A producer from KCRA-TV Channel 3 is coming to my house tomorrow. She wants to film a quick news segment about short sales. She is certainly coming to the right place. Because one of the things she wants me to talk about is the importance of hiring a short sale expert vs. a regular real estate agent. I've been mulling this over as my first inclination is to say a seller should hire a short sale specialist because we know stuff other agents don't know. Like what stuff, you might ask?
Well, yesterday a seller called me from Rocklin. He asked me questions about a Bank of America Cooperative Short Sale. Then he asked me questions about a Fannie Mae HAFA short sale. I answered them, and that's when I discovered he is 3 weeks away from a public auction and his home is on the market. This seller is very unhappy that his agent put him in this position because she did not have the answers he needed when he needed them.
He said she went to a conference to get answers but returned with none. She put him in a Fannie Mae HAFA without qualifying him, and he lost a lot of time because he did not qualify from inception. He asked if I had heard of this group of real estate agents out of Elk Grove. I'll never say anything bad about another agent. I told him he needs to talk with his agent about his problems. In fact, he should follow his agent's advice because I can't interfere (it's against the Code of Ethics) and he should try to close his escrow with his existing agent.
I believe if an agent is going to set herself out there as a Sacramento short sale agent, she should stay on top of the short sale business. She should know answers. She should be prepared to advise clients on all short sale programs. For example, sellers in California can apply for $5,000 in cash if they meet income guidelines and their lender participates. This program is the TAP, Transition Allowance Program, and it's part of the Keep Your Home California Program. Except you don't keep your home. You sell it as a short sale.
Some of the major lenders I've worked with who participate in this program in California are:
- CalVet (CA Department of Veteran Affairs)
- Guild Mortgage
- GMAC Mortgage
- Central Mortgage
- Everbank
- Flagstar Bank
- Saxon Bank
- US Bank
If your household income is below $90,100, as a seller of a short sale in Sacramento County (each county has different income requirements), you might qualify for TAP. That's money that can help a seller to pay for moving expenses, a security deposit and first month's rent for a new place. The seller must occupy the present home as a principal residence, produce a documented hardship and be in imminent danger of foreclosure or in foreclosure. It's not a loan, either. It's cash in hand at closing. You can use it for anything.
The TAP program began on February 7, 2011 and runs for 3 years. If you are in the middle of a short sale in Sacramento and you qualify for this program, you should contact TAP. And then ask yourself: why didn't my agent tell me about this? Probably because you didn't hire a Sacramento short sale agent. You probably hired a regular agent. And therein lies part of the difference.
---
Certified HAFA Specialist
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.
