Don't try to modify ALONE!!

Hi!
Click on the title of this blog to be re-directed to the you tube video I am embedding in this post...
The video is of a Congresswoman who attempted a modification on her own, and the outcome. Paste the following link into your Web browser if the video does not work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4jIc5pVYAQ





This video just goes to show the difficulties anyone, let alone a congress person is faced with trying to handle negotiations on their own.



One piece of advice I have given to any friends or clients who earnestly want to try working it out on their own, is please do not sign anything before you have received a free consultative look or opinion.



I do free 1st looks for everyone, and will tell you if you are modification candidate or not, along with an educated prediction of what your monthly savings should be. If you receive a modification offer from your lender that is not close to the monthly savings I have advised that you are qualified for, then do not sign it. If a borrower signs an unfit modification (that only offers a "band-aid" fix) then lenders will not look at another modification offer for you, for at least 6 - 12 months, possibly costing you thousands of dollars, and sometimes your home and or credit. We guarantee the best modification that you are eligible for the first time around, hence offering you a long term solution.



Modifications are currently the 3rd most preferred method to attain an affordable mortgage payment, as endorsed by the current White House administration.



Contact me with any questions!
msavage@loanrefine.com

Networking Event!! Hurry up!

Hi!
Posted in Portland's Neighborhood notes is a blip about our networking party tomorrow night. Check out the link.

Come check it out!
1940 NW 24th
Portland, OR 97210 (We're on the corner of 24th & Vaughn)

Come between 4-6:30. Leave some cards & marketing material as well, we're going to put together a co-op advertiser/newsletter for clients as well!

Modifications really are the best option

I just came across Government Refinance Assistance, a resource page listing the best options for refinancing and or FHA options for homeowners that are caught in the housing market crisis.
The 3rd best option listed when criteria is not met for the first two is loan modifications.

I haven't heard very much negativity toward loan modifications. Essentially because they are pretty cut & dry. Of course there will always be some type of negativity surrounding anything new. That is the role of the skeptic. I, too, didn't jump up & down gleefully.. or like a chipmunk who just found their winter stash when I first heard about them. I did stop what I was doing to listen.

A year ago, working in the lending/finance industry, the idea definitely intrigued me. I wanted to understand how & why all lenders could negotiate or modify their these loans now.

As foreclosures increased, and the bottom was falling out among hundreds of lenders nationwide, one could see the value in modifying loan terms and realize the saving grace they really provided.

The modification strategy is typically designed for homeowners struggling to pay their mortgage, not for those who can pay their mortgage or are eligible for a refinanced loan.

(excerpt taken from "Is a Mortgage Modification For You?")
"A mortgage is one of the most complex transactions there is. A loan modification is also a gray area for a lot of people. So of course people need someone to walk them through the process to tell them this is what you need and this is what you don't need," said Ginna Green, spokeswoman for the California office of the Center for Responsible Lending in Oakland.

Is a loan modification for you?

Greg Pennington, a San Francisco-based mortgage banking consultant and counselor with Parker-Pennington Enterprises, says a loan modification isn't for everyone.

A loan modification may not be viable if:

* The modified loan comes with payments you still can't afford.

* Your current interest rate is already low and there's no room for the lender to lower it further.

* You can make the new payments, but the mortgage balance is greater than the value of your home and you don't plan on staying put long enough to reverse the loan-to-value imbalance.

* You have not already missed payments on your mortgage or can't show financial hardship due, say, to job loss, pay decrease, illness or interest rate increase.

* You have other properties, investments or assets that could be liquidated to cover your mortgage debt.

* A short sale (The lender forgives a portion of the debt owed if you can find a buyer), bankruptcy, auction sale, refinance or other approach, short of a foreclosure, is a better option.

"You can do a loan modification and not be aware of where you stand. You can get a loan modification for a home you don't want to be in," said Pennington.

A financial, housing or credit consultation can help you determine your best option. Just be prepared to hold down the fort for the 60 to 90 days or more it could take to complete the modification, due to potential complications and document processing times. " www.realitytimes.com

Success stories!

Hey everyone!

Just a quick update on a couple of our success stories this last week.

1. Negotiated the payment for a 2nd/Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)with Wells Fargo for a client who was NOT past due. We were able to save them a few hundred dollars per month in addition to fixing their term/rate.

2. A construction loan was 10 months past due. We modified their loan (again with Wells Fargo) 1 week before the sale date. We were able to save the client enough money per month that they were able set up a final payment plan for the finishes on their home.

3. We had a client that was 30 days past due with CMS. Their ARM had just begun to adjust. We fixed the loan payment for the rest of the term, saving them even more money than their original payment.


I like being able to share these stories with everyone to show what kind of work we are accomplishing, and how it is truly benefiting homeowners. I'm currently looking into putting together a seminar on getting through this economic crunch in terms of debt consolidation, loan modification, & long term savings. I've always carried my life insurance licenses from my past management positions in banking/investments, so I plan on renewing them. I have been doing research on better avenues of savings/investments outside of the typical 401k & Stock market.

I look forward to updating this soon!

In the mean time... here's a cool article "An Urgent Call to Buy Local"
-M

I Love Picasa/ Loan Modifications

Ok...

I haven't put photoshop on my new computer yet, so sad... yes.

A couple of years ago this could have been death for an online media marketer, but thankfully we have so many savvy & free programs to do the basic job... and do it well.

I made a video talking about Loan Modification.
The only problem I had with this video was, after creating it and trying to upload it to You Tube, it kept getting errors. Over & Over. I searched forums, I asked my followers on twitter.. "What's up with Picasa not uploading correctly to You Tube?".

Ahem.. but doesn't Google own both of these applications? Wouldn't you think there'd be some sort of easy goal accomplished when using players from the same team? Yeah, write that down Google Gods, talk to your team captains about this.

I'm getting off the subject.
Well, I had people telling me to go convert the wav file in Windows media player, and go through about 3 other steps, that seemed like a pain in my arse.

Then this brilliant, amazing person said that if you just type in ONE word in all the required upload descriptions, i.e; your title, description, tags etc, and make sure it was public (hence, doing all this almost completely frees open the file) then like magic it will work.

Wow.. It worked and I am now LOVING the ease of creating slides for movies in Picasa. Other than I can't use multiple colors for my text in one slide, I pretty much am satisfied with most of the other options for what I need to do. They have great organic font choices as well.

You can later go in to You tube and change the settings, add your descriptions, and all the Tags to your little hearts content.

So with out further ado... here is the first video. I will clean it up a bit, and have more to come. Please share this link!!

Mortgage silver lining or clouds prolonging the thunderstorm?

I know this may be *yesterday's* news in some circles, because I just got caught up on some interesting news released by Fannie Mae, the end of December.
I couldn't be more cautiously thrilled to hear that remodifications on home loans will no longer be just for people who go into default.

I'd heard rumors of this change about 6 months ago. I, however, have been so swamped with trying to tweak my business plans, establish cash flow for beta testing, and learning about how to brand myself, that I haven't stayed as up-to-the minute as was before.
According to the Washington Post article on Dec. 19th 2008, "Fannie's policy change has the potential to help thousands of people who are losing jobs or facing layoffs as the recession crunches onward. Most lenders and loan servicers traditionally have declined to intervene in mortgage problems until borrowers are 60 to 90 days late. At that point, so-called "loss mitigation" staffs may then try to work out solutions if possible –– through rescheduling of back payments, forbearance, extending the loan term, among other techniques.
For example, say your spouse loses a part-time source of income, and suddenly you're short $400 a month needed to make your $2,000 mortgage payment. In the past, if you called your loan servicer, you'd likely be told that long-standing rules prohibit any help to you until you have become delinquent by several months.

Under the new early workout concept, by contrast, Fannie's servicers can now tell you upfront: We'll try lowering your monthly payments to accommodate the $400 in missing income. If you're current on the lowered payments after a four-month trial, and your income situation has not rebounded, we'll make the change permanent."

Now many of you savvy, or proactive homeowners out there are already aware of these options, but please do your research before submitting to whatever your lender offers.

Fannie mae says they will still due their checks on credit, job etc.. to make sure no one is lying about a shortage of income.
I think this is biased, and actually they don't have any legal right to do that when it is for a remodification. If you decide to check with your current lender, make sure you then find a loan remodification specialist near you to see what kind of negotiations they come up with as well. A specialist works with lenders and sometimes a legal team directly, who can perform a forensic analysis on your property. This allows them to come up with a fair and current market value of your home, in some circumstances it can possibly lower your principle owed.. NOT just the interest rate. Remodification specialists will ALSO package your entire "remod" between your 1st & 2nd mortgage, saving you even more money, whereas your 1st mortgage lender will only deal with the loan you have with them. The entire goal is to make the payments affordable for you now and in the long term.

Just some key things to think about when you start pursuing this.

Check out www.loanrefine.com to get a free look at your situation.

Now.. on to the flip side of this whole economic/mortgage mess. One has to wonder if these remodifications will really help stop the bleeding, or if it's just another tool to soak up the mess.

We all know that when you go into clean out a room/house etc.. it looks 10x worse while going through the process, in order to get to the end result. There are many aides in the current market, helping clean up, but are they just making it even more unorganized and ridiculous in the long run? Some statistics in the same article mentioned above claim that 53% of the people who have already gone through one remodification process in the last year, have already fallen behind or defaulted again. Of course that was bound to happen. These remod's aren't going to solve everything. I do like the fact that 47% have been helped... that is another 47% of homes that *were* kept from foreclosure... so in my humble opinion, that is progress. The bleeding did stop for that 47% so lets move on to the next section to clean until we can stand back and start seeing something take shape here in the grand scheme of things.

My top 10 economic predictions

All this doom & gloom about the continued negative economic indicators for 2009 has got me feeling quite rebellious.

Maybe I live in a world of speedboats, waverunners, acres of green grass for golfing, surrounded by majestic white mountains full of pure powder bliss on my snowboard. But I don't care damnit. If I want to see leprechauns running down airport terminals in Dublin (which I REALLY did see that once..) and have a scrumptious hot falafel stand around the corner from my house.. then it's going to happen, whether in my imagination or not.

Of course I'm well aware of the current global situation. I do care, and I do want to help & give back in any way possible to positively impact others... BUT, seriously, I'm among many, sick of the negativity and letting my emotions subscribe to the media. I've actually been pretty good at that for quite some time now.

So with out further ado... regardless of what the media wants to report, and acknowledging all disregard to current indicators.. here is MY Top Ten Economic Predictions for 2009

1. 2009 will start the year in global recession with all of the major economies of the world in simultaneous economic contractions including the U.S., the Eurozone, Great Britain, Japan, and China, as well as a number of smaller economies and emerging markets. Once everyone realizes that these predictions happen every year, they'll all get on with their work & head to the bar to spend loads of cash, hence the recession is over.. or atleast everyone's too drunk to realize it's not.


2. The U.S. Bond index continues going crazy, confusing investors & lenders & consumers to the point of going to the bar drinking their mortgage money away.

3. U.S. unemployment increases toward and possibly exceeds double digits, while the government begins going bankrupt, due to all the "unemployed" people raking in thousands of dollars every month from working online. Offshore accounts abound.

4. Large increases in the number of bankruptcies, especially among retailers, auto related companies, and small businesses. Significant increases in failures of small to medium sized banks. Yet the economy booms due to offshore accounts ballooning, and spending hitting an all time peak in US History.

5. Tall people get paid more, because they are the only ones that actually intimidate the Chinese.

6. Economic Forecasts change predictions every month, sending everyone back to the bars across the globe to watch football & Soccer. The World is a much happier place. Imported Tequilla & Vodka prices plummet, while supply & demand sky rocket. Mexico & Panama are headed toward Super power status.

7. Everyone's house is in threat of loss... to the point that no one does anything about it. The average consumer continues to either refinance or remodify the terms of their loan until we realize that no one is paying for their mortgage. So we give everyone a job to collect on these payments.. in return allowing everyone to pay themselves.

8. Consumer credit further restricted by lenders and late payments and defaults on
credit cards rise sharply. So credit card companies tank, and the world of credit is restructered and revoked temporairily, while people in America learn to spend what they actually have. A new fangled idea in the states has emerged.

9. The Federal Reserve keeps interest rates just above zero, so that everyone has more money to spend at the bar.

10. Worries about falling prices earlier in the year turn to realization that there is no science to economics... but complete BS & Philibustering/speculation.