Warning!! Watching this video may damage those “Rose Colored” glasses most have been wearing.

1) 14.4% of ALL mortgages delinquent or already in foreclosure in the US.  That is a historic record.

2) PRIME borrowers (NOT SUB-PRIME) borrowers are now the leading edge of this epic housing mess. 33% of all delinquencies (and those already in foreclosure) are PRIME.

3) Next fun fact: 144% INCREASE in FHA delinquencies year over year. Anyone want to place any bets on the long term viability of the FHA in its current incarnation? Anyone?

4) Saved the most staggering stat for last…get ready…The total number of delinquent (and in foreclosure) homeowner/ borrowers is GREATER than the total number of homes for sale. Lets put this into perspective: There are currently around 4,000,000 homes for sale in the country. Thus, there are MORE THAN 4,000,000 homes delinquent or already in foreclosure. Rounding this out a bit, many studies have estimated the total number of homes in the US that are foreclosure bound (if the homeowner doesn’t wise up and sell the home via a short sale) is 13,000,000 to 15,000,000.

Published: Nov. 20, 2009
By Steve Cook Real Estate Economy Watch
Investors buying homes to rent or sell accounted for only 15 percent of the housing market last month as they competed with large numbers of first-time homebuyers flooding the market to buy in time to qualify for the first-time homebuyer credit. The percentage of first-time buyers closing on homes rose from 42 to 47 percent of all home sales in October, according to an Inside Mortgage Finance/Campbell Communications survey released today.

However short sales—sales for less that the owner owes on the property—soared in October. The short sale inventory is booming as owners who are underwater on their mortgages seek to Continue Reading →

Short Sale Tip of the Month

This may seem like ShortSale101. So, no offense to the veterans among us. But, one of the number one reasons a short sale is denied or a short sale file is closed is due to a short sale package that is incomplete or one that includes out-dated paperwork.

A complete package means:

• You are using the most current lender specific short sale package.
• You submit everything requested on the lender’s document checklist.
• If a seller cannot supply any of the requested items, you MUST send a separate statement for each item that is signed and dated by the seller and includes a detailed explanation about the items absence.
• All items must be the MOST RECENT.
• All financial statements and hardship letters MUST be signed and dated.
• The hardship must be fully and understandably explained.

Some ideas:

• Clearly LABLE EACH ITEM when submitting the package to the lender.
• Consider having the seller officially file a tax extension if they have not yet com-pleted this years tax returns. The extension will be better received by the lender than a written statement explaining why taxes have not been filed.
• Have the seller submit any unemployment statements or other benefit or subsidy statements in lieu of pay-stubs.
• If a seller is self-employed, have them supply their most recent quarterly profit-n-loss statements. If they do not use an accountant or accounting program, then have them submit a detailed explanation of expenses with an itemized account of receivables for the last 3 months.