A Broker Price Opinion or BPO is used to establish the value of a piece of real estate (ie. a house) quickly and inexpensively. BPO’s are predominantly used during a foreclosure process when an offer of a short sale is in the making. Lender mitigation departments are dealing now with a ton of short sale [...]

An avid reader of The Mortgage Insider alerted my attention to a petition home owners seeking loan modifications can use to voice their frustrations with America’s foot-dragging lenders. I can surely empathize with home owners facing foreclosure in that they were told by the Obama administration at the beginning of the year, Obama’s Plan would [...]

Mortgage cramdowns or the ability for a bankruptcy judge to modify the terms of a mortgage, was included in a bill (H.R. 1106 - “Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009″) passed by the House recently. There is a lot in this bill besides cramdowns, so I thought it deserved a look. Mortgage Cramdowns [...]

Here’s the question…then the answer. “We, the buyers, signed a purchase agreement with a Realtor/seller two days before the seller’s bank bought home at a foreclosure auction. Are we still bound to the original purchase price agreement we signed with the Realtor/seller? We are still interested in the property, can we make another lower offer [...]

Just because you have defaulted on a mortgage does not mean you have to foreclose. If you have the money to cure your default, you can prevent a foreclosure and get back on track. Cure Mortgage Default Definition To cure a mortgage in default is to pay all the back payments, interest, and legal fees [...]

A notice of default or NOD is filed by the lender in the county where the property resides stating the borrower has not made the mortgage payments. The NOD has the amount past due, all legal fees incurred, and the date by which the borrower has to pay these. If the borrower does not pay [...]

I’ll reprint the question before answering.. “What happens to an IRS and State income tax liens and the real estate tax lien when the first mortgage company forecloses” Superior Liens & Foreclosure When it comes to understanding how liens are satisfied or expired at foreclosure, you must understand liens are ranked by time (ie. when [...]

Sure. Help yourself! Non citizens buy US real estate all the time, including foreclosure homes. Private parties buy usually as second or vacation homes. Florida has a big constituency of non-citizen home owners. There are even non-citizen mortgage programs. These mortgage programs are called “foreign national” loans. They require a hefty down payment and a [...]

Home price declines are now so severe they have erased all home equity for more Americans than ever before. Home equity numbers have been recorded starting at the end of World War II and are now at there lowest level in history. For many home owners, their mortgage debt actually exceeds their home’s value…what is [...]