If you are Florida or California homeowner and your home is upside down, it seems you are now very fortunate. Swimming around you is now a thriving industry of foreclosure consultants, short sale specialists, Realtors, loan brokers and former "loss mitigation specialists" ready to dive in and help. Interestingly, attorneys do not yet seem to be making a big push into the recently expanding area of work. (I will discuss the reasons for this in a later blog.)
Lets review the players -
Loan Broker Mortgage Lender - What you may find interesting is that when you work with a loan broker most of you solutions will involve refinancing or taking out new loans. You may get this really nice large second mortgage with a interest rate well below market for six months. Or, you may work with one of the few brokers who can negotiate a short payoff with your bank and set you up with a new lender. (This may be a great option for some people, but, you do have to watch out for the loan forgiveness bill from the IRS.)
Realtor - When you work with a Realtor most of your solutions will usually involve listing and selling your home, to get you get out from under the debt. One of the pitches from many Realtors is that a short sale will save your credit. This is a dubious claim and it may be false. Again, watch out for loan forgiveness. You may need an accountant or a lawyer to negotiate with the IRS.
Foreclosure or short sale consultant - When you work with the foreclosure consultants most solutions involve paying 1000-2000 dollars or more upfront, and then letting the "specialist" negotiate with your bank. While this may be practicing law without a license it is certainly representation without a full quiver. Unfortunately a specialists ability to leverage a homeowners position is severely limited by the "specialist" lack of legal authority. There is no sincere option for filing a 13 and forcing the bank take a court ordered payment schedule. Again, watch out for the 1099 and the tax bill from the IRS.
Investor or scam artist posing as "Consultant" - You may even run into the "consultant who wants to help you by buying your home." He may even offer to let you sign over your deed so he can help you.
Except for the charlatans all of these "consultants" may be suggesting real solutions, which may be a great fit for the right situation. All those solutions should be in your tool box. There are also some solutions that only a lawyer may suggest.
We urge every upside down homeowner to speak with with someone from each vocation and consider each of these options before choosing a solution.
Of course ideally you might find all the solutions in one stop. Our group at upsidedownrealestate.com is set up so that you can work with loan brokers, Realtors and or Lawyers depending on your needs. And if you choose one of our solutions you have our lawyers on retainer to work with the IRS for up to 4 hours resolving loan forgiveness matter if you get a tax bill.
Some of our solutions require no up front fees and we always inform you of the fees before we do any work.
3 Easy Steps
1. Give us a call (941) 356-4653 or (760) 415-5873.
2. Discuss your options for free.
3. Get started on your solution.
We are located in San Diego and the Sarasota - Bradenton area of Florida. If your property is located in other areas we will be happy to work with you, but we will have to interview local Realtors to see if they can produce the data we need for some of the proprietary features in our short sale package.
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