Fill in 4 of the known fields, and it will provide you with the 5th.  The default is monthly payment, but if you needed to know how much you could afford, select the Purchase Price option, and work backwards to see what range you should be looking in.

To access this handy tool, from your Start menu choose:

• All programs
• Accessories
• Calculator
• View
• Worksheets (at the bottom of the drop down dialog box)
• Mortgage
• Voila!

The key to helping your clients is to putting the banks in a position where it is in their best interest to modify the loan.  A homeowner on his own doesn’t stand a chance, and the lien holder not only gets the house back when it is foreclosed on, making it available to sell again, they also receive payoff from whatever insurance was carried on the loan.  Why would they want to give a modification when it means they make less money?  Don’t be daft!

To be effective at putting the homeowner in a more favorable negotiating position, he/she needs to have their loan documents looked at.  If there are issues, they need to have the power of a knowledgeable attorney behind them to bring it to the attention of the banks, and all else failing, they need to be able to bring your action before the courts.

In WA, the stumbling block was the attorney.  Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of great attorneys in WA, but I had not found one skilled and willing to take this direction with the banks.  I’m so glad to say I finally found one!

Send me an email diane at diane-guest(dot) com and I’ll be happy to connect you with them, and tell you what I know about their process!

Although other information is migrated from the EMC database, your pay-from accounts need to be re-verified in the new system.  Chase offers you two options:  the traditional deposit and verify or “Instant Verification System.”  I’m a fine print reader.  Although the IVS appealed to me so I could get on with paying the mortgage, I took the time to read.  In Internet verbiage, OMG. 

Printed below is the Chase legalese to allow them to verify your account.  I found it frightening.  Limited power of attorney with all powers to perform without a time constraint?  For the bank and subcontractors unnamed?  Are you serious?

If you have an EMC/Chase mortgage, may I suggest you not sign a power of attorney in perpetuity unless you really, really, really think the bank has your best interest at heart and will never do anything bad with their power.

I also have a listing on some swamp land which you can purchase for the bargain price of … how much did you have in savings? …. yeah, for that much.

Instant Account Verification Service Addendum   Tuesday, October 11, 2011

[Emphasis mine]

——————————————————————————–

We suggest you read this document carefully and print a copy for your reference. You may refer back to it at any time by accessing the Legal Agreements tab within the  website.

This Instant Account Verification Service Addendum (“Addendum”) states the terms and conditions that govern your use of the Instant Account Verification Service and supplements the Online Service Agreement (“Initial Agreement”) to which you agreed at your initial logon to the Online Service, and amends and becomes a part of the Initial Agreement. The terms of the Initial Agreement are hereby ratified, affirmed and incorporated herein, and shall continue to apply in all respects, as amended hereby. Any capitalized term used but not defined herein shall be given the meaning ascribed thereto in the Initial Agreement. In the event of any conflict between the terms of the Initial Agreement and this Addendum, the terms of this Addendum shall be controlling. All references hereinafter to the term “Agreement” shall mean the Initial Agreement as modified by this Addendum.

The Instant Account Verification Service is intended to verify your authority and access to deposit accounts held by financial institutions other than us (“External Accounts”) by confirming your ability to access those External Accounts. Your use of the Instant Account Verification Service is subject to this Agreement and constitutes your assent to and acceptance of this Agreement.

Provide Accurate Information

You agree to provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself and your External Accounts and you agree to not misrepresent your identity or your External Account information.

Instant Account Verification Service

In order to make transactions to and/or from the External Accounts through the use of certain online services offered by us, we may require you to provide certain information, including but not limited to account number, user ID and password, to verify your authority and access to such External Accounts. By using the Instant Account Verification Service, you authorize us and our subcontractors to use such information, access third party sites and retrieve information, on your behalf, for the purpose of verifying your authority and access to the External Accounts designated by you. For all purposes hereof, you hereby grant us and our subcontractors a limited power of attorney, and you hereby appoint us and our subcontractors as your true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and re-substitution, for you and in your name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to access third party internet sites, servers or documents, retrieve information, and use your information, all as described above, with the full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection with such activities, as fully to all intents and purposes as you might or could do in person. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE
AND AGREE THAT WHEN WE OR OUR SUBCONTRACTORS ACCESS AND RETRIEVE INFORMATION FROM THIRD PARTY SITES, WE AND OUR SUBCONTRACTORS ARE ACTING AS YOUR AGENT, AND NOT THE AGENT OR ON BEHALF OF THE THIRD PARTY. You agree that third party financial institutions shall be entitled to rely on the foregoing authorization, agency and power of attorney granted by you. You understand and agree that the Instant Account Verification Service is not endorsed or sponsored by any third party financial institutions accessible through the Account Verification Service. You are licensing to us and our subcontractors any information, data, passwords, materials or other content (collectively, “Content”) you provide through or to the Instant Account Verification Service. We and our subcontractors may use such Content to provide the Instant Account Verification Service to you, and by submitting Content, you automatically agree, or promise that the owner of such Content has expressly agreed that, without any particular time limit, and without the payment of any fees, we and our subcontractors may use the Content for that purpose.

Scope of Use

You agree that the results of the Instant Account Verification Service are for use by you, us and our subcontractors only in connection with the Instant Account Verification Service. You agree not to reverse engineer or reverse compile any of the service technology, including but not limited to, any Java applets associated with the Instant Account Verification Service.

Limitation of Liability; No Warranties

IN ADDITION TO ANY LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY AND DISCLAIMERS
FOUND IN THE INITIAL AGREEMENT, YOU AGREE THAT NEITHER WE, NOR OUR AFFILIATES, NOR OUR SUBCONTRACTORS NOR ANY OF THEIR AFFILIATES, THIRD PARTY FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS OR ANY OF THEIR AFFILIATES WILL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, EVEN IF WE OR OUR SUBCONTRACTORS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, RESULTING FROM THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE INSTANT ACCOUNT VERIFICATION SERVICE, CONTENT OR ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE INSTANT ACCOUNT VERIFICATION SERVICE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO (i) THE COST OF GETTING SUBSTITUTE GOODS AND SERVICES, (ii) ANY PRODUCTS, DATA, INFORMATION OR SERVICES PURCHASED OR OBTAINED OR MESSAGES RECEIVED OR TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO, THROUGH OR FROM THE INSTANT ACCOUNT VERIFICATION SERVICE; (iii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (iv) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANYONE ON THE INSTANT ACCOUNT VERIFICATION SERVICE; OR (v) THE USE, INABILITY TO USE, UNAUTHORIZED USE, PERFORMANCE OR NON-PERFORMANCE OF ANY THIRD PARTY FINANCIAL INSTITUTION WEBSITE SITE, EVEN IF THE PROVIDER HAS BEEN ADVISED PREVIOUSLY OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.  YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE INSTANT ACCOUNT VERIFICATION SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND ON AN “AS IS” “WHERE-IS” AND “WHERE AVAILABLE” BASIS, AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE TO YOU. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT THE INSTANT ACCOUNT VERIFICATION SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED ON THE SITE OR IN ANY APPLICABLE AGREEMENT.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND (EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS). NO
LICENSE TO YOU IS IMPLIED IN THESE DISCLAIMERS.

Indemnification

In addition to an indemnification obligations set forth in the Initial Agreement, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless us, our affiliates and our subcontractors and their affiliates from any and all third party claims, liability, damages, expenses and costs (including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys fees) caused by or arising from your use of the Instant Account Verification Service or your violation of these terms.

Free Trees & Plants – Very simple way to get trees and plants. This is a not-for profit foundation that collects plants from nurseries that would be thrown away. They nurture the plants and ship them to you. You only pay for shipping and handling. http://www.freetreesandplants.com/

Arbor Day Foundation – When you sign up for a six month membership, you get 10 free trees shipped for free. http://www.arborday.org/

10 Ways to get Free Plants This is a great blog that can give you some excellent ways to gather plants or trees for your properties. http://www.savingadvice.com/blog/2007/02/14/101169_10-ways-to-get-free-plants-for-your-garden.html

Some additional thoughts -

Become friends with the person in charge of your local flower department in the
big super centers! When plants get a little tired looking, they may give them to
you free! All you need to do is give the plants some TLC!

Most businesses replace their plants as the flowers fade. This year, start a
relationship with the businesses in your area. Let them know that you are
willing to take the unsightly plants off of their hands after they are finished
blooming.

Do a quick search & you will see lots of websites that post listings for
free plants & seeds. There are many, but some of the larger ones are:  www.gardenweb.com  and www.seedman.com

It may seem simple, but landscaping is a great way to increase the value of your property It’s an often overlooked area of the development budget and the above links provide some easy ways to do a little extra for mere pennies.

Thanks to Sean Carpenter for pointing me in the right direction!

Mortgage Services

Okay, you can’t actually buy a house at Costco — but the wholesaler can help you secure a mortgage.

Members can chose from a group of national lenders that commit to low fees. According to the company’s Web site, members save 64% on lender fees.

Costco has teamed up with First Choice to provide this mortgage service. Lender fee caps are priced at $600 for executive members and $750 for business and goldstar members.

The list of lenders includes CapWest Mortgage, RMC Vanguard, West Star, Wyndham, Sterling Savings Bank, Bank of Internet and Real Estate Mortgage network.

As a full disclaimer, although I have a Costco membership, I am not being paid to advertise this service, nor have I yet referred anyone to them.  However in these interesting times, when loans are challenging, this might be an alternative to keep under your hat, especially with capped fees so low!

Don’t forget while you’re there, Costco also sells wedding dresses and caskets, in case you’re having other major life events along with buying that house.

The Associated Press gets high marks for a story today about the continuation of robo-signing, which we thought was dealt with because we’re decent folk, aren’t we?  We get told, “Don’t do that,” so we don’t!  Or maybe not.

The AP uncovered not only foreclosure documents still being signed, but also other types of real estate papers, citing mortgage discharge documents in one particular instance.  What the AP didn’t do is figure out if the banks are perpetrating a naughty in order to get sent to the principal’s office.

If there is a hue and cry, as there appears to be, and if states’ attorneys general institute lawsuits to block all this fraudulent paperwork, where are the homeowners in all this?

Mr. Ponobscot, a hypothetical owner, has a mortgage discharge filed against his property with one of the robo signer names on it.  Maybe Mr. Ponobscot did in fact refinance and that fact was recorded, albeit with one of the “forbidden” names as the signer.  Now Mr. P wants to sell his house.  He owes some monies on it, but as he has just retired, he wants to downsize and spend more of his retirement in Europe, rather than making big house payments.

He lists the house and gets an offer.  All is well and they’re almost packed for the final walkthrough when the title company phones with some very bad news.  There is a document signed by Linda Green, which is known to probably have been a forgery, therefore there is a cloud on title so the lender can’t lend.

In the years and years of trying to figure out the legality of all this, Mr. P will probably throw up his hands and just give the silly house back to the bank so he can go on with the life he planned.  Mr. P to L’Arc de Triumphe, house to Bank of Big Americans Chasing a Fargo.

What if banks were not foreclosing on homes, because they had been told not to, but were instead dropping innocuous documents on their secured properties?  Documents which wouldn’t hurt the owner, wouldn’t force them from their homes and wouldn’t probably even be noticed, until the homeowner tried to sell.  What if?  That would be an amazing way to take some properties over without a lot of effort – when the owner stops paying because they can’t sell with clouded title, the only winner is the bank.  Not saying it’s happening, but it’s a frightening thought nonetheless.

Sellers – a good first step to selling your home would be to have an agent request a preliminary title search for you.  That would anticipate any hiccups which might have crept into your paperwork.

Buyers – make sure you and your agent scour the documents.  Take them to an attorney (always money well spent on big transactions) before you begin spending money on inspections and loan applications.

Disclaimer – I spilled coffee on my desktop keyboard this morning.  It’s been sent through the wash and rinse cycle (just kidding, sort of) and is now drying out.  I am typing on my laptop, connecting remotely and making all “soorts” of keyboard errors on the smaller keypad.  Bear with me, leave me your cryptic editing notes and I promise I’ll fix the “ishews” later!

Today’s topic?  How to kill a really excellent deal.

The setup:  a condo in a complex where two recent REO (bank owned) sales set the bar about 100K less than what had previously been market value.  Everyone who wants to sell is now looking at a short sale because of what the units will appraise for.  To have a bank consider a short sale, the owner must be in default.  Although I would never recommend anyone stop paying their mortgage, the reality is if you’re not behind, you don’t get a short sale (at least not currently – that could change).

The owners now not paying so they can short sell, also in some cases stop paying their homeowner association dues.  “Why bother?  I’m not going to live here and I’m taking a huge hit on my credit rating anyway,” is probably pretty typical of the thinking which goes on.  [Cue ominous Jaws theme]

And now owner M, a client of mine, has an offer on their condo.  It is a listing price offer with a buyer qualified, taking an 80% loan.  Lenders love people who come in with 20% down!  We have lien holder approval and a closing date of next month.  No problem.  Tally Ho!  Buyer hightails it to the lender to get the wheels in motion when all of a sudden, everything squeaks and grinds to a seeming halt.  The lender has talked to the management company and of the 104 units, 40 of them are 30+ days delinquent on their dues.  The lender (and it’s currently an industry standard) can’t lend if the delinquency rate exceeds 15%.  There would appear to be no loan, and no sale.

My clients are working on the issue so I hope to have a positive outcome for you on an update, but in the meantime, here are some things to tuck into your education hat:

1. If no one can sell, the result for active listings is foreclosure or bankruptcy.  Bankruptcy might have to be considered, depending on your state laws, if you have more than one lien to clear.
2. If all the units currently for sale in a complex are taken back by the bank, the value of all units will decrease.
3. The bank does not pay the HOA back dues until closing generally, so the cycle becomes self perpetuating until the majority are bank owned or original owners.
4. If, for example, the original owners purchased at around 200K, and the bank owned bar has been set at 88K (which in this case it has), the original owners are now looking at potential neighbors who could not afford the higher cost, but who can manage at a much lower rate.  This may or may not be desirable to them, but given the current financing status, is out of their hands.

To the agents in blog-reading land, it is in your client’s best interest to continue paying their HOA dues, even if they are not paying their mortgage.

Buyers, whether owner occuppied or investor, ask the question during your due diligence period.  If it’s still what you want and it’s priced reasonably for your needs, work with your agent and the HOA to get the owners’ educated and the problem cleared before financing.

Sellers – pay HOA dues, otherwise you literally could be shooting yourself in the foot financially!

Post script – my clients are not one of the 40 in arrears.  They have a really good agent who recommended they keep paying their dues!

BECU does [I think exclusively] portfolio loans, which means they are not farmed out to the secondary market.  When a loan goes bad and the house is foreclosed on, BECU lists them on the MLS, but also on their website (keep reading and I’ll give you the link!).

Why would you want to consider a BECU home?  For one, they will pay your closing costs.  Ka-ching! Savings for you.

If you finance the purchase with them, and you are owner occupied, they will give you a loan for up to 95% LTV, or another way of saying it, you need only put 5% down.

If you are non-owner occupied (investor), you can purchase it for 80% LTV.

And here’s the biggest news of all – as of our speaking this morning, their rate on a 30 year fixed was 3.99% with no PMI.  Hello?  Shall I write it again?  3.99% with no PMI.  Holy cow!

So, where do I find me one of them thar homes, you find yourself asking?  Here’s the link.  If you find one, give me a call and let’s go see if it’s your dream home!

NWMLS will offer an electronic signature service to its members and subscribers beginning Fall 2011.  The Authentisign service provides a secure browser based online document signing process which enables multiple parties to participate and sign documents online.  Authentisign will be integrated with Xpress Forms to allow for a convenient and efficient electronic signature process.