By the time the foreclosed house ends up in a buyer's hands, issues that lurk in the property's past could "cloud title" -- cast uncertainty on the buyer's ownership rights. Title insurance protects against such defects in the title, such as undiscovered liens, forged signatures or defects in documentation.

There are two types of title policies. Lenders policies protect lenders, and owners policies protect owners. A mortgage lender always requires a lender's title policy.

Owners policies are optional and are recommended for properties that have been through foreclosure.

"From the consumer's perspective, I don't think they have a lot to fear as long as they're able to purchase title insurance on an REO property," says Ivan Choi, national default sales executive for New Vista Asset Management in San Diego. "By and large, the title companies are still out offering policies.

Moreover, distressed homes are likely to be a significant part of the market for years: At the current pace of sales, it would take 2½ years just to clear out the more than 1 million unsold foreclosures -- and another 550,000 probable short sales -- currently on banks' books, and then there's another 1.4 million properties likely to become short sales and foreclosures over the next 12 months, according to data firm RealtyTrac.

. . .  the bad news first 

Well, the bad news is that, unfortunately, buying a distressed property is far more onerous than purchasing a regular house. Many buyers start their search thinking a foreclosure could be an exceptional buy.  Sometimes they are.... sometimes they are not.  Pricing is tricky, and you will want to thoroughly study recent closed sales of comparable properties to determine if the property you are considering is indeed a good deal.

Many dwellings that are now a foreclosure are not in good-enough shape to be eligible for a home loan. This "surprise" can be remedied by the buyer...but it takes a strong stomach to invest in repairs on a property that one does not own.  This is a "Las Vegas" gamble....might go great, might not.  We've had buyers invest tens of thousands of dollars bringing a property up to mortgage lender requirements, and ultimately end up with a home that appraises for far more than they have invested.  

Another challenge?  Instead of an individual, we're negotiating with multiple third parties, each with a particular agenda and a standardized process to follow.   We counsel buyers to be very patient.  We tell buyers that they are buying from "1-800-I-Could-Care-LESS" because banks are not motivated by issues that are important to the buyer.  Closing dates may come and go.... and threats are meaningless.    

Although the new laws and government relief programs are speeding up deals, they can drag on for many weeks, (and weeks, and weeks!)   We standardly expect a foreclosure sale to take up to six weeks longer to close than a owner occupied property.

Whether bought from the bank or from a flipper, almost all REOs (Foreclosures) are listed through real-estate agents.

One of the avenues many people appreciate is a service that sends them foreclosed listings vai email.  You can sign up for our popular (FREE) service . . . 

FREE LIST of Bank Owned Homes in the Greater Nashville Area at   http://www.midtennforeclosures.com/

Residential MLS No. 1356369 Area 9 List Price $185,000Address 123 Meadowvue Dr City Hendersonville Zip 37075County Sumner Sub/Dev Hickory Grove Sec 3 Gar 2/Attached - SIDELot Size 120X125 Acres 0.350 Year Blt. 1988 Compl.Est SqFt 3200 Beds 3 Full Baths 2 Half Baths 0Close Date Pend Date Orig LP $185,000 Sales PriceDirections: Gallatin Road to Walton Ferry Rd. Left on Connie Drive. 2nd Right on Meadowvue. Home on Right.

MLS No. 1294535 Area 9 List Price $450,000  Address 230 Sterling Rd

Gar 4/Carport          Lot Size 95 X 196.4 IRR Acres 0.440 Year Blt. 1961

Directions: Gallatin Road into Hendersonville. Turn right onto Sanders Ferry Rd. Sterling is on the left.

Open Sunday, May 6, 2:00~4:00

Not only do our kids - no longer teens - LOVE coming over to grill, boat, camp, build a bonfire with friends, and even help the folks clean the boat so we'll let them use it, they like sitting outside having a chat while watching sunset.

We have found that living on the lake has many more  benefits than we ever imagined.  When we pull in the driveway at the end of a stressful day, and watch a barge going by, it's like a week of meditation, or a walk on the beach.  There's something about the sound of the water on a stormy afternoon that just soothes the soul.  The sound of laughter across the water on a hot summer day is inviting and cheerful.   BUT WHAT ABOUT INVESTING IN LAKE HOMES????  Follow our blog all next week....living and loving the water!  

Maybe you want a pool because they are FUN, FUN, FUN!   

A pool can help establish a theme in the landscape and set a mood, & are just a great backdrop for a BBQ, birthday party, or even a wedding .

A small pool can become the focal point in a yard. Water has an effect on the senses. Just looking at it has a calming influence on many people, while others get a special feeling by listening to it. And who doesn't like to dip their hands or feet into a clean pool?  We used to float in our pool on a small rubber "raft" weeks before it was warm enough to swim.  

OK...so you want a pool, but is a pool a good investment?                                                                                                                                                                     Overall, in the Greater Nashville real estate market, the answer is a resounding YES!!!!   Our market has always supported an excellent return on investment for an inground pool.  OK, the people on the video might NOT be your first guests, but a pool is usually a good investment.  

• Choose the easiest place to start 
  You don't always have to start at the beginning. If that first step seems the hardest, start with another part of the project instead.
• Fix your workspace 
  If your set-up is simply not convenient, it will definitely hold you back.
• Work from your to-do list 
  Tackle the more difficult tasks during your prime time.
• Be realistic about what you can do 
  Procrastinators often have an unrealistic sense of time; you may have the feeling that a project will take forever or that you have “plenty of time.” The more realistic you become, the less likely you'll be to procrastinate.
• Use the minutes available to you 
  Remember that even five minutes is enough time to get something done. One or two phone calls or more can be returned in that time.
• Reward yourself 
  After you meet small deadlines, promise yourself a small treat. When the entire project is completed, think on a little grander scale.
• Create more time 
  If it seems like there really is no time, carve out a half hour or so from your existing schedule. If you really want to take up jogging, try getting up a half hour earlier each day (or on weekends). If you want to do it, you'll find the time.
• Get started 
  The hardest part is getting started. Once you're in motion, it will be easier to keep going. You may well find that it isn't as bad as you expected, and once you're involved, you've overcome the highest hurdle.

Call us . . . we'll help you showcase your home so you don't spend a dime without knowing it will bring you a dollar on the sale.

Mike   403.1008   Darlene   400.4927   We LOVE Serving you! 

Year to date the housing market news has been a

Lenders seem to be loosening some of their requirements, while housing prices are still stabilizing.  Here's a good article just posted last week.

************************* 

Capital Economics expects the housing crisis to end this year, according to a report released Tuesday. One of the reasons: loosening credit.

The analytics firm notes the average credit score required to attain a mortgage loan is 700. While this is higher than scores required prior to the crisis, it is constant with requirements one year ago.

Additionally, a Fed Senior Loan Officer Survey found credit requirements in the fourth quarter were consistent with the past three quarters.

However, other market indicators point not just to a stabilization of mortgage lending standards, but also a loosening of credit availability.

Banks are now lending amounts up to 3.5 times borrower earnings. This is up from a low during the crisis of 3.2 times borrower earnings.

Banks are also loosening loan-to-value ratios (LTV), which Capital Economics denotes “the clearest sign yet of an improvement in mortgage credit conditions.”

In contrast to a low of 74 percent reached in mid-2010, banks are now lending at 82 percent LTV.

While credit conditions may have loosened slightly, some potential homebuyers are still struggling with credit requirements. In fact, Capital Economics points out that in November 8 percent of contract cancellations were the result of a potential buyer not qualifying for a loan.

Additionally, Capital Economics says “any improvement in credit conditions won’t be significant enough to generate actual house price gains,” and potential ramifications from the euro-zone pose a threat to future credit availability.

As posted by DSNEWS.com   April 4, 2012

   Interior:

Clear Clutter first   . . .  pack away everthing you won't need until you move to your new home; give away anything you really don't want, need, or use

Tackle the Floors next, including baseboards, the fronts and backs of all doors and door frames, and window frames

Dust everything!  One thing we often see is dusty items on top of kitchen cabinets, or in china cabinets.  Dust everything.

Bolster the Bathroom(s)!!

Exterior:

Clear Clutter from porches, decks, and the garage;  don't forget those old pots of dead flowers that you stuck on the side of the house last year, or the odds and ends stored in crawl spaces;

Make ALL outdoor areas look inviting.

Need me to come showcase your home? That's one of the services we offer.  Give me an e-mail or a call.... I'll help you stage your home well enough for tv!

http:www.mikeanddarlene.com

1) Instant Equity - We look for deals that have equity in them. One of our early purchases was a duplex for $26k that we are refinancing for $55k. You would most likely never find a buyer for that price, but by owning you can use that equity. We took the tax write offs for years, then sold for a net profit.  

 2) You can leverage your investment easier and to a greater degree than most other investments.

3) Prices are cheap - The nation has been slammed by foreclosures of single family homes.  Locally, prices are 20-40% below where they were three to four years ago.  While the decline of real estate prices has slowed the quick flip strategy for real estate investors, it has made long term investing an excellent way to profit from owning rentals.

4) Declining vacancy rates & longer rental terms. In general in the Nashville area vacancy rates are far below where they were a few years ago. In researching this area, there are few houses for rent, and even smaller homes and apartments are renting at higher rates, for longer terms than we've seen previously in our 25 years of owning rental properties.   Prior to 2005 our single family home rentals vacated every 1.9 years, on average.  Since 2005 renters remain in our single family properties for an average of 3.6 years, and we have more than one property under long term leases currently.

5) Job growth. According to the Tennessee Gov site, our area added thousands of new jobs last year, and is on target this year with growth being projected at Gaylord, Kroger, HCA,  Home Depot, Lowes, Nissan and many other BIG employers.    Opry Mills just re-opened this past weekend, and other major redevelopment projects are underway. 

Most agents are prepared to handle showings with pets, but Deborah and Patty’s stories demonstrate that not all companions are cuddly and you should approach all showings with caution. While you may know who, you can never be sure “what” is living in a listing.

Deborah Tremblay:

I was on the last half hour on an open house in Quincy, MA. I was sitting in the front living room, when I could hear a strange noise coming from the kitchen. Getting up, I looked in to see a large rat nudging the cookie jar open. I am not kidding. I yelled at the thing, hey you. It ran into the kitchen cabinet it came out of. The tail was hanging out when some people showed up. I was half laughing myself silly and terrified at the same time. They did not see the rat tail hanging out. After they left, I did too.

I called to tell the seller of the horrible thing that had happened. Her response was,”he‘s my friend”. She started crying. This thing was as big as a chicken. I told her to call the exterminator-now! Then she flipped out saying that “he was getting his peanut butter cookies out of the cat cookie jar. He does that every night, then comes into the living room to say thank you”. I am still freaking out over that one.

Patty McLemore:

I had a showing on a home basically empty except for a few pieces of furniture in a two story. As I got to the middle bedroom upstairs I opened the door and found a darkly painted room. I immediately went for the curtains to get more light. Just as the light hit, I saw it! This huge reptile type lizard next to the wall right next to my foot! Alarmed, I jumped but collected myself and thought, no, it’s a statue. But just as I thought of this the thing took a step towards me and hissed!! I’m not sure how I got downstairs but I did it so fast I don’t think my feet hit a step! My clients were ahead of me! Funny now but I almost had a heart attack!

Hendersonville Zillow Rent Index

Hendersonville real estate info

Yes!  We continue to say it's an excellent time to invest in rental property.

The ZILLOW Rent Index shows a real life snapshot of one of the many reasons owning rental property is a good investment now.

If you're thinking about investing in a rental property, experts say low home prices combined with low interest rates make this the best time in years to become a real-estate investor.   What's more, the real-estate market is starting to recover: U.S. houses lost $489 billion in value during the first 11 months of 2009, but that was significantly lower than the $3.6 trillion lost during 2008

Partner with experience. First-time investors should find a real-estate agent experienced in investment property deals who can help you locate promising properties. "Look for relational brokers who expect to do business with you again and therefore are going to be much more careful with what they recommend," Merrill says. A second option is to collaborate with a more experienced real-estate investor and close a deal together. In this economy, an experienced real-estate investor may be willing to work with you in exchange for the capital you can provide, giving you the opportunity to glean investment knowledge and experience firsthand

E-mail us and we'll add you to our investor newsletters, our Foreclosure Search List, and will be happy to answer any investment questions you may have.

WeSellNashville@gmail.com

This Zillow Blog was so dead on that we wanted to share it with everyone.  

How Outdoor Space Can Help Sell Your HomeDATE:MARCH 27, 2012 | AUTHOR:BRENDON DESIMONE | CATEGORY:TIPS & ADVICE

Humorist Fran Lebowitz once wrote,

The outdoors is what you have to go through to get from the apartment into the taxi.

But she’s an exception. When considering a new property, nearly every home buyer I’ve worked with has mentioned the outdoors in some way as a requirement for a property they’re considering.

If the buyer is looking for a home in the suburbs, they want to know about the size of the lot, access to the yard, whether or not there’s a pool, or the location of the lot in relation to the neighborhood.

Some buyers love properties on corner lots; others, not so much. In more urban areas, buyers want to know if a property has any outdoor space at all and, if not, where is the nearest park?

Big cities, small spaces

Brooklyn townhouse for sale has coveted outdoor patio

Just having some outdoor access doesn’t always do the trick, either, unless you’re in a large city like New York, where private outdoor space is few and far between and therefore something to be coveted. New York City apartmentswith a deeded, usable outdoor space often sell for 20 to 30 percent more than the same apartment without the highly sought-after outdoor access.

The key word when identifying the value of outdoor space is “usable.” Having usable — easily accessible — outdoor space from the house that can be enjoyed most of the year definitely helps sell a property. This is why, if you’re a seller and you’ve got the goods, you should make the extra effort to showcase your deck, yard or patio.

If you have outdoor space but it’s detached from the property — like a backyard one floor below a condo, to which you have rights but no easy access — you should still point it out to potential buyers. Just realize that they aren’t likely to pay as much for your place as they might for a similarly configured and priced property that offers direct, easy outdoor access.

Living room or great room that opens to outdoors? Jackpot!

Warren Buffett has long been considered "the expert" regarding US economic market trends, and is an expert we like to follow because he speaks plain English in a world gone mad with money confusion.

Warren Buffett is not always right, of course.   We like his advice because when it comes to analysis about broad trends in the U.S. economy, he typically tends to make sense, in a manner that is easy to understand.  This week we will be blogging about Buffett . . . . specifically his take on the real estate market of 2012.  

 join the blog as we talk about Housing Market Trends 2012

" if anybody is thinking about buying a home — five years ago they couldn’t buy them fast enough because they thought they were going to go up, and now they don’t buy them because they think they’re going to go down.  Interest rates are far lower NOW than they were five years ago.   It’s a way, in effect, to short the dollar because you can take a 30-year mortgage, and if it turns out your interest rate’s too high, next week you refinance lower. And if it turns out it’s too low, the other guy’s stuck with it for 30 years. So it’s a very attractive asset class now."

more Warren Buffett to come.... join the blog as we talk about Market Trends 2012

So how does a mortgage lender evaluate — called underwriting — and determine how much you can borrow? It involves the three C’s: Credit, capacity and collateral!

Credit or FICO Score

The first item a lender will review is your credit profile.  You may have heard this lingo as your credit “score”, or FICO.   This can range from 350 – 850, and this is where all the decisions you’ve made in the past regarding credit will be reflected.  A few factors that determine this rating is;

• How much debt you have outstanding
• How much debt you have outstanding as a percentage of open credit accounts
• How much debt you have in the different types of credit accounts (credit cards, car loans, school loans, etc.)
• How well you’ve paid your rent or mortgage over the years
• How well you’ve paid your other bills over the years

Lenders used to allow much lower credit scores for borrowing purposes, but they’ve gone up the past few years. You need, in general, at least a 640 FICO score, according to the standard most lenders publish. In reality, we find a score of closer to 700 minimum is needed to secure standard mortgage financing. The optimal score is 740-760 or above. The lower your score, the higher your interest rate and points on your mortgage loan will be.

Here’s an excellent interview with Melissa Luman Phillips, long time mortgage broker with Prime Lending.  This interview is addresses home purchases for people that have previously owned a home.  The next blog will have part two of our interviews with Melissa, which will address buying your first home.

At our 4th Annual Parade of Homes, held March 18, we were thrilled to have had crowds of people.  The homes showcased ranged in price range from a low of $148, to a high in the mid $600, range.  There were fewer buyers touring the one unique property . . . a cottage that is nestled on 25+ acres.  All of the other properties had views by serious buyers.   

We are optimistic about the early spring market, and the numbers of calls from potential buyers.  Any thoughts?

How to Buy a Nashville Foreclosure TODAY - Part 1 of 2

Finding a bank-owned home for sale these days is hard enough. Actually buying one is an even HARDER.

Here in the Greater Nashville area over the past few years, the supply of foreclosed properties was at an all time high in 2008, and 2009.   The fewer numbers of distressed properties hitting the market in 2010 and 2011 led many to believe that the number of distressed properties for sale had stabilized.  We don't believe this is actually the case.

As you probably read, bargain-basement, foreclosure homes shrank, as banks temporarily stopped trying to repossess properties to review possible paperwork errors.  Along with the temporary delay on foreclosure, banks were also required to offer a re-structure option to homeowners as a possible alternative. 

Foreclosures in the Nashville area decreased in 2010 and 2011.   The number of short sales coming on the market  (selling a home for less than is owed on the mortgage) also started to decelerate in late 2011; again, because banks were required to offer the re-structure option.

2012 should be a different story. Lenders are starting to resume foreclosure filings, so more of these distressed homes are expected to be listed for sale this year than in 2011.   In addition, the re-structure option for sellers was, it seems, a very unappealing "solution" for most, as often payments were only reduced a few dollars, and the interest rate would become a long-term adjustable, sometimes with a balloon payment included as part of the overall package.   We expect to see a large inventory of short sale properties hitting the local market this year.