REAL Talk with ROBERT ALDANA

The TRUTH About Foreclosures - Why Families are being locked out of this opportunity

Today, foreclosures are on the rise and more people will lose their home this year and for a few more years to come if lenders keep giving band-aid loan modifications of 1-2 years.

This brings up another issue; Homes that are being foreclosed on are selling at tremendous prices which means a lot of opportunity is out there, yet it is not reaching those who should be able to take advantage of these opportunities. Why? Because they are being sold to investors who are coming in and paying cash or buying with large down-payments and turning these properties into rentals which eventually drives property values down. What's even sadder is all the families who want to be homeowners but can't because they can't compete with investors who have big pockets. But these big pockets are not getting lenders more dollars, they are just closing quicker and getting the loans off the lender's books faster. It is common knowledge in the industry that investors can buy a property for much less than a family who wants to buy a property as a primary residence because they have cash or large downpayments.

Think that lenders care about you? Think again. There has to be a solution for this by putting a limit on how many REO properties can be sold to investors. This would mean that lenders still get true value for their properties, only these properties are now going to proud homeowners who will care for and maintain their home while realizing the American Dream and maintaining property values which helps everyone in the long run.

OK, could it get any better? How about THIS one?!

Yesterday we just signed off on a client who came in about 2 months ago struggling to make their payment of $2,799 plus taxes and insurance. Their rate was 7.5%. So guess what we did?!

Oh, My.... How about this one?

OK, here is one for the ages. Client has a four-plex with a loan of $599,181 and a monthly payment of $5,186. They are receiving $4,788 per month in rents so they have a negative of $398 which isn't bad, except with these tough times every dollar is tight.

We just negotiated a principle reduction of $119,422 and a new payment of $2,050. So with the monthly rent they receive of $4,788 per month, they are now making $2,738 by keeping their property. This is an investment property with no late payments. Almost to good to believe, huh? Well, believe it!

When members of the police department visit us to help them with their modifications and members of the real estate industry do the same and send us their clients, that HAS to say something.

I love my job! Not always, because sometimes it can be tough, but at the end of the day I LOVE my job!

New foreclosure rules to start Monday

Here is an article worth reading that addresses the efforts being made by Government to curb the foreclosure mess we are in, click here to read it.

It all sounds good, but will this one work? I applaud the Government for wanting to do something, because I know that they want this to end, but doesn't it seem like every month a new Government program is coming out to help with this crisis that starts with a lot of excitement and anticipation only to lead to another failure with banks really not participating?

Time to play hardball. Plain and simple, lenders have to be more accountable. They need to stop giving everyone lip service and start really being part of the solution. Right now they continue to be part of the problem and this has to stop.

Come Join Me for Lunch & Let's Talk About Short Sales & Mods

This coming week, on Wednesday, June 17th, 11am-1pm I will be speaking for one of my favorite organizations, The Women's Council of REALTORS in San Jose at the Santa Clara County Association of REALTORS' Training Room on the topics of Short Sales and Loan Modifications. Should be a good one! If you are interested in attending, please contact the following individuals:

2 MORE Awesome Mods, great way to start the week!

JUST IN TODAY, 2 MORE - Just got a mod approval with $1,500 monthly savings and almost $100,000 principle reduction AND another one with about a $2,500 monthly savings! To date we have saved families approximately $1,500,000 in payment savings alone. Find me another company that does HALF as many loan modification approvals than HRCS in Northern California....

Gotta love it!

OK, time for accountability on EVERYONE'S part

OK, it is time for EVERYONE to be accountable. This includes consumers. Here is one for the ages.

A few months ago a client came to us for a loan modification. After a couple of months or so we negotiated a good loan modification and like all loan mods, the lender was to send the documents straight to the client for signatures. Well, once the mod was approved, we called the client to let them know that the documentation was on its way in the mail but for some reason, the client would not return our call.

Perfect Example of how much of a mess lenders are....

Here is a perfect example of how much of a mess that lenders are:

About 30 days ago we started doing a loan modification for one of our clients who had a loan with Washington Mutual, WAMU. After about 2 weeks into the process, they received a letter from WAMU acknowledging that HRCS (my company) had contacted them and was attempting to negotiate a loan modification and just wanted to make sure that the client knew about it.

Who's Scamming Who?!

In this market there are a lot of desperate people seeking help and just as much scammers coming out of the woods looking for someone to take advantage of. I thought I had seen it all, but unfortunately everyday I see and hear about something lower than the latest scam as if there was a contest to see who can scam who the fastest and easiest?

The latest scam involves the actual lenders themselves who contact borrowers....