Help me get back my dream house! Please

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About 18 months ago I went through the foreclosure process. I was the general contractor on it and spent a lot of time and money building it, It was perfect, we lived there for about 3 1/2 years.

Needless to say we couldnt afford it so we filed bancruptcy and went throught the foreclosure process on our dream house. It went up for auction and nobody bid. A REI purchased it from the bank for $351k (it is assessed at $422k).

Then the REI took out an $87k 2nd mort. to remodel, (even though it was built in 97' and every thing was fine, except we ran out of funds to landscape). He put in new carpet, new paint in/out, put a fountain out front, a sprinkler system, cement circular driveway. He intended on selling it retail, but it never sold. There is mold in a corner of the garage. The mold came from a leak in the tile roof. Which I happen to have a 25-year warranty on which includes any damage done to the house (the REI dosnt know about the warranty).

Now he is going through the foreclosure process (on this house and 5 others in the county, this is the first one to hit the paper though this sale is set for May 9th, but there is alway the possibility of himdelaying it by filing chapter 11). I am strongly considering to do a short sale on the house. I have absolutley no REI experince though. I have read all the articles on short saling on this website and I have a pretty good Idea of how it all works. I think that we could discount the mortgage due to the mold (which as far as I know could have gone throughout the house) which would cost thousands to fix ie. carpet, paint, sheet rock, plus the roof (which we have the warranty to, so even if it has gone throughout the house the warranty would pay for all damages). The REI has a 1st mort. of $351 and a second of $87k plus misc. fees, taxes and arrears of $16k. Totaling $454k. All of this is financed through 'Sterling Capital Mortgage'. The tax assessor appraised it at $422k.

How much do you think that we could discount the mortgage?

Has anyone here done a short sale with "Sterling Capital Mortgage" before? If so, were they very cooperative?


Any advice would be most appreciative.

Jorgan Cattin[ Edited by jcattin on Date 04/09/2003 ]

Comments(11)

  • jcattin10th April, 2003

    I know the owners name and address, I just cant find there phone #

    Thanks for your help,

    Jorgan Cattin

  • realestateop27th April, 2003

    Jorgan,

    Just wondering how you are coming along in the process of getting your dream home back? If you get a chance, let us know.

  • realestateop8th April, 2003

    Dear friend,

    Have you gotten the deed to this property from the REI that is losing it in foreclosure? If no, has he signed a purchase and sale agreement leaving the purchase amount blank?

    I have never done a short sale with Sterling Capital. The only way to estimate the amount of the discount is by looking at current comps. in that area. Remember that the lender will be checking comps. and looking at sq. footage, number of bed/bath, etc.

    If and when the bank does a BPO or appraisal, then you must point out all of the mold issues to the appraiser.

    Also, be prepared to give the appraiser written estimates for the cost of curing the mold and related damage.

    Hope you are successful! If you have any more questions you may email me at realestateop@suite224.net

    P.S. I bet Jeff Kaller has dealt with Sterling Capital.

  • jcattin9th April, 2003

    If anybody could help me with this and answer a few of my questions, it would mean so much to me and my family.

    Thanks

    Jorgan Cattin

  • jcattin10th April, 2003

    See as no one lives in this house I went to the house today just to take a look and see if I could find any info on the owner(so that I can get his phone # and set up an apointment). While there I took a look around the out side. I was disgusted, weeds 2 feet tall growing in the gutters, moss on the tile roof and the deck and surrounding fence are in much need of a good cleaning and sealing. But, I figure that these are all good things in the sense that they will help discount the mortgage.

    Anyone have any ideas on how find peoples phone #?

    I have tried yahoo people search and his and his wifes name in a database search, nothing seems to work. I am clueless on how to find him.

    Any help would be very appreciated,

    Jorgan Cattin

  • tanya121510th April, 2003

    Have you tried doing a phone search? Here are a few good phone search websites:

    www.whitepages.com
    www.411.com
    people.yahoo.com
    www.anywho.com
    www.reversephonedirectory.com

    Next time you drive by the home, you should take some photos. It will help the lender with their short sale decision when you have photographic proof of the damages to submit with your proposal.

    Tanya

  • realestateop10th April, 2003

    If you want the house badly enough go knock on the rei's door. Tell him/her what you want to do i.e. get your house back and help him at the same time. To get started you will need a signed purchase and sale agreement and a signed authorization to release info that tells the lender that you have the rei's permission to talk to them.

    Then call the lender, get the loss mitigation departments fax number and fax them these documents. Also, offer to send or email photos of the house. Make the purchase and sale agreement for a price 40 to 55 percent of the assessed value. If you can get recent comps of other sales of distressed properties in the area. Include them with the photos.

    Once the bank agrees to your offer or counter offers then you can start to stress out about getting financing.

    Even if your credit is bad, a hard money lender may still loan 65% of the assessed value.

    All of your competition is going to try to call or mail to the REI. Because of your unique perspective I urge you to go knock on his door. I did it once and it paid off.

    If you have a young child 3-7 years old. Take them with you. It gives you credibility and maybe even sympathy
    And you won't seem like a threatening bill collector showing up at their doorstep.

    Hope this helps.

    To your success,

    www.realestatesolutionspublishing.com

  • jcattin8th April, 2003

    Dear realestaeop,

    No, I have not recieved the deed from this property. Also no, he has not signed a purchase or sale agreement. The parcel was just listed in the newpaper today, and I didn't want to act until it was published.

    Don't I have to aquire the property before I get the deed?

    How do I contact Jeff Kaller?

    Seeing as I went through bancrupty and foreclosure just 18 months ago do you think that will be a problem getting conventional financing?

    Would the bank that I do the short sale with also finance me?


    Thank you for all of you help,

    Jorgan Cattin

  • realestateop9th April, 2003

    Jorgan,

    Truly want to help you! Here is one way that I can help. Jeff Kaller's email is lightbulb@triad.rr.com and his phone number is 336-841-3237 which is in NC. I think he has now moved to warmer climate and his number might have changed. I think though it directs you as to what to do when you call. If that does not work then email me at realestateop@suite224.net and I will get his info through another way. You might ask if he has worked with that particular bank before. I don't get to log onto this website forum real often but email me and I will give you our phone number and see if we can answer any additional questions.

    Good luck on getting your dream house back. THis last year through our knowledge of real estate we got to buy the dream house we have loved for 20 years.

  • Kez10th April, 2003

    Just a thought, couldn't the present owner be located through the courthouse ?
    All the best with this.

  • loon28th April, 2003

    Re: finding the phone number; some of the online databases are old, sometimes 1-2 years old. I've had this problem with MSN and Yahoo's. You get what you pay for. I've used the MCI database (need to be a subscriber) and it seems quite up to date, probably the case with other proprietary databases. In a pinch, you could also try to call others with same last name (if it's not a common one) hoping to find a relative and tell them you have information about the sale of their real estate, their recent contest entry, etc. implying that by getting them this info they would benefit. Might get someone to say "leave me your number, I'll get them the message." Good luck

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