11/25/13 – For Homeowners doing short sales, where what you sell your house for is less that what you owe, there has been a taxable issue with the State of California and the Federal government. Previous to 2007 the forgiveness of the debt has been a taxable item on your tax return. For example: you sell your house for […]
11-20-2013 J.P. Morgan Chase just settled with the Justice Department over a variety of legal issues related to the mortgage debacle. Apparently they were not forthright about the mortgages they sold on the secondary market. They were weaker mortgages than advertised. In the agreement J.P. Morgan is to provide 4 Billion in aid to distressed borrowers. The use of […]
For about the last 6 months the demand for houses has dropped. We’ve had to lower our prices and wait longer to get our properties sold. As we have tried to discern why, the following come to mind: 1.) Interest rates have gone up. 2.) Job growth has not taken root, leaving fewer qualified buyers. 3.) Uncertainty caused by […]
Have you ever wondered what your home is worth? Maybe you’re wondering if you could sell and payoff your loan without owing anything. Zillow is a website that offers free AVM’s: Automated Valuation Model. This is an estimate of what your home is worth based on sales in your area. Each company has a variety of parameters they use […]
3-17-14
There’s good news for Californians who are needing to do a short sale. According to the California Association of Realtors a letter from one of the FTB board members stating “California families who have lost their home in a short sale are not subject to state income tax liability on debt forgiveness “phantom income” they never received in a […]
3-5-14 I recently read that 25% of all homes with mortgages in Fresno County still owe more than there home is worth. There’s
two parts to this equation:
1) The debt exceeds the value of the home
and
2) The homeowner is paying interest on debt that’s beyond the homes worth. That’s not efficient.
Wouldn’t it be wiser to reduce the payment burden by […]
Distressed homes in Fresno County were 24 percent of all homes sold in December 2013. This is good compared to 52 percent in December of 2012. This is a reflection, in my opinion, of the increased values of homes compared to 2012. The median price appreciation was in the high teens, low 20’s for 2013.
For those of you […]
12-19-13 The MSN Real Estate section published the above article that caught my attention. It mentions the Short Sale and the Deed-In-Lieu of Foreclosure. The Short Sale most of us have heard about. Few have heard of the Deed-In-Lieu of Foreclosure.
The deed-in-lieu of foreclosure is a fairly simple process. The borrower or the lender prepare a Deed that gives […]
WHAT IF I OWE MORE ON MY HOUSE THAN IT’S WORTH? WHAT CAN I DO?
A “short sale” is an option.
This is where the owner and the lender cooperate to sell the home for less than the balance owed on the property.
Typically the owner contracts with a real estate agent to sell the property. The agent contacts the lender to […]
One of the areas of business that affects real estate values is jobs. If you have more jobs it places, greater demands on housing. Which then puts upward pressure on real estate values. Fresno’s job growth is expected to be flat because of the drought. This will likely reflect in flat or lower values for housing. For those of […]