RealEstateBuyMe.com: Illinois: Roselle

With the economic crisis having decimated the budgets of millions of families, many are wondering if it’s possible to improve your credit report and FICO® score.  And while some have seen their credit scores decline as they fell behind with mortgage payments and credit card bills, the damages can be repaired.  Yes, you can improve your credit report and FICO® score, but it’s not as simple as some of the scam artists would have you believe.

 

The first step is to get copies of your credit report from the major credit reporting agencies; and the credit reporting agencies are mandated to provide you with a free copy of your report annually.  This is not one of the so-called “free” reports you see advertised on TV—those are only free if you subscribe to their service; and that’s not free. Your free credit reports are only available at: www.annualcreditreport.com.  And while you’re checking you may want to purchase a copy of your FICO® score.  It will be offered to you by when you order your report from Equifax.

 

The FICO® score is the only legitimate credit score.  Other scores offered by the various credit bureaus are inconsistent with the FICO® score and are generally not considered by lenders.  Don’t waste time or money with the scores offered by the other credit bureaus; pay for the same score lenders use.

 

The three major credit reporting agencies are:

 

Equifax

P.O. Box 740123

Atlanta, GA 30374

800/685-1111

www.credit.equifax.com

 

Experian

475 Anton Blvd.

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

888/397-3742

www.experian.com

 

Trans Union

P.O. Box 7000

North Olmstead, OH 44070

800/916-8800

www.truecredit.com

 

After reviewing your credit reports and correcting any errors you find, it’s time to begin the steps that will improve your credit score.  A great place to get started is with www.Mint.com, a website that offers FREE money management software.  With tools that allow users to track their spending, the website connects to thousands of financial institutions.  Offering a wealth of services and options, Mint will help you begin learning how to live more frugally.  You may also want to check out www.BudgetTracker.com, another site that I’ve found helpful.

 

Now you’re ready to follow the simple steps of commitment, creativity, planning and patience.

 

COMMITMENT: Restoring your credit requires a commitment to your plan and to your monthly budget.  Don’t be tempted by purchases that will get you “off track.”  Stick to your plan regardless of the temptations that arise.

 

CREATIVITY: Look for ways creative ways to lower your monthly expenses such as: brown-bagging, car-pooling, getting rid of cable TV, home phones or other items that are not necessities.  Visit websites such as www.TheFrugalGuru.com for additional money saving ideas. 

 

PLANNING: Improving your credit means that you have a plan and that you follow it.  Part of your plan is a budget that requires constant monitoring and updating.  And when you become aware of future needs, plan those expenditures so they don’t disrupt your budget. 

 

PATIENCE: Restoring your credit takes time.  Depending upon the amount of damage done, it could be a couple of years or more before you begin to see a significant improvement.  But don’t fall for those scam artists that advertise immediate restoration of credit; it can’t be done—at least not legally.  Unless there are gross errors on your credit report, restoring it won’t happen overnight.

 

Additional Credit Tips:

Limit your requests for credit.  If you are just starting out and attempting to establish credit for the first time, don't open several new accounts in rapid succession.  New accounts lower your average account age, which can significantly impact your score, especially if your credit history is slim.  Additionally, opening several accounts within a short time makes you appear as a high risk.

Avoid multiple inquiries into your credit history.  If you are shopping for the best rate on for a particular purchase (furniture, appliances, auto or home mortgage) try to do your rate shopping within a short time period.  Credit scores are not generally affected by multiple inquiries for the same purpose if they occur within a short period. 

 

Always pay your bills on time.  I recommend using your banks’ bill paying service—they’re much less likely to miss payments, and if they do, you’ll have a record of ordering the payment on time.   Make sure your bank offers the service as part of your checking account.  There should be no extra charge for bill pay; and you shouldn’t really pay for normal checking either.  If your bank doesn’t offer a free checking that meets your needs, look at the offerings from competitors.

 

Pay off high interest credit cards first by applying as much as possible to the balance while paying minimums on other cards.

Maintain the lowest possible balances on credit cards or other “revolving credit” accounts.  A high debt to credit limit will lower your credit score.

Once a credit card balance is paid in full, don’t close the account; keeping it open actually improves your score.  However, don’t apply for additional cards just to increase your available credit; opening multiple accounts could reduce your score.  

 

For those who are overwhelmed by debts and so far underwater that budgeting seems impossible, check with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (www.nfcc.org), a non-profit agency providing financial counseling throughout the country.  They can provide an honest analysis of your financial situation and will help you get back on track.  But, avoid those services that advertise debt consolidation, many are scams that will only leave you in worse financial shape.

 

Finally, the best advice for improving your credit is to manage your use of credit responsibly.  Use credit only when necessary and pay all your bills on time.  And once you’re back on track, begin a program of regular savings.  Loan officers love to see a program of regular savings for it demonstrates stability and a commitment to your financial future.

 

I hope the headline caught your attention. While I have never been a big supporter of Zillow, they do have some cool features on their website. However, I must warn anyone interested in buying or selling real estate to take Zillow's Zestimates with a grain of salt.

Zillow has received criticism from real estate agents and many home buyers and sellers. The concerns mostly stem from those who feel Zillow does not provide accurate data. The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) in a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission, that NCRC Filed against Zillow.com stated that Zillow is "intentionally misleading consumers and real-estate professionals to rely upon the accuracy of its valuation services despite the full knowledge of the company officials that their valuation Automated Valuation Model (AVM) mechanism is highly inaccurate and misleading."

Zillow creates a Zestimate home value by using publicly available information. They use recent sale prices for the home and surrounding neighborhood. That’s a great place to start, but that is pretty much where the Zestimate (value of homes) ends. There is a lot more to it than that.

Homeowners using Zillow or any other Automated Valuation Model (AVM) or ”free online home values” to determine the value of a property need to know what those results aren’t telling them.

1. Whether unique features of a property might add to or detract from market value. So a computer returns an estimated value of $150,000. Did it account for the sewage treatment plant next door? The railroad tracks nearby with trains that blow their whistles every night? The school district? The desirability of its tree-lined street versus the next street over?
2. How long ago the property was assessed. Many AVMs and free online services rely on public assessment records. In many states, for example, assessments may only be required every three years – the value may be nearly three years old in that case. Some states mandate that an assessed value not increase beyond a certain percentage, even if sales activity indicates the property has appreciated far more. When you use an AVM or free online service, you risk a lower or higher value than reality.
3. What makes the comparables comparable? A computer might compare your subject property to another property with similar square footage sold three months ago a quarter of a mile away. Even if that “comparable” property is in a different, less desirable school district, fronts a four-lane, 55 M.P.H. street, and is flood-prone. Or even if the property was sold under duress, such as in a divorce situation, or not at arm’s length, such as to a family member. A computer simply does not know all the adjustments that might need to be made to a “comparable” property’s sales price.
4. Whether a market is declining. Automated valuations use data from recent, nearby sales. If those sales were completed at the peak of a local housing market, the computer will think the trend is going up. Even if a local professional knows that the overall neighborhood is beginning to experience a downturn. As a lender, don’t get stuck with a property that’s been overvalued by a computer.
5. Whether there is a conflict of interest. Free online home values are often farmed out to real estate agents in your area, who use the service to get your listing when you decide to sell. The best way to do that is to impress you with their confidence that they can get a higher price for your property. If they tell you your property is “worth” the high end of what they believe they can sell it for, the theory goes; you’re more likely to sign a listing agreement. With most things, it’s best to “under promise and over deliver”, but the opposite is true when you use a free online home value service.
6. What qualifications, designations, experience and education the preparer of the value has. When you work with an appraiser or a Real Estate Broker, you can be confident we’re qualified, ethical and prepared to complete your assignment professionally and with good judgment. Most of the time, you don’t know the qualifications of whoever is behind those free online values, and they couldn’t compare to a trained professional if you did. And if you’re relying on an automated valuation, you’re cheating yourself out of a real estate professionals education, experience, expertise and local knowledge.

Jon Tipton, Realtor/Certified Appraiser

Driven by our Goals, Respected for our Integrity and chosen for our Expertise

Give us a call today for an accurate estimate of real estate value and the best real estate marketing around.

813-391-6121

Florida's Beautiful Homes- Realtors

813-653-1241

Why does the bank file and aggressively continue a foreclosure suit even though you are negotiating a short sale or modification of the loan?  This is a most often asked question and although I have visited the question before; the concept of the lender dealing separately with the left hand than with the right hand needs to be addressed again.

My previous article on it had an esoteric title, FORECLOSURE EXPRESS VS. LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD. A picture of those ideas you may conjure up are shown right below.  

 

Except for a few re-blogs, you might have missed it.  It gave at the time a very brief synopsis on how the interaction regarding foreclosures has evolved over the years since the mortgage foreclosure bonanza began.  However that article was a true short blog - almost eligible for Twitter for its brevity- and was not consistent with my detailed discussions.  So sorry for the delay, but it is about time this matter was properly dissected.  This article is the real story on the Foreclosure Express (the foreclosure suit aggressively pursued by lender's attorney) vs the Little Engine That Could (the short sale or loan modification tedious process pursued by the borrower to avoid the foreclosure judgment and sale).

First, you have some reading to do. To understand the short sale process, please pour a cup of coffee and review the article, SHORT SALES PRIMER - LAWYER DISCUSSION OF THE SHORT SALE EVOLUTION. Reviewing the loan modification process is far more complicated as it is influenced by lenders individually and supposedly the US government.  A good place to review the general concepts is at the FHA Website although you can get similar information at the HUD Website too.  But the best way to understand modifications is by going to court sanctioned mediation (I have done several this week) and have the mediator AND the lender's attorney scratching their heads wondering what the bank representative is thinking in formulating non-sensible decisions.

To understand the foreclosure process, see the article, A LAWYER'S EXPLANATION OF THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS.

Now that you have educated yourself, the question comes up, Why do lenders file (or pursue) a foreclosure judgment even though there is a pending short sale or loan modification?

The Good Old Days -      Once upon a time there were very few foreclosures and lenders were just plain happy to extend credit to buyers of homes.  Where there was a financial problem and a foreclosure had to be filed, it was a no big deal event for the bank's lawyers and (in Florida for example) the time line from filing the suit to the foreclosure sale was about 100 days.

Once Upon A Time Is History!  Come the financial meltdown of 2006 and recession thereafter, foreclosure filings by the banks became a tsunami swamping the banks' attorneys, the clerks and court and the court systems.  Insufficient resources made it seem that files were slipping through the cracks and the 100 day timeline became almost typically over 700 days!  In Palm Beach County, Florida (where I live and work) the caseload in the clerk's office went from less than 1,000 cases to a peak of over 52,000 foreclosure cases pending.  This caused great delays in processing foreclosures.  This is only one of the many reasons why you may have heard of people living in their homes for two or more years without making a mortgage payment!  And it is not just the court that is backed up.  Today I was in a foreclosure mediation and the lender's attorney told me she had 1,200 files she was personally handling.  I can tell you that the most an attorney can "sort of" competently handle is about 400 simple foreclosure files at one time.

Do We All Have A Common Goal?  Do all short sellers cooperate with the short sale process?  The answer is a resounding NO.  The short seller is typically living in the house "for free" and is not all that interested in moving out and paying rent.  Therefore, short sellers are notoriously delay oriented. Banks believe this to be a fact.

I Want To Stay!  Loan Modification borrowers are in a somewhat different boat.  They don't have any plan to move out of the house as they want to modify the loan to something more affordable.

They Want WHAT!?!@?  Short Sellers and Loan Modification borrowers have something in common - they have to accept the lender's terms of the short sale or loan modification or face loss of the home through foreclosure.  The alternative of the loss of the house in foreclosure is usually not an desirable option.  The lender can never be sure that (a) the buyer in a short sale is not going to walk away from the sale at the last minute (with nothing usually to risk - see my article, MULTIPLE SHORT SALE CONTRACTS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM), (b) the seller will accept the demands the lender conditions the short sale approval upon, or (c) the borrower will accept the loan modification terms offered by the lender (if any are offered at all).

Hurry Up and Wait?  So knowing or believing all the above, if you were the lender and you knew that from start to finish the mortgage foreclosure process was going to take 300 to 700 days and the short sale or modification may or may not end up successful, would you wait 3 or 5 months for a short sale contract or for the borrower to submit complete loan modification information - BEFORE you started the clock on the foreclosure process?  OF COURSE NOT!  Therefore, even if you have a good faith intention to proceed with a short sale or loan modification, the lender will NOT stop a pending suit or delay filing an otherwise ripe suit for foreclosure.  The result is one hand of the lender pursues solutions with the borrower and the other hand of the lender pursues solutions against the borrower - all at the same time.

Remind Me To Stop Before I Drive Off the Cliff!   Even the HAFA and HAMP programs have guidelines for participating lenders that state that the lender will not have to stop the foreclosure process - but only that if a borrower is accepted into the processing of under HAFA or HAMP, the lender will not actually have the foreclosure sale!  But they can go all the way to getting a foreclosure sale date set!

So if your client is trying a short sale or modification - or if you are a borrower in that position - don't be surprised when the Sheriff rings your doorbell at 6 a.m. with a subpoena and summons and complaint for foreclosure even though the nice people at the bank are helping you in your "solution".  If you are 90 days or more late (typically), you should expect that visit and introduction to your foreclosure complaint very very soon.  And once you get served BE SURE TO IMMEDIATELY CONTACT YOUR ATTORNEY TO DISCUSS THE FORECLOSURE AND WHAT SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT IT.

So what happens if you do indeed get the short sale done or modification granted?  The foreclosure lawsuit gets dismissed and if a judgment was entered, the judgment is vacated (as if it never existed).

Just keep yourself educated and your expectations realistic!  And always use the advice of a knowledgeable attorney.

Copyright 2010 Richard P. Zaretsky, Esq.

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Be sure to contact your own attorney for your state laws, and always consult your own attorney on any legal decision you need to make.  This article is for information purposes and is not specific advice to any one reader.

Richard Zaretsky, Esq., RICHARD P. ZARETSKY P.A. ATTORNEYS AT LAW, 1655 PALM BEACH LAKES BLVD, SUITE 900, WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA 33401, PHONE 561 689 email: RPZ99@Florida-Counsel.com - FLORIDA BAR BOARD CERTIFIED IN REAL ESTATE LAW - We assist Brokers and Sellers with Short Sales and Modifications and Consult with Brokers and Sellers Nationwide!  Shortsales@Florida-Counsel.com   Website www.Florida-Counsel.com. 

See our easy to understand articles at:

TABLE OF CONTENTS - SHORT SALE AND LOAN MODIFICATION ARTICLES

Happened to be home when Oprah was on this afternoon. The topic was Makeunders. Women who needed less not more. But this also applies to homes. Nate Berkus did a room Makeunder and it inspired me!

Every home that goes on sale needs a makeunder. The less of you, the quicker your home will sell. The bigger and more spacious your home looks the higher it's perceived value.

This means it's really important to edit your stuff so what's really important greets you (and your buyers) when you walk in the door. You want your homes' features to shine, you want buyers to say AH!

The trouble is we tend to keep adding stuff to our homes and don't stop to edit.
I compare it to getting dressed. You've got a great look going but then you keep adding accessories to your outfit. A scarf or two. All of a sudden your great look gets lost. No one will be able to focus on that perfect necklace or pair of shoes because there's too much to look at.

The best outfits are the ones with a simple color palette. A nice pair of jeans, a contrasting top and jacket and some great accent jewelry and shoes.

Your home is no different. It's an extension of who you are but it shouldn't be the catchall for everything you've ever wanted to bring home. Layering is wonderful but you have to know when to stop before your look gets lost.

Start with one room. Treat it like an extension of yourself. How would you dress it?

10 Easy Tips to "Make Under" Your Home

1. Keep in simple, Pick one or two main colors for your walls and floor. The fewer colors the more spacious your home will look.

2. Pick a third and fourth (if desired) accent color . Use these colors sparingly.

3. Keep your surfaces consistent.  Walls should be the same material if possible and painted or finished in the same color on all walls. Floors also. Keep flooring consistent throughout the house.

4. Group your family photos on one wall and use similar frames and mats to keep a unified look. Edit your photos first and keep only the ones you love.

5.  Group your plants also. Your plants will thrive and it reduces watering time. Toss out any that are unhealthy or dying.

6. If a room has more than one use make sure there's a dedicated space for each use. Screens or dividers can help separate living from office or exercise space.

7. Keep your window treatments clean and simple. Heavy window treatments that cut down on light can overpower a room. Invest in some light colored curtain panels instead hung on a simple pole. These look great over inexpensive 2" blinds.

8. Remove area rugs on carpet.  Visually they cut up the floor space and make the room feel smaller.

9. Edit your collections. Keep only pieces you love on display. Again grouping them will create impact and reduce visual busy-ness.

10. Keep it to 5. When in doubt, keep no more than 5 toys or 5 plants or 5 pillows or 5 frames or 5 lamps for example in a room at one time. If you want to add a new piece, take out an old one.

Remember keep it simple. Whether you are getting ready to sell your home or just want to live lighter, a professional home staging consultation can help you with your "makeunder".

Photos are not samples of Hampton Redesign staging but chosen to represent how a simplified color palette can makeunder a room.

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Hampton Redesign   817-891-9563   www.hamptonredesign.com

Tessa Skeens | Owner & Lead Staging Designer

Professional Home Staging and Redesign Services Serving Greater Fort Worth TX Including Aledo, Willow Park, Benbrook, Keller, Arlington, Southlake, Colleyville, Hurst, Mansfield, Burleson and Tarrant County