Currently, any debt forgiven by a lender in a short sale, loan modification, or foreclosure is exempt from federal taxation. However, that exemption is scheduled to expire Jan. 1, 2013. Making sense of the story Borrowers will have to count mortgage relief from lenders as income on their federal tax returns, if the exemption is [...]
Pending home sales in California gained ground for the second consecutive month in February, while the share of equity sales posted higher after two months of decline, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today. Pending home sales: C.A.R.’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)* rose from a revised 102.3 in January to 127.8 in [...]
Since the real estate market took a downturn, some people have complained they couldn’t buy, sell, or refinance a home because an appraiser used bank-owned (REO) or short-sold homes as comparables in the valuation process, which dragged down the value of their home. While using REO and short-sold properties can lower the value of a [...]
Some foreclosed home owners are taking out their anger on the homes they are forced to leave behind, smashing holes in the walls, scribbling graffiti everywhere, leaving piles of trash, and ripping out appliances. More banks — facing a growing problem from trashed foreclosures — are opting to offer homes at big discounts rather than [...]
Short sales – a real estate transaction in which the homeowner needs to sell the property, but owes more on the mortgage than the home currently is worth – continue to dominate the housing market, but these real estate transactions aren’t for everyone. Typically with a short sale, the homeowner is underwater and has experienced [...]
Short Sale Diagram On Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 458 (Corbett) into law. The new law, which contained an urgency clause and became effective upon signing, protects homeowners pursuing short sales by barring first and secondary lien holders from going after sellers for money owed after the short sales close. A short [...]
By John J. O’Dell I wonder why banks call short sales, short sales? Of course, what they mean by a short sale is that they are agreeing to sell a house for less than the mortgage they hold on the property. After that, short sale means you will complete a sale within a period of [...]
Photo courtesy of Around Hawaii The California Association of REALTORS® has put full page ads in numerous papers throughout California regarding the frustration of dealing with banks in trying to do short sales with them. A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the sale proceeds fall short of the balance owed [...]
By Mike Parker When the New York Times can’t suggest a logical reason for widespread banking practices that’s a sure indicator that something is horribly broken and that something seems to be much of the entire banking industry’s mismanagement of short sales. In an excellent article by Michael Powell published October 24, 2010 entitled “Short [...]
So how is it that an investment adviser and commentator like Tom Sullivan is facing a potential foreclosure on his home in Placer County? Shouldn’t someone who is an investment adviser know not to buy more than he can chew? I guess you can blame the downturn in the economy for the majority of people [...]
