For many homeowners, HAFA program represents a viable alternative to foreclosure. For most people, foreclosure is a devastating experience. you may be facing foreclosure for the first time and feel all alone but you should know that you are not alone in your circumstances.

You are not the first one in Treasure Island to face the specter of losing your home to foreclosure. many homeowners in treasure Island Florida are searching right now for answers–for any alternative to foreclosure and the long-term financial damage it causes. As Treasure Island short sale agents we want you to know that you may yet have plenty of opportunity to avail yourself of other options to foreclosure.

If you have down for a long modification and you’re either in the short sale process or a deed in lieu on your home, a recent government program known as HAFA, Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives, which to US Treasury Department introduced in 2009. This program is an option for homeowners who otherwise are unable to keep her home through the existing HAMP program. (Home Affordable Modification Program)

HAFA began on April 5, 2010 but is scheduled to end on December 31, 2012. In Treasure Island as anywhere, the program is designed to complement the home affordable modification program. Homeowners who are unable to keep their home even under the HAMP program have an alternative solution through HAFA. Homeowners who have provided financial and hardship information for a HAMP application can transfer this information to the HAFA program. HAFA provides for pre-approved short sale terms prior to listing and provides release from liability on the first mortgage.

Qualified applicants benefit from incentives including a relocation assistance package. Compensation for administrative and processing costs are provided to servicers handling the short sale and even funds to offset losses to investors and subordinate lien holders.

The HAFA program is somewhat localized in its procedures because his guidelines are general and may very far each financial institution. Guidelines for HAFA have changed twice and are subject to further change. When you choose a licensed real estate agent in Treasure Island, you’ll want to be certain that your agent is trained and well experienced in local Treasure Island short sale transactions. It takes an experienced and competent agent to successfully negotiate the short sale process. The experienced Treasure Island short sale agent will be prepared to successfully deal with the red tape and timelines common to short sales.

Be sure to contact us with any questions about the HAFA program and any other foreclosure alternatives and options.

We are Treasure Island short sale agents and we stand ready with a wealth of experience and knowledge in successful short sales to help you.

A lot of people have not heard that word before but then again, a lot of people actually do a strategic Short Sale here in Treasure Island.

These are the people that still have a job, their finances are still in order but they are very frustrated that their property value has gone down so much over the last few years. In 2007 they bought a home for $800,000, paid $100,000 down and financed $700,000 at 7% interest only.

Now at the end of 2011 their house is worth $500,000 they pay $5000 each month in mortgage, taxes and insurance alone. These Treasure Island homeowners just don’t see how they can ever repay their mortgage or even recover the $100,000 down payment.

They have tried to apply for a loan modification but the bank just laughed at them, they have tried to refinance to get a lower interest rate but of course no bank would touch them and on top of everything else they see the lenders like Bank of American is offering Treasure Island homeowners up to $20,000 in cash if they do a short sale.

Something is fundamentally wrong with our system and these people just have had it.
Yes, their credit rating  will go down for a little while, but than again, what do you really need a good credit rating for in this economy.

A good credit rating used to be worth a lot but nowadays ?
So, we actually see a lot of strategic Short Sales in Treasure Island especially with Properties over $300,000

Pick up the phone now and call me 727 410 7777. No strings attached, we make an appointment and talk about a Treasure Island Short Sales and the options you have.

As Treasure Island Short Sale Realtors we talk to a lot of different homeowners that are considering a Short Sale.

Every situation is different,  some of them have lost their jobs, other have medical bills that are just killing them, in some have charged way too much to their credit cards and can’t keep up with the payments.

Others got transferred by their company and have to leave the area, business owners are just not making the money they used to make, some just can’t see how they can ever catch up with the loss in Value of their property.
Other do the numbers and find that it will be cheaper to rent, there are lots and lots of reasons why people do a Short Sale here in Treasure Island, like I said, every Short sale situation is different BUT they all have one thin g in common.

They should have done it sooner.

The home or condo owner of every single Short Sale we have done in Treasure Island lost a lot of money and time and energy but making the final Short Sale decision too late.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming anybody, I know that this is simply human nature.

We see that the situation might get out of hand, we don’t really know what to do about it, we steel from Peter to pay Paul, we stick our heads in the sand, we hope that somehow the situation will change for the better soon, that the real estate market and the economy will turn around over night etc.

In the meantime, what actually has happened is the the market got worst, prices went down even more and homeowners have spend countless hours worrying about their future and how to go on.

If you are in a situation where you might be thinking about a Short Sale here in Treasure Island, pick up the phone and call me today 727 410 7777.

Let’s talk about your options and what to expect when doing a short sale, don’t waste anymore money or time, you need to make a decision.

Remember, any decision is better than none. The sooner you attack the problem the soon you are getting out of this mess and can start over again.

We got so mad the other day. We were working on a Short Sale listing in Treasure Island with the lender being Bank of America.

After years of doing Short Sales here in Treasure Island we have to say that Bank of America is usually the slowest lender to complete a Short Sale process so we were very happy to see that this particular file with moving along nicely and faster than we thought.

The Short Sale seller was also very cooperative in producing all necessary paperwork and it looked like this one was a walk in the park.

We keep telling our Short Sale buyers and seller here in Treasure Island that it is not “sold” until the actual closing date and to not get to excited just because we are making good progress.
There are all kinds of last minute things that can happen in a Short Sale situation and it is not closed till we all sign the HUD 1.

Well in this particular case we must have forgotten our own good advice.

I was really excited how smooth and fast everything was going until I got a phone call from the buyer’s agent 3 days before closing, telling me there is a note on the door saying, “XYZ property management company working on behalf on bank of America has determined that the property is vacant and abandoned and therefore the locks will be changed with 3 days for this notice”

Unbelievable!!!

Yes, the property was vacant since it was supposed to close 3 days later BUT the property was not abandoned.

The grass was cut; the property looked great, there was a real estate sign in front of the house and my realtor lockbox on the door.
How on earth can you come to the conclusion that the house is abandoned???

We got so mad.
I do not know how many calls we made to Bank of America but as always, nobody was in charge, it was out of their hands etc.

We placed a not so friendly phone call to the property management company XYZ and were told that they have instruction from the bank and they will change the locks but it would not be a big deal, they could send the keys to the buyer a few days after we prove that this Treasure Island Short Sale was actually closed.

No Big deal? When the buyer shows up with a moving truck full of furniture and wants to move in the day of closing?

Long story short, I went to the property and replaced their note with mine saying
“Don’t you dare change the locks, we are closing on Friday and if the closing falls apart because the buyer can’t do a walk thru YOU will be held responsible”

Well, I guess this helped, I checked the locks everyday till we closed and it was ok.  Things like this just do not show up in a Realtor’s job description!

As Short Sale agents in Treasure Island Florida we see this very often to a point where we now include in the MLS description and the contract that
“buyer might be responsible for  having water and electric hooked up for inspections and walk thru”.

See, most people that list their home in Treasure Island as a Short Sale simply do not have the money to keep their utilities connected.
Once they have moved out, they disconnect the services, they just can’t afford to pay for electric and water.
It is already difficult to show a house or condo here in Treasure Island that has no electric or water but it can be done.

The real problem comes in after we receive an offer and the Short Sale buyer wants to do his inspections.

Well there is no way that you can do a property inspecting without utilities. So, now we are stuck. In the standard real estate contracts it says that the Short Sale seller has to provide the utilities for inspections on a Treasure Island home or condo BUT he or she doesn’t have the money.

This is a real problem in a Treasure Island Short Sale situation and you can lose your contract over this issue and have to start all over again.

See, buyers can get very aggravated during a Short Sale process, nothing moves fast enough, a ton of additional signatures for all kinds of addenda are needed, nobody can give them a real time frame and one goes the list.

If then all of a sudden, they hear that the utilities are an issue, they get very upset but if you tell them right away, before they make an offer, they already know that might be coming and it doesn’t upset them.

So, Short Sale buyers and sellers in Treasure Island, keep this in mind.
Add it to the purchase offer and nobody is unpleasantly surprised if this situation comes up.

Call me today  727 410 7777 if you have questions about a Short Sale here in Treasure Island.

No No No, please don’t.

As a  Treasure Island Short Sale agent here in Treasure Island Florida  this is one of the most asked questions from sellers who need to do a short sale on their home here.

When homeowners call me for a Treasure Island Short Sale consultation AFTER they have moved out of their Treasure Island home it is too late for me to advise them to stay in their home.

There are many reasons why people move out before they start a Short Sale, one of them is that they do not want to deal with the neighbors or do not want friends and family to know the position they are in.

Of course it is up to you but trust us,  more people than you think are doing or considering a Short Sale in Treasure Island and there is no reason to feel ashamed or guilty about it.

Everybody is in the same boat and people have a much better understanding of Short Sales than they did years ago.

As  Treasure Island Short Sale Specialist  we recommend that you stay in the house while doing the short sale.

This way the house is taken care of, the yard looks good, the pool is clean and the grass is cut. Buyers will make higher offers if the house is in good condition.

My second reason is that while you live there the utilities stay on and we all know how important that is in a hot Treasure Island summer.

You also save money but not having to rent a condo or home. The two things you have to do when you live in your Treasure Island property while doing a Short Sale is DECLUTTER start packing up stuff and put some boxes in the garage.

The less clutter the higher the sales price and buyers that see that you have already started to pack are more likely to make an offer since they know you are ready to move and will not necessarily prolong a Short Sale closing.

Second important thing is AVAILABILITY  your house needs to be ready for showing on a short notice.

Keep it clean and neat and accommodate showing request at all times.  Leave the house for every single showing and use a computer lockbox system.

This way you detach yourself from the buyer and detach the buyer from yourself.
The big plus is that you are not put in a position where the buyer asks a lot of questions that you can’t or don’t want  to answer and the buyer can feel free to really look at the home and take all the time they need to make a decision.

The easier a showing is the faster you will get an offer the faster you can move on and put your Treasure Island Short Sale behind you.