Mariana Wagner

Colorado Springs Real Estate: Help for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

Many homeowners in Colorado Springs may be facing a hike in their mortgage interest rate (or already have) and some of these homeowners (maybe you) may be unable to continue making mortgage payments and are now facing foreclosure.

Quite frankly, it is awful when you can no longer afford the home that you love.

Well, you are not alone. Thousands of homeowners are in the same position that you may be in right now, so there are now more options available to help you KEEP YOUR COLORADO SPRINGS HOME.

Here are some resources that you can look into that may be able to help, taken from the National Association of Realtors® Website:

Learn What You Can do to Protect Your Home

• If you feel like you may be in danger of facing foreclosure and need immediate help, call 888-995-HOPE or visit www.995hope.org. Homeowner’s HOPETM, a counseling service provided by the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, can work with you to find a solution.
• How to Avoid Foreclosures and Keep Your Home (PDF: 1.7Mb)
  You’re not alone if you’re having trouble paying your mortgage. The housing boom led to a record homeownership rate of nearly 70 percent, but some home owners now face problems making their mortgage payments and can’t refinance their loans. This brochure will help you understand your options and give you tips on how to avoid losing your home–regardless of what kind of mortgage you have. Text-only version available (PDF: 71Kb)
• How to avoid foreclosures (HUD)
• Foreclosure Assistance Programs by State
• Help for Homeowners Facing the Loss of Their Home (HUD)

Credit Counseling is Available

• HUD Housing Counselors: A list of counseling agencies by state
• NeighborWorks® America: Find a NeighborWorks® counseling organization in your community
  Under a partnership with NeighborWorks® America, NAR is a founding sponsor of the NeighborWorks® Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling (NCHEC). NCHEC’s mission is to work with industry partners to train, certify, and support home buyer educators and housing counselors nationwide.

Read Also: Foreclosure Vultures … BEWARE! (Colorado’s NEW Foreclosure Protection Act)

If you are still unable afford your home, but want to avoid foreclosure, you have the option of selling your current Colorado Springs home and moving into a home that is more affordable. In fact, that is a very popular option for mant homeowners in Colorado Springs.

Quite a few of our current friends and clients are trading in their granite counter tops and 4,000+ square feet for a more manageable home and financial peace of mind and better QUALITY of life. So, you wont be alone.

If you want to discuss your options, you can give us a call. (719) 434-7525

Don’t worry. We want what is best for you – whether we are involved in your decision or not.

January 12th, 2008 by Mariana Wagner | Leave A Comment

Update to Proposed ARM Rate Freeze

This is an update to the recent post: Some Colorado Springs Homeowners May Be Able to Freeze Their Painful ARMs. In this post I discussed a plan that may potentially help the Colorado Springs real estate market, by helping homeowners afford their mortgages.

Per a recent KRDO News 13 article:

“The holidays are fast approaching and, unfortunately, this will be a time of anxiety for Americans worried about their mortgages and their homes,” says President Bush.  “There’s no perfect solution, but the homeowners deserve our help, and the steps I’ve outlined today are a sensible response to a serious challenge.”

How to Qualify for the ARM Rate Freeze:

To qualify for this plan, you need to meet specific criteria:

• Took out your adjustable-rate mortgage between January 2005 and July 31st, 2007.
• Have that rate set to adjust between January 2007 and July 31st, 2010.
• Must have an income.
• Must live in the home with the mortgage.
• Never have missed a payment/paid on time
• Prove that you wouldn’t be able to afford the higher adjustable rate
• Must not have more than 3% equity in your home.
• Home can’t be worth less than the mortgage on it.

Although this plan will not help everyone, it is estimated that over 1 Million homeowners will benefit from this. If you are a homeowner in Colorado Springs that may benefit from this, please contact a reputable Colorado Springs lender and discuss your options.

December 10th, 2007 by Mariana Wagner | Leave A Comment

Selling Your Colorado Springs Home: How to Compete Against Desperate Sellers

The rise in recent foreclosures, both nationwide and in Colorado, has created a large group of home sellers in Colorado Springs that are desperate. These desperate Sellers offer a unique and serious impact on the Colorado Springs Real Estate Market and can be difficult to compete against.

Who Are Desperate Sellers?

These homeowners probably also have an adjustable rate mortgage, and have already fallen behind on their mortgage payments. Their lender is planning to foreclose on them, and so in order to save their already damaged credit from a foreclosure, they try to get their home sold. Often times these homeowners cannot get what they owe for the property and the bank winds up having to accept a short sale.

Desperate Sellers will do whatever it takes to get that home sold. They already messed up their credit and really have nothing to lose by accepting ANY offer that their bank will consider.

We work with Sellers in this situation quite often, and although it is A LOT of hard work, it is ten times as rewarding to get the home sold for them in the needed time frame. So, in addition to the desperation of the Sellers, a great listing Realtor® will be working VERY hard to market and SELL this home for their cleints as well.

How to Compete against a Desperate Seller (and their agent):

By just NOT being a pre-foreclosure, you will automatically get more interested buyers in your home. Many home buyers do not have the time nor patience to deal with the extended contract times that potential short-sales tend to bring. Not to mention the emotional turmoil that may ensue along the way. Financial problems are arguably the number one cause of divorce, and a pending foreclosure may be wrecking equal havoc on the Sellers’ lives. Many Buyers, when looking for a home for sale in Colorado Springs, are not looking to add additional stress to their lives by having to deal with severely desperate and emotional Sellers.

Also, a desperate seller, like a motivated one, is probably rather cash-strapped and will not be able to offer negotiations on terms (like paying closing costs) nor offer any help with inspection items. Make sure that your Colorado Springs Realtor® advertises all the incentives that you are willing to offer right up front. Two great incentives include:

• Offer to supply a One Year Home Warranty
• Pay for some/all of Buyers Closing Costs

Read Also: Colorado Springs Home Sellers: 5 Tips for Selling Your Home to First Time Home Buyers

Read More form this Series:
Selling Your Colorado Springs Home: How to Compete Against Motivated Sellers
Selling Your Colorado Springs Home: How to Compete Against Bank Owned Properties

December 7th, 2007 by Mariana Wagner | 1 Comment »

Selling Your Colorado Springs Home: How to Compete Against Motivated Sellers

When looking to sell your home in the local Colorado Springs real estate Market, you MUST know who your immediate competition is. The recent spike in foreclosures has created a surge in different types of home sellers – each with a uniquely different impact on the local real estate market.

Motivated Sellers are one of these types of competition that you, as a home seller in Colorado Springs, will need to be aware of. When a motivated seller is your competition, there are ways to effectively compete – even if your are not quite as motivated as they are.

Who are Motivated Sellers?

Motivated Sellers are homeowners in Colorado Springs who probably have an adjustable rate mortgage that is either about to adjust UP or has recently adjusted UP. These homeowners are not going to be able to afford the new payment (or are struggling to afford it already), as they have not seen an increase in pay, nor have they experienced a decrease in lifestyle that their lower payment afforded them. So, instead of risking foreclosure, they decide to put their Colorado Springs homes up for sale.

Read Also: Some Colorado Springs Homeowners May Be Able to Freeze Their Painful ARMs

Motivated Sellers are, well, motivated. They probably have decent credit and want to KEEP it decent by selling their home before they can no longer afford the payments. These sellers will aggressively market their home and are more likely to negotiate.

Motivated Sellers are the the most likely group of Sellers to get their home sold quickly, as they are not willing to “sit and wait” for the market to catch up with what they want to sell their Colorado Springs home for.

How to Compete against a Motivated Seller:

Chances are, motivated Sellers have not owned their home long enough to have enough equity to negotiate on price. Pricing your home effectively is your ace in the hole. Make sure your Colorado Springs Realtor® understands your neighborhood real estate market and can help you decide on a competitive asking price that will keep your home competitive – even with motivated seller competition.

Read More: Selling Your Colorado Springs Home: The Importance of Proper Pricing from Day One

Read More form this Series:
Selling Your Colorado Springs Home: How to Compete Against Desperate Sellers
Selling Your Colorado Springs Home: How to Compete Against Bank Owned Properties

December 7th, 2007 by Mariana Wagner | Leave A Comment

Colorado Now 8th in the Nation for Foreclosures

Colorado often gets targeted as #1 in Foreclosures, however we have not had that title in over 9 months, now.

Thanks to Nevada and their “1 in every 185 households” in some stage of foreclosure rate.  … and thanks to California and Florida, who have jumped ahead of Colorado in the past few months as well.

Colorado’s foreclosure rate is at 1 in every 253 households. This means that 1 out of every 253 households in in some stage of foreclosure- foreclosure filings: default notices, auction sale notices, and bank repossessions.

What about Top Metro Cities Foreclosure Rates?

Well, Denver makes an appearance at #6 with 23,842 filings which is 1 filing for every 42 households. However, that is the only city in Colorado that appears on the list of top 100 cities. (FYI: California had the most cities on this list.)

Colorado Springs was nowhere on this list. … We must be doing something right!

Posted By: Mariana Wagner – Colorado Springs Real Estate

October 15th, 2007 by Mariana Wagner | Leave A Comment