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“NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — If you’re delinquent on your mortgage, your credit score will suffer. Everyone knows that. The question is, by how much?

Until recently, those answers were hard to come by. Credit bureaus were uncommunicative about expressing, in points, just how much impact different foreclosure types of mortgage delinquencies have on scores.

Recently, Fair Isaac, which developed FICO scores, pulled back the curtain a bit, revealing some estimates of point-score declines following mortgage delinquency problems.

Here are the average hit your credit will take:

30 days late: 40 – 110 points

90 days late: 70 – 135 points

Foreclosure, short sale or deed-in-lieu: 85 – 160

Bankruptcy: 130 – 240 …”

More:
http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/22/real_estate/foreclosure_credit_score/index.htm

“I’d like to share a few recent experiences I have had with both my fellow agents and consumers who have been involved in short sales.

I have come across more than a few companies that claim to be “experts” in short sale negotiations, only to find that not only is the information they provide not accurate, but sometimes they are just out-and-out scams. Most are newly formed companies, with no true experts on site. Typically they’re just trying to take advantage of the current market.

We are in a time where many people are desperate financially and emotionally, and there are those out there who are eager to take advantage of people in these types of situations. Granted, there are some agencies out there that are good, legitimate short sale companies but, you have to know the difference between the good and the bad.

I have run into several of these companies that have been taking the uneducated consumers’ and agents’ money, and provided absolutely nothing in return. They told both the agent and the consumer to gather all the package items and send them over, and they would begin the short sale process. Once they received payment, they stopped returning calls. Even some of the so called legitimate companies I have dealt with have not impressed me with their their knowledge and process.

If they ask for any money up-front, there may be a problem. First off, in some states, in a short sale situation, it is totally illegal for anyone to get any type of compensation from the seller. I would be very wary of any company asking for any type of compensation before they performed any work. Agents get paid at closing, as should these types of companies. Not saying there is anything wrong with a legitimate company getting paid up-front, but just make sure you are 100% comfortable and that it is legal before you give compensation up-front. …”

More: http://www.brokeragentsocial.com/article/690/short-sale-negotiation-companies-beware

“IRVINE, Calif. – Feb. 11, 2010 – RealtyTrac  (www.realtytrac.com),  the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its January  2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows foreclosure filings – default  notices, scheduled auctions and bank  repossessions � were reported on 315,716 U.S. properties during the month,  a decrease of nearly 10 percent from the previous month but still 15 percent  above the level reported in January 2009. The report also shows one in every  409 U.S.  housing units received a foreclosure filing in January.

REO activity nationwide was down 5 percent from the previous month but still up 31 percent from January 2009; default notices were down 12 percent  from the previous month but still up 4 percent from January 2009; and scheduled foreclosure  auctions were down 11 percent from the previous month but still up 15  percent from January 2009.

“January foreclosure numbers are exhibiting a pattern very similar to a  year ago: a double-digit percentage jump in December foreclosure activity  followed by a 10 percent drop in January,” said James J. Saccacio, chief  executive officer of RealtyTrac  “If  history repeats itself we will see a surge in the numbers over the next few  months as lenders foreclose on delinquent loans where neither the existing loan  modification programs or the new short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure  alternatives works.” …”

Read More: http://www.realtytrac.com/contentmanagement/pressrelease.aspx?channelid=9&itemid=8533

“Strong gains in existing-home sales were the predominant pattern in most states during the fourth quarter, with many more metro areas seeing prices rise from a year earlier, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Realtors.

Sales increased from the third quarter in 48 states and the District of Columbia; 32 states saw double-digit gains. Year-over-year sales were higher in 49 states and D.C.; all but three states had double-digit annual increases.

Total state existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, jumped 13.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate ¹ of 6.03 million in the fourth quarter from 5.29 million in the third quarter, and are 27.2 percent above the 4.74 million-unit level in the fourth quarter of 2008. Distressed property accounted for 32 percent of fourth quarter transactions, down from 37 percent a year earlier. …”

Read More: http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2010/02/metro_state

“C.A.R.�s First-time Buyer Housing Affordability Index (FTB-HAI) measures the percentage of households that can afford to purchase an entry-level home in California. C.A.R. also reports first-time buyer indexes for regions and select counties within the state. The Index is the most fundamental measure of housing well-being for first-time buyers in the state.

The minimum household income needed to purchase an entry-level home at $257,940 in California in the fourth quarter of 2009 was $44,100, based on an adjustable interest rate of 4.5 percent and assuming a 10 percent down payment. First-time buyers typically purchase a home equal to 85 percent of the prevailing median price. The monthly payment including taxes and insurance was $1,470 for the fourth quarter of 2009.

At $44,100, the minimum qualifying income was 4 percent lower than a year earlier when households needed $45,900 to qualify for a loan on an entry-level home. Home prices remained below peak levels, resulting in an improvement in housing affordability compared with the previous year.

At 84 percent, the High Desert region was the most affordable area in the state. The San Luis Obispo County region was the least affordable in the state at 48 percent, followed by the San Francisco Bay region and Santa Barbara area both at 50 percent. …”

Read More: http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/q409affordability/

“LOS ANGELES (Jan. 22) � Home sales increased 1.7 percent in December in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home rose 8.4 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS� (C.A.R.) reported today.

“As expected, the large year-to-year sales gains have diminished substantially compared with earlier in the year,” said C.A.R. President Steve Goddard. �However, home sales in December were strong, and were comparable to sales of late 2008. Activity in December can be attributed in part to the extension and expansion of the home buyer tax credit, as well as near-historic highs in affordability due to current price levels and low interest rates.

“For the second consecutive month, California’s median home price rose year-to-year in December, and had the largest year-to-year increase in more than three years,” said Goddard. “The state;s median price also remained above $300,000 for the second straight month.”

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 558,320 in December at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR associations statewide. Statewide home resale activity increased 1.7 percent from the revised 549,190 sales pace recorded in December 2008. Sales in December 2009 increased 4 percent compared with the previous month. …”

Read More: http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/dec09salesandprice/

“Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) — Drew Schlosser tried for two years to sell his three-bedroom Punta Gorda, Florida, waterfront condominium for less than he owed on its two mortgages. The deal only went through last month when Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to take a $165,000 loss on the loans.

Even after he had an offer of $155,000 for the property, it took five months for the San Francisco-based lender to approve the purchase, a so-called short sale, in which the bank accepts less than the balance owed on a property. Schlosser said earlier offers had fallen through as bidders lost faith the bank would take less than the $320,000 in two mortgages. “It was just kind of a mess,” said Schlosser, 31, a market research company director living in Estero, Florida. “You really have to get buyers who are patient.”

Banks are beginning to go along with short sales in increasing numbers, three years into a U.S. housing slump that pushed the economy into a recession and cut resale values by 30 percent from the peak in July 2006. Short sales almost tripled to 40,000 in the first six months of 2009 from the same period a year earlier. Yet for each short sale, there were 25 foreclosures started or completed in the first half of this year, according to data from the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. …” Read More: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20603037&sid=a_NoPFp0r8Y4