foreclosure
Carsbad, Calif. (PRWEB) November 17, 2011
In a national survey of its current clients actively considering or navigating through the foreclosure process, YouWalkAway.com, a leading foreclosure agency that helps people understand and manage the foreclosure process, revealed that 35 percent of those surveyed indicated that the Mortgage Debt Relief Act expiration date of December 31, 2012 contributed to their decisions to walk away sooner rather than later from their property.
The Mortgage Debt Relief Act relieves former homeowners of their obligation to pay taxes on the difference between their loan amount and the amount their property fetches through short sale or at auction after foreclosure. The foreclosure process takes, on average, one year from start to finish.
?The survey results are not surprising; YouWalkAway.com has seen a number of homeowners reach out to us due to the impending 2012 deadline,? reports Jon Maddux, CEO of YouWalkAway.com. ?Many are deciding to begin the foreclosure process sooner rather than later in order to ensure their foreclosure is complete by the end of 2012.?
To avoid a large tax hit and protect his family through the Debt Relief Act of 2007, YouWalkAway.com client Robert Applebee of Homestead, Fla. began the strategic foreclosure process in June 2010. He has an $ 184,000 mortgage from Bank of America on a home that in July 2011 was appraised at $ 49,900. Most recently, Bank of America refused a $ 55,000 short sale offer on Applebee?s home. If Applebee?s property were to fetch $ 75,000 at auction, he would have to add $ 109,000 to his net income and pay income taxes based on this amount if his foreclosure process is not completed by the end of 2012 and the Mortgage Debt Relief Act is not extended.
The Mortgage Debt Relief Act was created to protect homeowners who are foreclosing on principal residences only and who have never refinanced by taking out a home equity line of credit. The Internal Revenue Service states that The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 generally allows taxpayers to exclude income from the discharge of debt on their principal residence. Debt reduced through mortgage restructuring, as well as mortgage debt forgiven in connection with a foreclosure, qualifies for the relief.
?Today, about 80 percent of the people who come to me inquiring about foreclosure tax ramifications qualify for tax relief under the Mortgage Debt Relief Act,? states Cheryl Gerhardt, a CPA who has worked with some YouWalkAway.com clients. ?These are usually people who purchased during the height of the market from 2005 to 2007 and never had the opportunity to take out a second, whereas a few years ago clients who were getting foreclosed upon had made purchases in the early 2000?s, took out a home equity line of credit and could not qualify.?
Gerhardt continued, ?More 2005 to 2007 buyers are realizing they may be better off walking away from their home, but only once they start to think about this do the start to considering all the factors, including taxes. I believe there are many of these buyers who do not know they need to act soon because of the approaching expiration of the Mortgage Debt Relief Act.?
Additional results of the YouWalkAway.com survey indicate that 78 percent of the respondents were walking away from their primary residence. Of those, at least 76 percent would qualify for relief under the act. When asked whether they knew about the Mortgage Debt Relief Act, most of the respondents said they contacted YouWalkAway.com because they had heard about the act but were seeking additional information.
Maddux adds, ?The potential protection afforded by the Mortgage Debt Relief Act is not common knowledge. Potentially millions of people will find themselves stuck with a huge tax bill after foreclosure if the government doesn’t renew the Debt Relief Act at the end of 2012 or if they don?t finalize their foreclosure by that date. The bill may well expire, like when Congress chose not to renew the home buyer?s tax credit.?
A YouWalkAway.com client who wishes to provide only her first name, Gabrielle, is walking away from her Los Angeles home because she is upside down on her mortgage by $ 130,000. ?The expiring Debt Relief Act prompted me to act now,? she said. ?I’m in an adjustable rate mortgage, so the monthly payment is quite low, and I like living here, but staying is financially risky, especially not knowing where rates will be in five to ten years.?
According to the Lender Processing Services Mortgage Monitor, over four million home loans are 90 days or more delinquent or in foreclosure as of November 1, 2011.
YouWalkAway.com surveyed 2108 individuals and received 518 responses for the above-referenced survey.
About YouWalkAway.com
Located in Northern San Diego, Calif., YouWalkAway.com is a foreclosure agency run by a team of real estate and legal experts with more than 50 years of combined experience. Featured in a wide range of reputable and powerful media pieces, YouWalkAway.com is acknowledged for being a trustworthy and valid foreclosure resource agency and the nation?s foremost authority on foreclosure laws and consequences. It is the objective of YouWalkAway.com to empower homeowners who purchased their homes at the peak of the real estate market to take control of their financial future. http://www.youwalkaway.com
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Category : Real Estate Market
August 2, 2011
| Featured StoryFHFA to Improve the GSEs As They Await Their Fate By Austin Kilgore DALLAS—While politicians continue to figure out what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the federal conservator of the mortgage companies is hard at work implementing new policies and practices to improve the government-sponsored enterprises for as long as they are still around, according to Patrick Lawler, chief economist and associate director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. |
| What We’re Hearing: What is Compliance Costing You? By Paul Muolo Ask any mortgage banker about compliance and chances are he or she can quickly rattle off how much this task is costing his firm each year. |
| Meet Your Future Customer By Brad Finkelstein I was riding the New York City Subway to work one recent morning, when a father and his approximately five-year-old son sat across from me. |
| Yield on Benchmark 10-Year Falls, But Will Consumers Refi? By Paul Muolo In the wake of a political deal to solve the nation’s debt ceiling crisis, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury fell to 2.7% Monday, which usually means mortgage rates are headed south as well. |
| Warehouser Funds 1,000 Loans in Quarter By Brad Finkelstein Silvergate Bank, La Jolla, Calif., said its warehouse lending program funded over 1,000 residential mortgage loans totaling $267 million in the second quarter. |
| Texas Tech FCU Inks Deal For MRG’s Mortgage Doc Solution By Credit Union Journal Staff Texas Tech Federal Credit Union in Lubbock has chosen MRG’s Miracle Online platform for its mortgage document preparation needs. |
If you are hunting for a good old property at Naples, then Naples foreclosure listings should tell you the way the real estate business still thriving in the city despite the adverse effect of recession in the United States. Buying a foreclosure is undoubtedly the best way to make more property out of less money but definitely it takes in a lot of planning and research before you end up profited in the process.
A city’s economy might be scaling high yet foreclosures are invariably been auctioned for in every other county and Naples’ home foreclosure listings falls no short of the other prime cities. Foreclosures are indeed a great monetary asset but you might well be carrying home additional burdens if you care to invest only money and no research time. So it is wise that you explore the related websites which can present you all the necessary details about the foreclosures you can avail at Naples.
Though one can try to extract every miniature detail about the property, often the prospects of buying a foreclosure are decided more by the entity from which hands you get the property entitled as yours. For instance if you manage to choose a bank owned property from the Naples’ home foreclosure listings probably you have made the best choice as you will get to make an inspection of the property before you actually sign the dotted line. And another big asset in making this choice is that though the banks hand over the foreclosure as it is, if the repairs you need to make whop a major rate, then the banks are considerate enough to put back the property on the list.
The only extra effort you need to usher in case of buying a REO (bank owned foreclosure) is finding an experienced real estate agent as his assistance is something very indispensable while dealing with the buying process since foreclosures are properties often taken upon from the hands of the owner by a lender in the event of the owner not being able to reimburse the loan.
Category : Top Real Estate Articles
There are a lot of ways through which you will be able to get the information about the properties under foreclosure listings. This will be your bible if you have been looking forward to look for a house that have been listed for foreclosure, whether you are looking for yourself or you are planning to deal in the real estate business and gain profits.
There are a lot of options that you can choose from and there are a lot of places from where you will get the foreclosure listings. However, the one you choose will depend on you.
- Online search: This has been taken as the best way by a lot of people. This way you will be able to get information about the properties that are listed and at the same time if you want to narrow down your search depending upon the locality, facilities available and if you wish you can also narrow the search depending upon the money that you are willing to pay. There will be some websites that will be offering you foreclosure listings for free, where as there can be others that might cost you a little.
- Real estate agent: You can also get in touch with the real estate agent of the area that you are planning to look for properties in. This can be beneficial for you in case you are doing this for the first time. The real estate agent will also be able to help you guide you with the procedure that you are supposed to follow and will also help you to look at technicalities which you might not be able to handle on your own.
- Sheriff’s office: Sheriff’s office is the place where all the foreclosure proceedings take place. That is the main reason why most of the people think that they will be able to get foreclosure listings that will be updated and worth trusting. You will be able to get these listings free of cost.
Category : Top Real Estate Articles
The recent trend to find houses in California is to go for foreclosures. It remains a fact that foreclosure homes in San Diego continue to dominate the race to own luxury apartments. Lists of properties on sale are being displayed massively on the internet. The concern is to register with a reputed site to find the best of the deals. Banks and government foreclosures are very common. Besides, there are also other financial institutions such as real estate agents that come out with their own list of foreclosures. So, it is always wise to judge things properly before bidding for a property.
All kinds of houses with intricate details about the interiors, area, location and price are listed on home foreclosure listings of San Diego. The property selected goes on the preferred list of the subscriber. So, people can actually find good properties and save in their preferred list of homes. Then they can select the property that suits them the best from the preferred list. This makes the entire process simple and opens up the option of choice. The customer support team also enhances efficiency of the system. Their duty is to help the customer find the best property at the desired price. Thus one can totally rely on websites to find a home of dream.
The listings made are strictly in accordance to the state laws of California. So, whenever home foreclosure listings are made by an agent, it sends a copy of it to the owners and makes complete valuation of all property listed. It also makes commitment to sell commercial properties for commercial purposes only and residential flats for homes. Real estates are normally listed separately. So, people are left with authentic information about properties on sale.
Category : Top Real Estate Articles
