Talon Northwest Neighborhoods

Washington State's "Foreclosure Fairness Act" Q&A

Washington State's "Foreclosure Fairness Act" becomes effective July 22nd, 2011. This recent legislation creates a foreclosure mediation program available for all current and future WA State homeowner's in risk of losing their homes.

As with most legislation, you need a translation of the legalese to gain a clear understanding for what it all means.

There are a few pamplets hitting the web from the state's Department of Financial Institutions as well as this well written Q&A from a reputable law firm to put it in plain english for the rest of us!

Can't wait to get started with the July 4th festivities? Start with the 3rd!

I must admit that the 4th of July holiday is one of my favorite events of the year. A great way to get the party started early is to head on over to Poulsbo by either land or water and soak up the fun a day early! Festivities begin around noon on the waterfront with assorted bands and a rock'n street fair. The scene on the water goes on all day and night with hundreds of boats anchored out in Liberty Bay carrying on and forming "dingy congo lines" (it's a must see that my kids still talk about!).

The final act starts at 10:00PM with a spectacular fireworks display that lights up the whole bay. Have a safe holiday everyone and I hope the weather forecast stays sunny! Uff da

How to get there

 

Sherrie Reed joins Talon as Seattle's newest title insurance Account Manager

The Talon Group is excited to introduce our newest asset to Seattle area real estate professionals! Sherrie Reed will be joining our Seattle sales team on Monday, May 16th.

Many real estate veterans will remember Sherrie from when she supervised Property Information departments in King and Snohomish counties from 1991-2002. Since then, Sherrie dramatically increased her expertice in our industry. Before moving back to Seattle, she performed the duties as President of a family owned title agency providing services across seven southern states! 

Sherrie pactices what she preaches when it comes to the value of education and networking. She is certified to teach several Washington State clock hour approved courses including 1031 Exchange, Title Insurance, Escrow Processes, and Sales & Marketing. Business To Business networking is another avenue that Sherrie believes is essential to building strong ties in a competitve market such as Seattle.

We're confident Sherrie Reed's qualifications will prompt you to raise the bar for what to expect from a title & escrow representitive.

  

 

Washington State passes Foreclosure Fairness Act

HB 1362, also known as the Foreclosure Fairness Act,  was recently passed that aims to protect and assist homeowners going through the foreclosure process.   

According to HB 1362, section 1a, "The rate of home foreclosures continues to rise to unprecedented levels, both for prime and subprime loans, and a new wave of foreclosures has occurred due to rising unemployment, job loss, and higher adjustable loan payments".

What this bill specifically intends to do is encourage the skills of a professional housing counselor early in the process, create a framework of communication that can avoid foreclosure when possible, and to provide a framework for mediation when appropriate.

Click here to read the entire bill

First read there are a lot of advantages for a homeowner.  The foreclosure process is a tough one on anyone, and although the ability to meet with a housing counselor is not a new one, mediation with a third party professional has been sorely needed in our area.

On the other hand, this Act is among a long list of recent legislation that banks have to bare the cost of compliance and government enforcement. It also has the potential of extending the foreclosure process by weeks therefore delaying the eventual sale of the property.

Lets hope that this bill does what it was intended to do, have both the banks and homeowners act in good faith in order to stem the foreclosure tide.

 

Results of our local Puget Sound 2011 real estate market survey

Towards the end of 2010, several of us at the Talon Group decided to survey over 100 local real estate professionals in King, Pierce, and Snohomish County.  We asked specific questions regarding the real estate market, the recession, and their thoughts on 2011 and beyond.  The thoughts and opinions varied a bit when we looked at various local Puget Sound areas, but there were some common themes throughout.

• A majority of those surveyed believe we are at the bottom of the recession.  However, the group was divided on whether or not real estate prices had bottomed out.  The consensus is that it will be 2 years before the market reflects significant improvement.
• Most feel that potential sellers are in a holding pattern waiting for prices to recover.
• A bulk of our sample also predicts that the average homeowner will move every 6-10 years, up from what was on average 3-5 years.
• Half of the group felt that Baby Boomers were the target market for future business, while the other half were focusing on first time homebuyers.
• No one had a success story to tell regarding a loan modification for home retention.

When asked to break down their market area in percentages of who is buying and selling in 2011, here is what we found on average:

 

 

 

We'd love to hear your feedback on our results, and a big thank you to everyone who took the time to participate and share their knowledge and expertise!

 

2011 Property Taxes

Property tax season is upon us once again, and we've starting to get more and more questions about property taxes in general.  I'm going to list some links that people can find their information readily, along with some random thoughts and videos that I think will be helpful. 

King County now has local area data showing what the average improved valuation changes were YOY. You can go back historically til 2004 if you like.  If you're a stat geek like me, you'll find these stats interesting.  I'm not sure when they introduced this feature, but it's good stuff once you drill down a bit to the more local areas.

If you're wondering what your 2011 tax amounts will be, they should be posted mid month in February. Pierce County and Snohomish County should follow the same timeline and have their tax amounts posted mid month.  First half tax payments are due at the end of April.  

King County has some good FAQ's regarding how property taxes are done and calculated.  

People often times ask why their taxes go up, but their assessments have dropped.  For an answer to that, here's a Talon Video that we did in 2009.

Thanks everyone!

Photo courtesy of mild_swearwords

Things to consider when contemplating a Short Sale

Lets face it, short sales are not going away.  With the current economic climate, along with worries of rising interest rates and further risk of declining home values, short sales could likely remain a factor in our real estate market for the next couple years.  

With this in mind, The Talon Group would like to share some information from a short sale presentation given by a local tax attorney last fall.  It's hard to argue with the statement that any homeowner considering selling via short sale should gather as much information as possible about the process and what impact it could have on their future financial situation. 

Besides providing some basic information about shorts sales, clips two and three lightly cover judicial vs. nonjudicial foreclosures and deficiency judgements.  If you or someone you know is considering being involved in a short sale, we recommend you watch all three and, as always, consider talking to an attorney before making your final decision. More to come... 

 

Typical hurdles of a short sale

 

Judicial vs. Non Judicial - Part 1

 

Judicial vs. Non Judicial - Part 2

Watch out for foreclosure scams

I had a pretty scary conversation over the weekend with one of my Seattle area loan officers.  One of her past south end clients called to complain about a "prospective buyer" that showed up on her door step interested in making a bid on the property.  Naturally she was concerned since she hadn't received any notices in the mail.

Here's the scoop.  Late last week, someone came knocking on the past clients door and said that they were interested in buying the home at auction.  They asked the homeowner to do a walk through on the property to make sure everything was in good shape.  So they walked through the house, inspected it, said thanks and left.  The owner then called my loan officer to complain about not being notified of the pending foreclosure auction date.

So my loan officer calls her department that handles foreclosures, and sure enough the homeowner is current on their payments.  The loan officer called the owner back and told them to call the police right away.

The loan officer I spoke with mentioned that she's heard of people pretending to be from the bank as well, and needing to do an inspection before the bank puts it on the auction block.  Or they are an inspector for the auction and need to review the home before the auction date.  Regardless of the story, it's not a good idea to let someone in your home that you're not sure of. 

There are rules and time lines associated with foreclosures.  There is no reason why one should come as a surprise to any homeowner.  Here's the time line of the process, from www.usa-Foreclosure.com:

Time line Step	Days for Step	Total Days
Loan referred/file received	1	1
Trustee Sale Guarantee report ordered, NOD mailed and posted on the property 30 days before Notice of Sale	1-3	4
Trustee Sale Guarantee report received and reviewed, Substitution of Trustee prepared	30	34
Substitution of Trustee received/recorded, Notice of Sale recorded, posted and mailed 90 days prior to sale; sale date set; Warranty Deed sent to lender (HUD/VA)	1-5	39
Publication period	90	129
Publication (2 of 2) completed request bidding instructions	1-5	134
Sale held	1	135
Deed recorded	5-15	140-150

(Time line is for non-judicial foreclosures. Intervals are optimal and assumes no delays.)

For more information on Washington State Foreclosures, please visit the learning center at usa-foreclosure.com. 

It's unfortunate to hear these types of stories.  I'm glad to hear that nothing was taking from the home, and a police report was filed.  It could have been worse.  As always, be careful out there everyone.

Photo Courtesy of 05com

 

Looking to buy a Pierce County Tax Foreclosure?

The Pierce County Foreclosure Department has just recently posted the list of properties going to auction in December.  The tentative date of the auction is December 3rd, 2010 at the Pioneer Park Pavilion in Puyallup.  Gates are scheduled to open at 8 AM, with bids starting at 8:30. 

To view the current list of properties, please click here.  Keep in mind that it's not guaranteed that we'll be updating this post, so please check with the county for updates or changes on this list and the auction date.

Good research is the key to purchasing foreclosure properties, so please proceed with caution when dealing with foreclosures.  Here are some helpful departments to research parcels you are interested in, from the Pierce County website:

As a potential buyer, you must be aware that any parcel of property subject to foreclosure could have environmental issues. You are encouraged to research all parcels fully. The Assessor-Treasurer's office has computers, maps and other research tools available for your use at the public service counter. Due to limited staff, research assistance is not available by mail or telephone. If you have questions or concerns regarding environmental issues, please contact the Tacoma/Pierce County Health Department at (253) 798-6470 or (253) 798-6566.

Often parcels have other restrictions (open space, wetlands, slope hazards, and other critical areas, etc.) that the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD) can't answer. For parcels located in unincorporated Pierce County, these issues/concerns/restrictions can more properly be answered by Planning and Land Services (PALS) staff located at the Development Center. Interested individuals may call (253) 798-3739, (253) 798-7210 or 1-800-992-2456or visit the Development Center located at 2401 South 35th Street, Tacoma. Development center hours are 8:00 to 4:30 Monday through Friday except on Wednesday when the office opens at 9:00. You may wish to visit the Development Center website http://www.piercecountywa.org/pals for additional information.

Thanks everyone

 

Closing costs have soared 36%! Really????

I just finished reading an article regarding the rule changes to the GFE via the SeattleTimes.  The article references a survey done by Bankrate.com, and says:

"the so-called good-faith estimates that mortgage providers must give to prospective customers show closing costs soaring 36 percent this year". 

Here's another quote:

"Estimated charges for third parties such as appraisers and title insurers soared 47 percent."

The author's conclusion is that "the good-faith estimates are, well, being made in better faith".  I don't think that's really the case nor is it the logical answer to this survey. 

Now I can't speak for other companies nationwide obviously, but the Talon Group NW's title and escrow rates haven't changed all that much over the last few years.  Some fees have actually gone down!

The big change, in my opinion, is that fees shown on the new GFE reflect worst case scenario pricing which will not include any discounts available that the customer will receive at closing.  Doing this, the lender isn't on the hook for any cost overruns beyond the 10% limit.

Some discounts available include pre escrow discounts and discounts available for having both title and escrow at Talon.  Another example would be if you are using our guaranteed rate calculator to find a rate quote. We default to a worst case scenario when it comes to quoting title, escrow, excise tax and sales tax rates.  Ultimately, the customer could potentially pay lower fees than shown on the estimated GFE at closing for title insurance. A pleasant surprise for many borrowers at closing!

Another key point is whether or not Bankrate.com has factored out actual seller fees that are required by HUD to show as a buyer cost on the new GFE.  These fees include Excise Tax and Owner's Title Policy. 

A better study done would be what actual closing costs have done since the rules were in place, not estimated.  Would the aggregate closing costs increase?  Possibly and probably.  All the new regulations come with a cost, including new licensing fees and new taxes involved for lenders as well as increased staffing for compliance and underwriting.  The majority of closing cost increases we see are mainly due to increased regulations, which the fees are naturally being passed down to the customer.

The Talon Group has been, and will continue to be, as transparent about our fees as we can.  Our rates are filed with the State of Washington.  Our title and escrow rates area available to the public on our website.  We also have our guaranteed rate calculator available as well.  If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know.

Thanks everyone

Photo courtesy of

Jinx!