Get Me Approved Today

We all get junk mail by the bucket loads, even if we have removed ourselves from receiving the pre-screened credit offers, the catalogs and the like.   I read this article today at Yahoo on turning the tables on junk-mailers and had to laugh at the idea.  Send the credit card companies, or whomever their marketing pieces back in their own postage paid envelopes.  Maybe if they get enough back they will mail less out?  Nah, they will keep mailing as long as enough suckers take them up on the offers to make it profitable.

So if you are going to mail your junk mail back remember to take out and shred the pieces with all your identity information on them!  Remember the Scotch Tape Master Card.  While you are at it, send the magazines all those darn subscription cards they stuff in our magazines.  Do we really need 10?  I mean I already subscribe, could I use 10 more subscriptions?

With short sales all the rage right now, there are loads of questions about them.  Here are answers to 5 of them.

Do I have to miss a payment to do a short sale.
No you do not have to miss a payment.  You do need to present a case to the lender as to why they would be better off with a short sale.

Will the loss the bank takes be treated as a taxable gain to me…the seller…is this true?  I have heard that I will get a 1099.
It WAS true, but not today.  The tax laws were changed, but we suggest you consult a person qualified to offer tax advice to confirm what applies to your individual situation.   If you are in Connecticut, I highly suggest that you contact Don Brooks.

How can I pay an agent to sell my home?
Just like in a traditional sale, a Realtor will be paid from the proceeds of the sale.  The bank will take the Realtors commissions in to account in evaluating your short sale request.

I just missed my first payment…how long does the foreclosure process take and do I have time to do a short sale?
The time a foreclosure takes varies by the state your property is located in.  It will easily take more than 6 months, and maybe more than a year.   But just because it will be months does not mean to ignore things for a while.  Get help immediately.  A short sale can be completed in 3-4 months with a Realtor who is experienced in short sales.

Do I have to get me home “approved” before I can offer it for sale if it will be a short sale?
No. There is no such thing as “short sale approved”. The approval can only happen with an accepted offer. You must be upfront with your agent, lawyer so that they can help you.  You can arrange many of the documents beforehand that your lender is going to want to approve your short sale (income and asset documents, hardship letter, etc).

Want some lighthearted reading on short sale, check out Short Sale Games.

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I’ve heard countless stories in the past months from sellers, buyers and Realtors about the current state of affairs when it comes to short sales.  While some transactions have closed, many more have had “birthdays”, and most have not closed.  It is easy to understand why a bank is slow to move, after all they are owed a certain amount of money and you want to give them less.  But with that said their ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away, and right now it just makes home sell for less.

Lenders, it’s time to clean house is a great posting about one Realtors short sale experience worth the read.

What can you do when faced with a short sale?  If you are selling, make sure you get the advice of a skilled attorney who can help you to negotiate a sale with the bank.  Here in Connecticut I advise you contact Greg Arcaro at Brown Paindiris & Scott for his expertise in this area.  You also want to get a Realtor who has experience and success with short sales.  Interview agents until you can find someone who can show they have successfully closed multiple short sale transactions.  This is not the time for amateur hour, or your neighbors friend Lenny who works part time in real estate and is also in pest control, and a painter.

If you are buying, understand it is going to take longer to put together a short sale transaction, and it may never come together.  Is this house really the “one”?  Do you want to wait possibly a month or two to find out if your offer is really going to be accepted (the seller accepting it is only part of really getting the house in a short sale).  Is there a financial incentive to this house?  With all of the homes for sale right now, one very like the one you are thinking of making a short offer on may be available without the short sale craziness to it.

“Price reduced”, “Accepting All Offers”, “Negotiable” all cry out for the buyer of a house to come in real low on their offer, especially in our market today.  When I saw this blog and the picture in the posting I had to post a link to it.  “Reduced, Not Stupid Or Desperate” made me laugh and think about how great an idea it is to keep the bottom feeders from making an offer or better yet a better offer.  Good luck to the seller and thumbs up to the agent for a creative approach!

Reduced, Not Stupid Or Desperate.

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A basic in the credit building game is a secured credit card.  A real Master Card or Visa card which reports to the credit bureaus is a valuable tool at repairing or simply establishing credit.  Virtually everyone who applies is approved, after all you are fronting the whole amount of your credit line as a deposit to the bank as security for the credit line.  There is no need to get a large line, after all it isn’t about the credit line, it is about the fact you paid a traditional credit item on time this month, and next, and next, and so on.  Charge a gallon of milk, or lunch next Tuesday on it, that is it for the month, when you get home, write a check for the whole purchase and mail it right then.  You want it to be paid on time.  You don’t want to charge to much on the card, since you are working to improve your score and once that card has more than 10% of it’s available credit used, you will start to lose some value for it.

Where do you get a secured credit card?  I have found the following, Orchard Bank and think what they offer to be one of the best options.  Sure it won’t be free, but some of the offers I’ve seen for secured cards should be illegal.  You could also check with your credit union if you are a member. I’ve seen them offer secured credit cards, but make sure they report to the credit bureaus.  Many credit unions do not, or only report to one bureau I’ve found.  Ask before you go that route and find out what you did to improve things didn’t really help.

A secured card isn’t an instant fix, give it a few months, 6-12 and you will start seeing the benefits.  MAKE SURE TO PAY IT ON TIME EACH MONTH or you are just wasting your time.

Check out these other posts on GetMeApprovedToday, 6 Ways A Low Credit Score Can Cost You, and I Have Errors On My Credit Report Now What?

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