Reading Mike Watson's blog this morning gave me the inspiration for mine. That's one of the great things about belonging to an online group like this -- apart from the fact that if AR would have me as a member, maybe I shouldn't belong -- but I get great ideas from other writers. In one of my Sacramento short sales last week, the seller asked her lawyer if she could apply for the HAFA short sale program. That's because there are many benefits to the HAFA short sale program such as:
- No deficiency judgments
- $3,000 relocation allowance
- Foreclosure process stopped
- No required seller contribution
Now, not every Sacramento short sale seller needs a lawyer. In fact, many absolutely do not need to hire a lawyer to do a short sale, but they absolutely, positively should obtain legal and tax advice upfront. But this seller had hard-money loans and was concerned about protection. Her lawyer had insisted on putting the home on the market right away.
Well, in the past I've had a few lenders such as Bank of America convert regular short sales into HAFA short sales, but that practice is going away. This was a PNC short sale, and PNC said no can do. It won't convert the short sale to HAFA because we've already submitted an offer. The only way to do it is to cancel the offer and submit to HAFA, or forget about HAFA all together.
When I'm not being a Sacramento short sale agent and dealing with HAFA, I'm running around Old Sacramento (above) with my sister, Margie, from Minneapolis. It's been a lot of fun hauling my sister around my neighborhood in Land Park and showing her how delightful Sacramento is, including why, maybe, she should consider moving here. Ah, today we are going for facial treatments in Land Park. Let me tell ya, life doesn't get any better than that.
Photo: Elizabeth Weintraub, Old Sacramento, shot with BlackBerry Bold
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Certified HAFA Specialist
Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available with free shipping.
Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan. Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate. Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.
