holding out for a better price or a stabilization of the market. Sadly some learned that a market on stabilizes when it hits bottom; you are better off getting out before it stabilizes. I watched one guy try to sell his house for about $550,000.00. He rejected offers of $450,000.00; but eventually sold for about $250,000.00. He did not get ahead of the market. Well prices on... 03/21/2012

Home Prices in Antioch 94531 – 2011 Trend Home Prices in Antioch 94531 have been up and down over the last year. Homes in Antioch Ca 94531 tend to be in the newer parts of Antioch and feature some Luxury Homes at very good prices, Golf Course Homes, and homes near many of Antioch's Fine Parks. There are two zip codes in Antioch and 94531 was split off from the rest of the city about 11 years ago and is in the areas of more recent development. Prices are a little higher than in 94509, however, the homes are generally newer and bigger. Taking a look at the Chart to the right (and the graphs below) you can see the trend for Antioch Home Prices in 2011. There is an up and down nature to them. Generally as the Average Price of Homes in Antioch 94531 goes up the average price per SF goes down... 03/21/2012

  Antioch CA 94509 Home Prices – 2011 Trend Antioch Ca Home Prices are what attract First Time Home Buyers and Investors. The 94509 Zip Code is the more established area of Antioch although it does cover some areas of New Home Construction. These fine Antioch Homes are great opportunities and even though many are older many are great homes. In fact it is much easier to get a single story home in the older areas than the newer areas. Many of the neighborhoods are actually quitter and better kept than the newer areas. Antioch Ca 94509 Home Prices and sales have remained steady through 2011 per the chart to the left and the graph below. Prices are shown in Price Per SF and Average Sale Price. Number of Antioch Home Sales is also shown by month. There is some up and down month to month but ... 03/17/2012

Antioch CA – We are explaining the steps to approving a short sale in 90 days or less. Today, we’re going to explain Step 2: Influence the BPO. A BPO is a bank’s version of an appraisal. They use that property valuation to make a decision to approve or deny a short sale offer. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Many BPOs are inaccurate. As a result, many short sales are unnecessarily rejected. The banks lose even more money when they property sells later on. The problem is that the people doing the BPOs are rushing thru them. They are visiting 100 or more homes per month and preparing an in depth property evaluation on each one. That isn’t always enough time to properly evaluate each property. As a result, many BPOs are inacc... 03/14/2012

  Antioch CA – We’re going to start explaining the steps to approving a short sale in 90 days or less. Today, we’ll start with Step 1: Find out the type of loan it is. Examples are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, Portfolio, and “Sliced and Diced.” Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Why does this step matter? First, around 70-80% of all loan held by the large, national lenders are not owned by that lender. They are simply collecting the money for the actual owner of the loan. The owner of the loan should actually make the decision to approve or deny the short sale. Find out who the actual owner is and you can hold that lender accountable for their actions. They better do a good job on the short sale. If not, then you report ... 03/14/2012

  Antioch CA – Most agents complain about how short sales drag out for months at a time. Another agent once told me, “I hate short sales. They take 9-12 months to complete. The banks never call you back to let you know what is happening.” The real problem is that most home buyers will wait for 45-60 days for an answer on a short sale offer. After that, then they become impatient. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Here are the 4 simple steps your agent can use to get your short sale approved in 90 days. If they miss any of these steps, then you risk waiting 6-9 months for an answer on the short sale. Step 1: Find out the type of loan it is. Examples are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, Portfolio, and “Sliced and Diced.” Step... 03/13/2012

  Antioch CA – Most people think that when a loan modification fails, then the homeowner who loses their home is the only party that loses. Well, often the bank loses as well. Let me explain why. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. Many banks are turning down loan modifications where the payments received would repay a mortgage amount higher than what they sell the property for as a foreclosure. A bank has two options when negotiating a loan modification. Option 1: Foreclose and sell the property for $150,000. Option 2: The homeowner is offering to repay $1,000 a month for the next 30 years. At today’s interest rates that will repay a $211,000 mortgage. In fact, these same banks are spending thousands of dollars advertising to... 03/06/2012

    Antioch CA – John and Susan bought a home at the peak before the real estate crash. They paid $325,000 for their dream home. Unfortunately, it isn’t a dream anymore. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. John lost his job and didn’t find a new one for three months. His new job pays 30% less than his old one. Susan’s business income went down as well. They can no longer afford their current mortgage payment and stopped making the payment. They attempted a loan modification. Their lender wouldn’t reduce their payments. The person they worked with at their lender told them, “You agreed to that mortgage payment and we want you to honor your commitment.” (Isn’t it interesting how banks that received a bailout like to talk about b... 03/01/2012

  Antioch CA – The Stop Foreclosure Institute recently received a question from Richard. “I accepted a job transfer and had to move. Unfortunately we were upside down on the house. I decided to rent it out rather than short sale it. The renters just moved out. I just checked the house. They trashed it! I could rent the house out again, but I would have to spend several thousand dollars fixing it up first. What would you recommend that I do?” Richard asked. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. This is a classic example of when a short sale is the right option. Rather than limping on with a wound you are able to get rid of the upside down debt and move on with your life. The banks received a bailout. Where is the bailout for the ... 02/29/2012

Antioch Real Estate Investors – The Warren Buffett Plan! I caught an interesting video this morning at the TBWS Daily. Basically Warren Buffett says now is the time to Buy Houses as Investment Properties or for that matter as a First Time Buyer. If you listen to the video there are several interesting points: Buffett does not do it because of the property management issues. But he is talking about thousands of homes bought at one time. Let's face it Warren Buffet is not going to get out of bed in the morning and start interviewing tenants. Now I know that many of you Real Estate Investors do not have the time or skill to manage your own Investment Properties either, but you can hire someone relatively cheap and still have a positive cash flow on your Real Estate Investment.The trick to ... 02/29/2012

  Antioch CA – In most areas the rental market is very tight. Rental prices have been increasing because so many people are losing their home to foreclosure. But, what is still surprising is that in most cases it is still cheaper to rent than own an upside down home. See, home prices have dropped by 20-50%, depending on the area. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. It was a lot less expensive to rent back in the peak of the real estate boom. After the crash rent dropped in many areas. It has come back up, but it is still cheaper than a mortgage payment on a home bought at the peak of the housing market. Many people are shocked that it is often cheaper to short sale and rent that staying in their home with a loan modification. ... 02/28/2012

    Antioch CA – Some people don’t know why they should bother with a short sale. “I’ll just let the bank foreclose. A short sale isn’t worth the aggravation”, they tell us. Click here to discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and avoided foreclosure. There is one simple reason I would prefer to short sale my home rather than let the bank foreclose. If I short sell my home, then I can buy a new home in 3 years, rather than waiting the 5-7 years required after a foreclosure. Most people’s finances will improve. They will get back on their feet financially. The economy is starting to pick back up. Some will start a new career. Others will find a new job at a new company. Many and the most will be able to afford a home again. You can buy another home 2-4 years sooner. Th... 02/23/2012