Buying or Selling a Home/Buying A short Sale

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Expert: John Hendricks - 9/24/2008


Question
I make about 130,000 a year but I do have a NY state tax lien.  My credit is not good but the income is stable (and is from 2 jobs).   I do have a sister in law that make about $50,000 a year and her credit is about 600 points.  My landlord is about to loose the house and give it in a short sale.  What are my chances of getting the house?  They are going to sell the house for less than 200,000 (original value about $400,000) and I have $10,000.  Should I try to buy using my sister in law?  Should I try to buy using my own credit?  Could we combine?  I do not know who to trust.   How could I get a very good realtor that can guide me during this process?

Thank you

Answer
Dear Hector;

Thank you for your question… I am sorry for the delayed response, as I have been on a business trip for the last 10 days.

Short Sales and REO’s (Real Estate Owned by the investor-bank) will not be easy to buy with your current set of circumstances. When determining whether to accept an offer that has been presented, they look at many factors, one of which is your or the both of your abilities to obtain a loan to purchase the home. Either you have an all cash offer, or at the least be pre-approved for a loan before they would even respond to an offer.

My first suggestion is to establish a relationship with a Realtor who will help you through the process of buying a home, whether it be a short sale, REO, or a home that is on the open market without duress. The first thing the Realtor will do is have you meet a Mortgage Broker to determine your financial ability to buy a home either by yourself or with your sister. Your costs should be limited to a credit report for you and one for your sister. After evaluating your application and credit reports, the mortgage broker will suggest ways to help repair and eliminate the issues you mentioned to get you qualified for a loan. Your lien, credit score and sisters credit score may hinder your opportunity, especially with the new mortgage guidelines in force. There are some first time home buyer programs available through FHA (Federal Housing Authority) which provides looser guidelines than conventional financing. The mortgage broker will explain in detail each of the available programs.

If you are qualified to buy a home, the Realtor will at that time start to search for properties within you qualified price range to show you. When you select a home, the Realtor will guide you through the purchasing process, including what inspections to order, the review of disclosures and all other applicable processes you would normally be confronted with once your offer is accepted.

If you do not qualify at this particular moment, the mortgage broker should provide you a plan of action and timetable to position yourself to buy a home. The ease and minimal period of time it takes to gather this information will help you enter the market with strength to take advantage of some of the great values in real estate we are seeing at this time. If you would like to have the name of one or two great Realtors you can trust, please do not hesitate to email me or call me for a referral. Being a Realtor for going on 23 years many relationships have been established throughout the years with quality Realtors throughout the country. This is of no cost for this service to you.

I hope this has been of help to you and I look forward to hearing from you again in the near future. Good Luck!

Warmest Regards;
John Hendricks
JohnHendricks@Marin1.com
415-259-4518  

Buying or Selling a Home

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John Hendricks

Expertise

As a California Realtor for 23 years practicing in Marin and Sonoma Counties, it is now time to provide counsel through AllExperts.com to those who need advise in real estate. My knowledge and experience includes a wide range of resale residential real estate purchases, new home sales, income related investment properties involved in 1031 exchanges, and land. Let me help you in any of these areas...

Experience

John Hendricks has established himself as one of Marin & Sonoma Counties premier Realtors. A native Californian, John is a well-known and respected Realtor in both Marin & Sonoma Counties who has resided in the Northbay since 1976. John began his real estate career in 1986, and since then has distinguished himself as one or Northern California's top producing Realtors. Before joining Frank Howard Allen Realtors, John was an associate of the Prudential California Realty from 1990-1992 where his outstanding sales achievements earned him one of the company's highest honors, the prestigious "President's Circle Membership", presented to the top 2% of associates for sales and earning excellence. Since his association with the highly regarded Frank Howard Allen Realtors in 1992, John has once again established himself as one of his company's Top 10 Producing Realtors in Marin & Sonoma Counties for the years 1993 through 2007 and now in 2008. Five continuous years of outstanding performance has now allowed John to join 15 other Realtors in the prestigious "Lifetime Hall of Fame" for Frank Howard Allen Realtors. John established a group of professional individuals who specialize in a variety of areas in real estate called, 'Lundmark-Hendricks Fine Homes' This group of professionals are dedicated to the success of representing clients with the greatest amount of care and service when either buying or selling real estate.

Organizations
California Association of Realtors National Association of Realtors

Education/Credentials
Upon Request...

Awards and Honors
Frank Howard Allen Realtors "Hall of Fame Member" Chairman's Circle for 10 consecutive years

Past/Present Clients
Joe Louis & Sharon Sigurdson We want to thank you again for your excellent representation of interests during the recent purchase of our home in Petaluma as well as the sell of our home in Mill Valley. We had the unusual pleasure of working with you during the last year both as sellers and buyers. We felt that our interests were always paramount and that we received a very fair price for the sale of the Mill Valley house as well as our purchase of our new home. This speaks particularly well of you, because of the recent unstable and chaotic real estate market. Will Finke "Quite frankly, we came out of a very difficult situation, which time does not allow elaborating on. This was one of the greatest experiences of our lives as clients. John Hendricks is one of the top businessmen I have ever met." Bruce & Nancy Rosentreter "I chose John Hendricks to sell my house. I picked him because I thought he was professional, aggressive, and that he could get top dollar for my house. He fulfilled my expectations completely." Joy Schuelke "Since we were trying to sell a high end home in a very tough market, and in the middle of a very rainy winter, the prospects seemed quite bleak. I was convinced at the time, and am even more so now, that without John's tenure, patience, and tenacity, we would have not been able to move the property." Lynn McCarthy "I cannot stress strongly enough how impressed I was with the service provided to me by John and his group. Throughout the entire transaction, John was always available, always forthcoming with excellent advice based on his years of experience, and always willing to put in the extra effort to make this a positive experience for me. I feel lucky to have had the experience of working with him." Lea Lieurance-Turk "Thank you John for your outstanding real estate services for the past 5 years I have known you. You have made my dreams come true as far as selling and buying property."
http://www.LundmarkHendricksFineHomes.com

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