New HAFA Guidelines Help Performance Marketing America Provide Hope for Short Sales in Las Vegas
In one of the hardest hit markets for property devaluation, new HAFA guidelines give underwater homeowners in Las Vegas new hope.
Las Vegas, NV, March 31, 2010 --(PR.com)-- For homeowners who can no longer afford to keep mortgage payments current, there are alternatives to bankruptcy or foreclosure; one of those options is called a "short sale”. A lender may consider a short sale if the seller is current but the value has fallen. The seller may owe more than the home is worth, so a discounted price might bring the price in line with market value, not below it.
New federal guidelines called HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) go into effect on April 5th, and can help troubled homeowners in one of the nation’s worst hit real estate markets. This program is designed to streamline and speed up the short sale process. Realtor Ron Filipovic, President of Las Vegas’ Performance Marketing America explains.
“Performance Marketing America has assembled an experienced and empathetic team of Short Sale Specialists who bring a far reaching network of contacts of mortgage companies, banks and realtors. The strength of our experience, knowledge and relationships is invaluable” said Filipovic.
"In the months since the real estate market crash, our entire industry has seen a massive shift in how we do business. The short sale process has always been around, but the volume of defaulting properties in the last three years has overwhelmed everyone. At PMA, we are embracing it and actively recruiting Realtors that have previous short sale experience plus providing additional training on these complex transactions. But more than that, we live here, too. We're tired of seeing delay and frustration with the short sale process turn into empty homes. PMA has been successful in shortening the wait times for short sales by ensuring that our Realtors are well prepared to handle these transactions, but any Realtor can only do so much when every lender has different policies, different document requirements and different timelines. The HAFA program framework could be just the wedge that is needed to clear the backlog.”
"The biggest challenge in completing short sales has been communication and getting a go-ahead for the short sale. There was no guidance from the banks as to what they would accept as fair market value,” Filipovic notes. "Under the new guidelines, the borrower and lender are held to timetables to respond in each stage of the process and an acceptable sale price is set early on.”
To qualify for HAFA, the property must be your principal residence and the mortgage has to have originated before 2009 (in addition to other requirements).
Once an offer is received on the property, the lender has just 10 business days to accept or reject the offer. Of course, there are financial incentives in the program to help speed things along, such a small payments to the borrower, lender and subordinate lien holders as well as the requirement that transactions must release the seller from personal financial obligation on their mortgage and subordinate liens.
"We see the HAFA program as the long-awaited light at the end of the tunnel. Our Realtors are prepared to use HAFA’s common framework and incentives to get these homes sold. 2010 will be the year of the short sale, thanks to HAFA" says Filipovic.
Performance Marketing America is a full-service real estate consultancy that began operations in 1973 providing services in all aspects of the home industry including new home sales, re-sales, construction, title services, Mortgage commercial, lending, marketing and advertising. Since 1973, Performance has sold more than 56,000 homes in Salt Lake City and the Las Vegas metropolitan area and in the last 20 years has closed over $7 billion dollars in transactions in the Las Vegas Valley.
For more information on Performance Marketing America and the HAFA program requirements, visit www.pmalasvegas.com, call 702-586-1234 or follow us on Twitter at pmalasvegas.
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New federal guidelines called HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) go into effect on April 5th, and can help troubled homeowners in one of the nation’s worst hit real estate markets. This program is designed to streamline and speed up the short sale process. Realtor Ron Filipovic, President of Las Vegas’ Performance Marketing America explains.
“Performance Marketing America has assembled an experienced and empathetic team of Short Sale Specialists who bring a far reaching network of contacts of mortgage companies, banks and realtors. The strength of our experience, knowledge and relationships is invaluable” said Filipovic.
"In the months since the real estate market crash, our entire industry has seen a massive shift in how we do business. The short sale process has always been around, but the volume of defaulting properties in the last three years has overwhelmed everyone. At PMA, we are embracing it and actively recruiting Realtors that have previous short sale experience plus providing additional training on these complex transactions. But more than that, we live here, too. We're tired of seeing delay and frustration with the short sale process turn into empty homes. PMA has been successful in shortening the wait times for short sales by ensuring that our Realtors are well prepared to handle these transactions, but any Realtor can only do so much when every lender has different policies, different document requirements and different timelines. The HAFA program framework could be just the wedge that is needed to clear the backlog.”
"The biggest challenge in completing short sales has been communication and getting a go-ahead for the short sale. There was no guidance from the banks as to what they would accept as fair market value,” Filipovic notes. "Under the new guidelines, the borrower and lender are held to timetables to respond in each stage of the process and an acceptable sale price is set early on.”
To qualify for HAFA, the property must be your principal residence and the mortgage has to have originated before 2009 (in addition to other requirements).
Once an offer is received on the property, the lender has just 10 business days to accept or reject the offer. Of course, there are financial incentives in the program to help speed things along, such a small payments to the borrower, lender and subordinate lien holders as well as the requirement that transactions must release the seller from personal financial obligation on their mortgage and subordinate liens.
"We see the HAFA program as the long-awaited light at the end of the tunnel. Our Realtors are prepared to use HAFA’s common framework and incentives to get these homes sold. 2010 will be the year of the short sale, thanks to HAFA" says Filipovic.
Performance Marketing America is a full-service real estate consultancy that began operations in 1973 providing services in all aspects of the home industry including new home sales, re-sales, construction, title services, Mortgage commercial, lending, marketing and advertising. Since 1973, Performance has sold more than 56,000 homes in Salt Lake City and the Las Vegas metropolitan area and in the last 20 years has closed over $7 billion dollars in transactions in the Las Vegas Valley.
For more information on Performance Marketing America and the HAFA program requirements, visit www.pmalasvegas.com, call 702-586-1234 or follow us on Twitter at pmalasvegas.
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Contact
Performance Marketing America
Diane Mosinski
702-270-2800
www.pmalasvegas.com
702-768-7006 CELL
Diane Mosinski
702-270-2800
www.pmalasvegas.com
702-768-7006 CELL
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