Elizabeth Weintraub • Sacramento Short Sale Agent • Land Park

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Real Estate Agent Strips His Own Foreclosure Home, Sells Fixtures on Craigslist

sacramento economyFor my own amusement, I sometimes scan newspaper articles sent from my Google alerts. Especially when a strange story catches my eye. What I find even more interesting than the story, sometimes, are all the comments from online readers. If you generally skip reading the comments -- and I wouldn't blame you if you did -- you're missing a collection of thought stranger than fiction.

A part-time real estate agent in Arizona was nabbed by the FBI for mortgage fraud. His name is Kailash Bhatt. He also worked for the state and as an instructor at University of Phoenix. When the bank foreclosed on his home, Bhatt stripped the foreclosure home and began selling on Craigslist the fixtures: the kitchen cabinets, granite counters and built-in appliances. It's considered mortgage fraud to remove fixtures that damage the bank's security for the mortgage. The FBI investigates mortgage fraud.

The comments on this foreclosure stripping story ran the gamut. Here is a sampling of what readers thought:

  • Bhatt is a terrorist.
  • The FBI should be spending its time arresting real crooks.
  • All real estate agents are criminals.
  • It's the bank's fault for not implementing a workout program for Bhatt.
  • The University of Phoenix is a toxic wasteland of crap.
  • Criminals come from India.
  • The federal government is to blame.
  • Bhatt should be allowed to strip his home.

sacramento foreclosures

The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com

Photo: Big Stock Photo

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Certified HAFA Specialistelizabeth weintraub

 

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Elizabeth Weintraub reviews My Sacramento Real Estate Listings

Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.

The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.

Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.

The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.

Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.

 

65 comments • Elizabeth Weintraub, Sacramento Short Sale Agent, Land Park, East Sac, Lyon RE • May 04 2009 10:16AM

Where's That Pot of Gold at the End of the Foreclosure Rainbow?

sacramento foreclosuresHaving a large presence on the web for a Sacramento real estate agent can be both a blessing and a curse. The benefit from being everywhere online is my phone rings a lot. The drawback is some of those callers are, to put it politely, insane. But as any veteran real estate agent will tell you, even insane people buy real estate. In fact, a lot of real estate is sold to insane people, if you really want to know the truth.

The secret, I've learned, is to choose the sane, logical and motivated clients to work with because that's how I sleep well at night. If I make the wrong choice, I toss and turn and stare at the ceiling at 3 AM.

A foreclosure buyer called to say he wanted to buy Sacramento homes in foreclosure. During the discussion, he mentioned he would like to buy them at 25% of value. I tried to explain that those are not available in MLS and do not exist. Some lenders are willing to discount properties 50% to 60% as a bulk package, meaning you buy a bundle of homes directly from the lender, but by the time bank-owned homes hit MLS, they are priced somewhat appropriately.

REO banks tend to listen to smart listing agents. Many foreclosures are priced under market, sometimes by 10% to 20%, but those are the homes that draw multiple offers and can end up selling over market value. This buyer asked me to send him those listings.

The following day he emailed to ask where were the homes that are priced 25 cents on the dollar because he wasn't finding those homes in the listings I had sent him.

Fortunately, I had a referral agent ready to work with him. I am working with other foreclosure and Sacramento short sale buyers buying homes at great prices who are not searching for a leprechaun.

Elizabeth Weintraub Land Park Real Estate Agent in Sacramento

The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, coming soon to a bookstore near you.

Photo: Big Stock Photo

sacramento short sale agentcerfified hafa specialist

---

Certified HAFA Specialistelizabeth weintraub

 

equator certified platinum reo elizabeth weintraub

Elizabeth Weintraub reviews My Sacramento Real Estate Listings

Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.

The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.

Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.

The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.

Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.

 

20 comments • Elizabeth Weintraub, Sacramento Short Sale Agent, Land Park, East Sac, Lyon RE • February 11 2009 09:12AM

Sacramento Home Buyers: Beware of Buying a Foreclosure Flipper

Foreclosure flippersIt ain't over until the fat lady sings, that is until a buyer has been approved by a manual underwriting process, the purchase is not solid and air tight. Things can go wrong in underwriting, especially in our turbulent times of falling home prices and increasingly stringent underwriting guidelines. An appraiser told me yesterday that some lenders are reducing the appraised value by 1% a month and projecting that difference over an 8- to 9-month period.

But that wasn't the problem for my Natomas buyer. In fact, her appraisal came in at 7% over her purchase price. Rarely, in this market, do we see homes that appraise over the purchase price.

The problem was the sellers did not record their deed until the day after they signed the purchase contract. Moreover, the sellers had purchased this property as a foreclosure from the lender and flipped it. None of this was recorded in the public records at the time the buyers purchased. In fact, the listing agent's comments and the condition of the home lead us to believe the home was not a foreclosure at all. I checked the tax rolls at the time, and it appeared to be owned by regular sellers.

The buyer has a high FICO, is putting down 25% and obtaining a conventional loan. That loan was denied because the present owners have not been on title for more than 90 days. This is a typical underwriting restriction on an FHA loan, but this is the first I've heard of it applying to conventional loans. The guidelines change every day in this business.

So, if you're contemplating buying a home that is owned by sellers who are not in foreclosure, be aware that title could be changing hands as your agent types your purchase offer and your loan may be denied.

In this case, if we can't find a lender who will fund the loan, the buyer is prepared to rent the vacant home until the 90-day period has passed. It's not like the sellers will be able to sell to any other buyer with financing.

Elizabeth Weintraub Land Park Real Estate Agent in Sacramento

The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, coming soon to a bookstore near you.

Photo: Big Stock Photo

sacramento short sale agentcerfified hafa specialist

---

Certified HAFA Specialistelizabeth weintraub

 

equator certified platinum reo elizabeth weintraub

Elizabeth Weintraub reviews My Sacramento Real Estate Listings

Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.

The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.

Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.

The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.

Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.

 

9 comments • Elizabeth Weintraub, Sacramento Short Sale Agent, Land Park, East Sac, Lyon RE • February 04 2009 09:08AM