Funds Issued to Battle High Number of Foreclosures and VA Homes for Sale

Local communities in Indiana are set to benefit from the third round of financing from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). Areas suffering from huge supplies of foreclosed VA homes for sale and bank foreclosures will soon be receiving their share of the $31.5 million earmarked for the state.

Among the neighborhoods that will benefit from the third round of funds are neighborhoods suffering from the impact of foreclosed homes in Indianapolis, IN as the city is set to receive $8 million. Gary, on the other hand, will get $2.7 million, while several cities will share the $12.6 million that will remain after over $8 million are given to the state's officials.

Other local governments that will benefit from the funds designed to battle blight caused by thousands of foreclosed homes in Indiana are Elkhart, Muncie, South Bend, Anderson, Fort Wayne, Kokomo, Hammond, Elkhart County and Lake County. Elkhart will get $1 million, while Elkhart County will receive $1.19 million. South Bend will get $1.7 million.

According to state officials, the funds can be used to purchase VA homes for sale and other foreclosed properties for the purpose of redeveloping them. Or they can be used to demolish empty properties that are too far gone to be redeveloped. States are given some leeway on how they want to use the funds, but the methods still require the approval of the HUD.

Some of the areas that will benefit from the third round of NSP financing have been provided with aid before. Cities like South Bend and Elkhart, which both have a long list of house foreclosures, have received federal dollars before. South Bend was awarded over $4 million two years ago which were used to renovate 10 houses and demolish four more. Multi-unit dwellings were also built in the area after it received its share from the first round of financing.

State officials have expressed optimism that the over $30 million that had been reserved for Indiana will go a long way towards improving the condition of neighborhoods that have greatly suffered from the impact of large number of foreclosed properties, including VA homes for sale and bank foreclosures.

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Fannie Mae Homes for Sale and Other Unsold Houses Climbed in August

Inventories for unsold dwellings in the U.S. rose during the month of August. These include Fannie Mae homes for sale, other types of foreclosed residential properties, newly built dwellings and existing homes. The rise marks the eighth consecutive month that housing inventories have moved up.

Inventories of unsold newly built houses and foreclosed homes in Philadelphia, PA are at a one year and a half high with a 10.6% annual increase. The figure is the same in Houston, Texas and in Orange County, California. The data was provided by ZipRealty and was based on the 26 housing markets tracked by the firm.

Available residential properties for sale in these 26 markets, including foreclosed homes in Pennsylvania, climbed by 0.4% in August compared with July. These totals include townhomes, condos and single family dwellings. Analysts have revealed that inventories for unsold houses traditionally spike in August and have not shown a change in trend for the past 28 years.

According to August housing market data, inventory increases were highest in areas where bidding contests on properties under listings of foreclosed homes for sale caused housing supply to decline to low levels a year ago. These areas include Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Diego.

August inventories for existing, newly built, foreclosed properties and Fannie Mae homes for sale rose in Las Vegas by 9.3% compared with July 2010. In Phoenix, August inventories are up by 4.6%, while San Diego recorded a jump of 3.8% when compared with July figures.

When it comes to year-by-year increases, San Diego recorded a 59% rise and Orange County posted an increase of 43%. Los Angeles, meanwhile, recorded a 25% rise in inventories compared with year-ago levels.

Analysts have revealed the one of the factors creating problems for the housing market is the fact that most home sellers cannot afford to lower their homes' prices without going below the amount owed on their mortgages.

On the other hand, homebuyers are not buying since most of them believe that prices will drop further and mortgage rates are going to remain low. Analysts have stated that in short, buyers of Fannie Mae homes for sale and other for-sale dwellings are waiting for sellers to make the first move, while the latter are hoping that buyers will take advantage of low mortgage rates and low prices and start shopping for homes.

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Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union Loan Modification

Central Florida Educators (CFE) FCU is a Federal Credit Union specializing in retail banking in the Central Florida area since 1937. If your mortgage is currently held by CFEFCU and you are behind on your mortgage, or if you are worried about becoming behind and having trouble making your monthly payments, this information may help you.

Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union has accepted TARP Bailout funds from the Federal Government, and now participates in Obama’s Making Home Affordable Program. Making Home Affordable is a Government Program designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure and lower their mortgage payments through a process called loan modification.

A loan modification is the single best way to stop foreclosure and truly find financial stability; by definition, a mortgage modification is an agreement between borrower and lender to lower the payment of the borrower to an affordable amount, so both parties can avoid the cost and inconvenience of foreclosure.

Loan modifications can lower the interest rate of the existing mortgage, change the duration (number of years) of the loan, decrease the monthly payment, possibly decrease the total amount owed (principal balance) of the loan, forgive legal and late fees, and restructure overdue debt.

Loan modifications help many homeowners are able to lower their monthly mortgage payments by multiple hundreds if not thousands of dollars each and every month.

If your mortgage is currently held or being serviced by Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union, and you are looking for more information or help on getting a loan modification, we’d be happy to take a look at your case and help you qualify for a loan modification that meets Making Home Affordable Guidelines.  Apply here!

Quite obviously, the first step in getting a loan modification from CFE FCU is to determine whether or not you financially qualify for a loan modification. For more in depth information on how to qualify for a loan modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), a detailed article can be found here, or additional guidelines can be found by visiting makinghomeaffordable.gov.

To determine whether or not you qualify for a loan modification, draw up a detailed list of all sources of income, each and every monthly expense, and total all available assets. Document the information that you are listing by gathering the documentation required by the Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union loan modification program, which is:

Last 2 years tax returns2 Years W-2s2 months paystubs3 months bank statements3 month Profit & Loss statement (if self-employed)

Additionally, you will need to write a hardship letter; more information on how to write a hardship letter can be found here.

When you have gathered all the required documentation, created your financial prospectus and hardship letter, and made sure that the information you are presenting does in fact qualify you for a loan modification with Central Florida Educators FCU, now it is time to contact the loss mitigation department, which can be reached at (800) 771-9411 or (407) 896-9411.

Present the information that you have gathered above in a clear concise manner, and explain that you do in fact qualify for a loan modification under Making Home Affordable. Be sure to write down and log each and every date or notable event in the loan modification process, including the date and time of submission of documents, follow up calls, and expected time table.

A loss mitigation specialist will be assigned to negotiate the terms of your loan modification. When negotiating, re-iterate your intent to keep your home, your inability to make the current payment, and your ability to pay the lower payment that you are asking for. Stick to your guns, and don’t be tricked into agreeing to a higher payment than you can afford under program guidelines.

If at any point during the loan modification process you are having a tough time, and you want an immediate expert opinion, complete a contact form on the top right of each and every page of modificationzoom.com. We are happy to help you qualify for a loan modification and answering any questions you may have.

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Community Bank and Trust Loan Modification

Getting a mortgage loan modification from Community Bank and Trust can be an arduous and time consuming process, however, here is some information on their requirements and guidelines, as well as the Community Bank and Trust loan modification program process to help you save your home and achieve financial stability.

Community Bank and Trust now participates in the Treasury Loan Modification Plan, also known as the Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable Program, designed to help homeowners lower their monthly mortgage payments to affordable amounts and decrease the amount of foreclosures nationwide.

Throughout the Country, many homeowners are desperately in need of assistance to help lower the amount they are paying every month on their mortgage, and, according to the USA Today, homeowners that achieve a permanent loan modification under Making Home Affordable save on average $550 per month on their loan payments.

This sounds great, right?  How is this the National average of savings for loan modifications under HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program)?  Well, the Obama Loan Modification Program allows for the reduction of interest rates to as low as 2% on 30 year or 40 year terms, and the purpose of  a loan modification is to prevent loss to the mortgage servicer by allowing the lender to avoid having to foreclose on homeowners that may be able to make lower, affordable payments.

Unfortunately, to date of those placed into Trial Loan Modifications, only 4% have actually gotten permanent loan modifications.  There’s no real easy answer as to how to ensure that you get a permanent loan modification, other than that it may be in your best interest to consult with a professional that can help guide your loss mitigation efforts, or simply represent your case for you.

If you are looking to qualify for a loan modification with Community Bank and Trust, first you should put together a hardship letter, as well as a financial prospectus detailing your current financial circumstances, specifically your gross and net monthly income, expenses, and assets.  Additionally you will need to gather the required supporting documentation consisting of W-2s and paystubs, or a 3 month Profit and Loss Statement and 2 Years Tax Returns if self-employed, 3 months bank statements, and a copy of your most recent mortgage statement.

A detailed look at Community Bank loan modification requirements and guidelines can be found under the Making Home Affordable Guidelines, available here.

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CCO Mortgage & Citizens Bank Loan Modification

CCO Mortgage (also known as Citizens Bank) provides a number of loan modification programs to help borrowers stop foreclosure and lower their payments. Additionally, Citizens Bank now participates in President Obama’s Making Home Affordable Program.

Regardless of whether or not you are current on your mortgage, if Citizens Bank is your lender, we most likely can qualify you for a loan modification. Actually, if you are behind on your mortgage, this may create even more of an incentive for Citizens Bank to modify your loan. If you are on time, getting a loan modification is still possible, and modifying now can avoid irrevocable damage to your credit.

How can this help you? Well, a loan modification can help you decrease your interest rate, payment, and possibly even the principal balance of the loan. An aggressive loan modification can help you keep your house, and in the process lower your payment by hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

Let’s take a look at what exactly a loan modification is: A loan modification is an agreement between you (the borrower) and your lender (Citizens Bank) to lower your mortgage payments to an affordable level to help you avoid foreclosure. Citizens Bank has faced significant financial setbacks over the last two years due to the high number of foreclosures, and, as such is willing to work with qualified homeowners to lower their monthly payments and help them keep their homes.

When applying for a loan modification with Citizens Bank / CCO Mortgage, it’s important to remember that the primary basis of whether or not you will be approved for a loan modification is based on whether or not you are facing what Citizens will look at as an “acceptable financial hardship”.

Citizen’s Bank and CCO Mortgage’s loss mitigation guidelines cover a number of acceptable financial hardships, here are a few of the more common ones: Decrease in income, job loss, unemployment, adjustment of an ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage), any increase in mortgage payment, death in the family, illness, disability, child birth, excessive credit card debt, decrease in assets, and increases in other household expenses.

As previously stated, Citizens Bank now participates in the Making Home Affordable Program, meaning that it’s conceivable to get an interest rate as low as 2% on a 30 year fixed loan through an aggressive loan modification. For more information on the Making Home Affordable Program, check out these HAMP Guidelines.

If your mortgage is currently held by Citizens Bank, it may be in your best interest to take a look at a loan modification as you are most likely paying more than you have to on your mortgage.

When applying for a loan modification with Citizens Bank, you will need to document your income, assets, and expenses. Here’s a quick list of what you will need:

Last 2 Years W-2’s2 Yrs. Tax Returns2 Months Paystubs3 Month Bank StatementsCopy of Latest Mortgage Statement

Please note that Citizens Bank may ask for additional supporting documentation when reviewing your loan modification package.

You can reach the Citizens Bank Loss Mitigation Department directly at (800) 234-6002. Now, as with most lenders Citizens Bank has two different departments that field calls on delinquent loans and how homeowners are treated and the help they receive varies base upon which department of Citizens they have reached!

The first department of Citizens Bank that speaks to delinquent homeowners typically is their collection’s department, who will try to get the homeowner to catch up by immediately paying back the amount they are late on, including the legal and late fees that Citizens Bank assesses.

The second department at Citizens consists of loss mitigation specialists and negotiators. Modification Zoom has significant experience working with lender loss mitigation departments and getting the best loan modifications for our clients. If you believe you need help getting a loan modification from Citizens Bank / CCO Mortgage, complete the form to the right, or apply here.

Often, homeowners contact us after they have presented financial information to their lender that makes it impossible for them to get a loan modification. If you do not have years of loss mitigation experience, the time to learn is not on your own foreclosure.

Modification Zoom can help get a loan modification from Citizens Bank / CCO Mortgage that will put you in a much better financial situation. Complete a form on any page of this website, and we will contact you immediately. The consultation is quick, absolutely risk free, and completely confidential. Take the first step today!

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How To Earn Profits From Foreclosure Properties For Sale

It is a known fact in real estate industry that foreclosure properties for sale give investors a chance to earn quick profits. Even those who were hesitant to dip into the market have found the industry a very lucrative haven for business opportunities. With the market being more buyer friendly nowadays, more and more people are discovering the huge potential of investing in foreclosed properties.

Understanding Foreclosures

Foreclosures happen because of the home owner’s default on their mortgage, which could be due to several reasons. In order to recover their money, banks repossess their properties to at least mitigate the effects of mortgage defaults. As a result, lenders become more interested in aiming for a quick sale so that they could easily recover whatever losses they have incurred from these bad debts. Oftentimes, foreclosure properties for sale are priced way below their actual market values. Buyers could then easily come off with instant equity when they buy these properties. This is why most home buyers prefer to purchase foreclosure houses rather than buy a newly-built house.

To Rent Or Flip

Buying foreclosure properties for sale present numerous unique opportunities for buyers such as renting them our flipping them for a huge profit. A rentals business could be very profitable but you have to make sure that you are adequately prepared for the responsibilities of a landlord. You might also have to wait for some time before you can realize any good profit coming from your rentals business since in some cases, you will need to repair the house in order to attract house renters.

However, if you are interested in a house flip business, this, too, could bring you large, instant profit. House flipping, though, will mean that you have to make the necessary repairs to make it more marketable. The profit that you will earn from this venture can then be used to buy another property to flip. It will not be long before you find yourself in a very successful house flipping business. Of course, you will never run out of good repo properties to buy from the market. You just have to be patient when it comes to searching for the right property or house to flip.

Investing in foreclosure properties also merit a smart understanding of its risks and advantages. Just make sure that you have done your homework right and can manage the difficulties that could come your way.

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Carrington Mortgage Services – New Century – Loan Modification

Let me start by saying if your mortgage lender is Carrington, you may be facing an uphill battle in getting them to modify your loan. Loan modification requests have often been arbitrarily declined in the past, and there exists a horrific track record of not diligently helping homeowners that qualify for assistance, although lately Carrington has shown some improvement in helping homeowners that are facing financial hardship.

A good deal of the loans currently held by Carrington Mortgage Services actually were originate by New Century, a loan servicer notorious for originating high interest rate subprime mortgages that set borrowers up for financial failure 2 or 5 years in the future.

Bruce Rose, CEO of Carrington Mortgage Services

The amount of dirt on Carrington Mortgage Services goes back years; here’s a previous entry I wrote about Carrington: Carrington Mortgage Loan Modification Epic Fail. Recently, Bruce Rose, CEO of Carrington was listed with NACA as one of their ten most wanted financial predators, and they have faced a number of lawsuits for unfair and deceptive business practices.

Rather than focusing on the bad however, let’s focus on the positive, and why you most likely are here; Let’s talk about how you can get a loan modification from Carrington.

Carrington participates in Obama’s Making Home Affordable Program. How does this help you? Well, HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) has set guidelines that make it easier for homeowners like yourself to get a loan modification that will allow you to afford your monthly mortgage payments.

We’ll get back to Making Home Affordable and qualification for this program in a minute. First things first, if you’re not familiar with what a loan modification is or the general process for getting one, I suggest you take a look at the Loan Modification Q&A here.

Getting a mortgage modification can help you in so many ways, and if you manage to wrestle a good loan workout from Carrington, you will probably reap the benefits of saving hundreds if not thousands of dollars per month as a result of lowering your monthly payments, interest rate, and possibly even the amount that you owe on your mortgage.

If you want to take the guesswork out of the loan modification process, and are having trouble getting a Carrington loan modification, complete the contact form to the right; we’ll call you immediately and coach you.

Prior to calling Carrington, which can be reached directly at either (800) 790-9502 or (877) 206-9904, be sure that you put together a hardship letter, as well as a detailed and complete list of all income, assets, and expenses. Take a look at the Making Home Affordable Guidelines here prior to submitting your package and make sure that you qualify.

Often, homeowners contact us that have already submitted financial information to their lender that does not qualify them for a loan modification, which makes it that much harder for us to qualify a homeowner that has already been declined.

When you are absolutely positive that you qualify for a loan modification and have completed your hardship letter and financial prospectus, begin gathering supporting documentation to reinforce your case: You will need a copy of 2 years W-2’s, 2 years tax returns, the last 2 months paystubs, 3 months bank statements, a the most recent copy of your mortgage statement or coupon.

Eventually these documents will be reviewed by a Loss Mitigation Specialist and / or Negotiator at Carrington, who will give a yea or nay on your loan modification request. It is very important to advocate for yourself, and negotiate the very best terms possible on your loan modification.

I hope this helps; if you are in need of professional assistance, any of us here at Modification Zoom would be more than happy to help you. More information on Carrington is posted here regularly so check back often, or subscribe to our rss feed for news and updates!

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