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Currently, what this law means is that a homeowner, who is already strapped and has found themselves in a position of losing or selling their home for less than their original loan amount, will still be required to pay taxes on that transaction. This law contradicts a federal law that excuses a great deal of homeowners from Federal taxes as a result of the same issues.

Considering the weak housing market, California State’s law continuing to require these taxes is somewhat unfair. Fortunately, the Legislature has been looking into changing this since last year. However, while the Legislature not only had passed a bill that would have alleviated homeowners of this nuisance as well as reflected other federal tax laws, Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill in 2009 due to disagreements with the other tax provisions that came with it. As of last month, Schwarzenegger vetoed another bill, SBX832, which also supported the tax exemption when it comes to mortgages.

This bill also included exemptions for energy companies responsible for researching renewable power resources that qualify for government stimulus grants and included a penalty of 20 percent for citizens who were found to be cheating on their taxes. When the bill was barely passed through the Senate due to the tax penalty, the Governor once again vetoed it.

Thankfully, here to usher in Tax Day, legislators passed SB401 last week, which finally aligns California with the federal government regarding the mortgage tax exemption. Not only will the state allow it to go into effect this year, but the Governor has agreed to sign it. This is a major victory for homeowners in the state of California. While some experts still claim that the recession is no longer, the housing market does not reflect this statement. Homeowners who are already finding themselves in pinched positions should never have to pay more penalties on top of their already unfortunate circumstances.

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• Delinquent loans have passed 10%, with the total rate (including foreclosures) at 13.3%.
• 7.2 million homeowners are behind on their payments. Almost 1 million of these properties are in REO status.
• The average number of days delinquent on these loans has risen from 249 to 406 days between 01/2008 and 12/2009. That’s a 63% increase.
• Prime loans have deteriorated at the worst rate compared to all other loans types as a whole. Prime loans with balances between $417,000 and $600,000 performed the worst.
• The “new” delinquency percentage, at 4.64%, is the highest it’s ever been in the same period during any other year.

It’s been said by many, including myself, that a major market correction was underway and nothing could be done to stop it. Not even the bailouts and other government interventions. If you are paying a mortgage on a house worth less than than what is owed, only a few things can happen. You keep making the payments, hoping the market will recover, or default on the loan. You can plead with your lender to find a solution to avoid foreclosure. Or, as is the case with so many homeowners, you will have to go to foreclosure.

Perhaps the lender is open to alternatives to foreclosure. Then you are left with two options. Stay in the house and workout a forbearance plan or Short Sale your house. Without a loan modification to reduce the mortgage to fair market value, it is nearly impossible to stay in the home. Most lenders don’t offer modification programs that would allow this, therefore the only option left is to form an agreement with the lender to allow you to move out and avoid foreclosure, which results in a Short Sale.

These Short Sales could be the solution to the foreclosure crisis, provided that investors have the knowledge to make these deals happen. According to foreclosure data from LPS Applied Analytics, more well trained Short Sale investors are desperately needed to match the increased number of foreclosures flooding the market today.

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For while big banks may have been saved from the danger of financial collapse, a lot of ordinary consumers find themselves on the brink of ruin. For those with too much month at the end of the money, much of which is caused by a mortgage burden that seems far too crushing for them to manage, the question is what to do to keep from being swept away by the financial tsunami. For some, the answer lies in seeking relief through federal foreclosure relief programs. Many others, however, have begun to recognize that these programs are no more attractive than their equivalents of years past, and instead are attempting something really radical – simply walking away from the original loan.

The problem is rather simple. Many people took out too much money, so now they find themselves drowning in a sea of debt. We referred to this earlier as a financial tsunami. Indeed, to many it might seem like a financial hurricane which, in its way, is now just as devastating to the pocketbooks of the average homeowner as Katrina was to New Orleans. And when they look around at federal relief programs, they find no life raft. Why? Because the unfortunate truth is that the majority of loan modifications end up making absolutely no dent in the loan amounts that were originally borrowed during the heyday of the boom years.

Accordingly, it seems that such homeowners are left with only three viable options: (a) Take a financial hit now and attempt to sell short; (b) Promulgate a so-called deed in lieu; or (c) allow their homes to be foreclosed. Rashmi Airan-Pace, a real estate attorney with the Coral Gables firm Airan, Airan-Pace and Crosa, which specializes in foreclosure defense, recently secured a loan modification for a client in Miami Beach which reduced his monthly payment from $3,700 to $1,600. Unfortunately, this amount reflected only a reduction in interest under the Home Affordable Modification Program, pursuant to which a consumer’s interest rate could be reduced to a seemingly paltry 2 percent. The homeowner, still owing $470,000 on property worth less than half that amount, called Ms. Airan-Pace and proclaimed his intent not to sign the agreement. The incident caused Airan-Pace to reflect: “What motivation is there for a homeowner to pay a mortgage that is three times more than the property is worth?” She further proclaimed: “Many homeowners feel that if they take a modification now, a decade down the road, they’ll still be coming to the closing table with money.”

With an eye toward helping consumers like Ms. Airan-Pace’s client, the Obama Administration passed a $75 billion program aimed at protecting them from foreclosure. Unfortunately, lenders who issued loans to homeowners during the golden years have been reluctant to reduce the principal amounts on these loans, creating a huge mess for the Administration.

In December, 2009, a report issued by the Treasury Department released just this past Friday indicated that only 26 percent of all the permanent loan modifications issued across the nation (about 17,280) included as part of the agreement a permanent reduction in the principal or, as likely as not, a temporary reduction that gets tacked on to the principal amount at the time the loan expires. And while there are hundreds of thousands of mortgages which are 60 days or more in default, only 66,465 permanent loan modifications, representing about 2 percent of those loans, were issued to borrowers as of December.

In Florida, only 8,405 loans were modified. Of course, the economic news could improve significantly this year, but a fair number of real estate experts don’t believe that making homes more affordable will have as positive an impact on the lives of troubled homeowners, let alone the economy, as might be hoped for, especially in states like California, where the real estate market took a severe beating. . As of the final quarter of 2009, a staggering percentage of all mortgages in California counties are in the soup according to analysts at Zillow.com. Right now, despite the current desire of many homeowners for loan modifications, Ms. Airan-Pace predicts that many others will shun modification plans that fail to reduce the principal debt.

Meg Reilly, a spokesperson for the United States Treasury Department, recently acknowledged that the number of “underwater” mortgages is a grave concern, especially in places like California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona. Unfortunately, however, resolution of the problem involves more than just a question of ordering banks to cut principal payments. Part of the dilemma involves questions of fairness. “If we increase principal write-downs offered through the program, there are concerns about moral hazard — underwater borrowers with affordable mortgages could engage in strategic default,” said Ms. Reilly, further explaining: “Increasing incentives for underwater borrowers to become delinquent could increase the cost of the program to taxpayers and risk slowing the housing recovery.”

Indeed, many analysts already fear that 2010 will see an onrush of new foreclosures as adjustable rate mortgages (ARMS) reset and savings accounts are drained by protracted unemployment. Analysts at RealtyTrac, a firm based in Irvine, California, have compiled a list of reasons why they predict an increase in the number of foreclosures in the course of 2010, and have added strategic defaults to that list. Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for the firm, recently opined: “In some ways, aside from the ethical and moral obligations, it makes sense.” But Ms. Airan-Pace believes it’s not just a moral issue confined to homeowners, as some of the responsibility for approving loans on overpriced properties belongs to the banks.

Take the situation of Kathryn and Douglas Lomax who, in 2005, took out a mortgage of $499,000 for their Royal Palm Beach home. Not five years later, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office, the market value on the property has fallen to $226,025. In an effort to keep their heads above water, the couple was granted a trial loan modification in May of 2009 after a cut in their monthly income caused by a reduction of work hours. The agreement reduced the interest rate to 2 percent and extended the loan agreement to 40 years. Seven months later, however, they are repeatedly sending paperwork to City Mortgage in an attempt to make the agreement permanent, all while default notices keep appearing on their credit reports. “We put $150,000 cash down when we bought,” explained Ms. Lomax, who does not want to lose the home. “To walk away from all that, I can’t even fathom it.” Several calls and emails later, and the couple has still received no satisfaction from City Mortgage.

Anthony DiMarco, executive vice president of government affairs for the Florida Bankers Association, says he is opposed to stalling tactics used by some lawyers to delay foreclosures, nor does he agree with strategic defaults, believing as he does that such stalls the admittedly difficult (though cleansing) process of moving foreclosures through the system and ends up costing lenders more money. Nonetheless, DiMarco admitted: “No one expected it to get as bad as it’s gotten. It’s like building an airplane while you’re flying.”

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The outlook for 2010 seems ominous as Bank commissioners and Attorney Generals from 14 states are warning that without a change of focus and a re-vamping of efforts by the Obama Administration, millions more Americans will lose their homes.

With mortgage principles skyrocketing ahead of actual homes values, many agree that the Obama Administration needs to switch the focus of its efforts from lowering interest rates, to lowering the actual principal on loans. Not lowering principles “threatens sustainability of loan modifications” says Mark Pearce North Carolina’s Deputy Banking Commissioner.

A report issued by state attorneys general and state banking regulators found that more than 70% of loan modifications resulted in an increase in the principal amount owed as unpaid interest, fees and other charges were rolled into the loan amount. Causing further pressures on homeowners, the treasury department admitted that complications arising from apparent paperwork issues have caused tensions to increase even further between angry homeowners and lending companies.

Despite these warnings, the Obama Administration has not announced any plans to modify or extend its program as of yet; which may mean 2010 will be remembered for it’s ever-increasing foreclosures.

Desperate homeowners scrambling to get a loan modification through federal foreclosure relief programs are beginning to shun the offer, opting for a strictly business approach to the dilemma — walking away.

Because the majority of modifications don’t reduce the principal payment on loans made during the overpriced boom years, underwater mortgages could still be drowning 10 years out.

The better option for those borrowers, some say, is to take the hit now and attempt a short sale, deed in lieu, or even allow their home to go into foreclosure.

“What motivation is there for a homeowner to pay a mortgage that is three times more than the property is worth?” said real estate attorney Rashmi Airan-Pace, whose Coral Gables firm Airan2, Airan-Pace and Crosa specializes in foreclosure defense.

Recently, Airan-Pace secured a modification for a Miami Beach client that shrank his monthly payment from $3,700 to $1,600. But it was only a reduction in interest rate — allowed by the Home Affordable Modification Program to go as low as 2 percent.

“I called him in and he said, ‘I’m not signing this,’ ” Airan-Pace recalled.

He owed $470,000 on a property worth less than half that.
“Many homeowners feel that if they take a modification now, a decade down the road, they’ll still be coming to the closing table with money,” Airan-Pace said.

Lenders’ reluctance to reduce principal amounts on loans made during the overpriced boom years is a problem for the Obama administration’s $75 billion program to protect homeowners from foreclosure.

The Treasury Department’s December report on the program, released Friday, showed that just 17,280, or 26 percent, of permanent modifications awarded nationwide included either a reduction in principal or, more likely, a temporary reduction that is tacked on at the end of the life of the loan.

Through December, 66,465 permanent modifications had been awarded and accepted by the borrower through the program. But that’s still just 2 percent of the total number of eligible loans that are 60 days or more in default.

Just 8,405 loans in Florida received a permanent modification.

Even if the numbers improve, some real estate experts aren’t optimistic that Making Home Affordable will save troubled borrowers or the economy, especially in such hard-hit states as Florida where home values took epic plummets.

With 46 percent of mortgages in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties upside down in the third quarter of 2009, according to analysts at Zillow.com, Airan-Pace predicts more homeowners will snub modification plans that don’t cut principal payments.

That’s a departure from the current clamor to receive a modification.

The Treasury Department acknowledges that in states such as Florida, Nevada and Arizona the number of underwater mortgages is a “serious policy concern,” said Treasury spokeswoman Meg Reilly.

But it’s a more complicated issue than simply ordering banks to cut principal payments. There’s a fairness question, too.

“If we increase principal write-downs offered through the program, there are concerns about moral hazard — underwater borrowers with affordable mortgages could engage in strategic default,” Reilly said. “Increasing incentives for underwater borrowers to become delinquent could increase the cost of the program to taxpayers and risk slowing the housing recovery.”

There is already a fear that 2010 will bring a rush of new foreclosures as adjustable-rate mortgages reset and unemployment drains savings accounts.
Real estate analysts at Irvine, Calif.-based ¬RealtyTrac added strat¬egic defaults to their list last week of reasons why they predict a foreclosure increase in 2010.

“In some ways, aside from the ethical and moral obligations, it makes sense,” said Realty¬Trac spokesman Daren Blomquist.

Airan-Pace argues it’s not a moral issue just for the homeowner. The banks, she said, need to accept responsibility for approving loans on overpriced properties.

Kathryn and Douglas Lomax paid $499,000 for their Royal Palm Beach home in July 2005.

The market value today is $226,025, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office.

The couple were granted a trial loan modification in May after a reduction in work hours cut their monthly income. The modification reduced their interest rate to 2 percent and extended the loan to 40 years.

But seven months later they’re still trying to make the payment permanent, saying they’re repeatedly sending the same paperwork to CitiMortgage while suffering default notices posted to their credit reports.

“We put $150,000 cash down when we bought,” said Kathryn Lomax, who doesn’t want to lose the home. “To walk away from all that, I can’t even fathom it.”

Calls and e-mails to CitiMortgage were not returned.

Anthony DiMarco, executive vice president of government affairs for the Florida Bankers Association, said he doesn’t agree with stalling tactics used by some lawyers to delay foreclosures, or with strategic defaults.

Both cost the lenders more and stall the difficult, but cleansing, process of moving foreclosures through the system.

“No one expected it to get as bad as it’s gotten,” DiMarco said. “It’s like building an airplane while you’re flying.”

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Four steps were proposed by the FHA: -Increase the mortgage insurance premium (MIP). -Update the combination of FICO scores and down payments for new borrowers. -Reduce seller concessions to three percent, from six percent. -Implement a series of significant measures aimed at increasing lender enforcement. Shaun Donovan, who is the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary, previewed the changes last December. He noted that the FHA would announce more details before the end of the month of January.

“Striking the right balance between managing the FHA’s risk, continuing to provide access to underserved communities, and supporting the nation’s economic recovery is critically important. When combined with the risk management measures announced in September of last year, these changes are among the most significant steps to address risk in the agency’s history. Additionally, by continuing to provide affordable, responsible mortgage products, FHA will support the housing market’s recovery. Importantly, FHA will remain the largest source of home purchase financing for underserved communities.” This was said by Commissoner Stevens.

The Announced Policy Changes:

1. Mortgage insurance premium (MIP) will be increased to build up capital reserves and bring back private lending.

The number one step is to raise the MIP. It will be raised by 50 bps to 2.25%. It will also request legislative authority to increase that maximum of MIP that the FHA is allowed to charge. If this can be enacted, then there will be a second step. This will be to shift some of the premium to the annual MIP, which will be taken from the up-front MIP. Doing this will increase the capital reserves and won’t impact comsumers as much. This is because the annual MIP isn’t paid at the time of closing. It is actually paid over the life of the loan. The initial increase of the up-front is in a Mortgagee Letter. The letter was released January 21st and will be effective in the spring of this year.

2. Update the combination of FICO scores and down payments for new borrowers.

You need at least a minimum FICO score of 580. This will allow you to qualify for a 3.5% down payment program, created by the FHA. However, if your FICO score is lower than 580, you will be required to put down at least 10%. The FHA does this to balance its risk more effectively. It will also help to those who have performed well in the past. This change will be posted in February. It will be in the Federal Register and will go in effect in the summer of this year.

3. Reduce allowable seller concessions from 6% to 3%.

The FHA is creating incentives to inflate appraised value. They are doing so because of the current level. It exposes the FHA to the excessive risk. This change allows the FHA to conform with the other industries and their standards on the issue on seller concessions. Like the change previously, it will be in the Federal Register in the month of February. It will go into effect in the summer of this year.

4. Increase enforcement on FHA lenders.

On February 1st, there will be a public report with lender performance rankings. It is to complement currently available Neighborhood Watch data. It will be available on the HUD website. This change is operational and it makes the information more user-friendly. It also hold lender more accountable. This does not require new regulatory action, because Neighborhood Watch and its date are more available to the public than before. With the FHA guidelines and standards, it enhances monotoring of lender performance and compliance. In addition to originating ID, the Implement Credit Watch is terminated through lender underwriting ID. In a Mortagagee Letter, the change is included. The letter was released January 21st. It became effective immediately.

• Section 256 of the National Housing Act, which implements statutory authority through the regulation of this, enforces indemnification provisions for lender. It used a delegated insuring process. The specifications will be posted in March and then, because of a notice and comment period, will go into effect in the early summer of this year. HUD wants to increase enforcement on FHA lenders by pursuing legislative authority. Here is what the specific authority includes: * Amendment of section 256 of the National Housing Act to apply indemnification provisions to all Direct Endorsement lenders. This would require all approved mortgagees to assume liability for all of the loans that they originate and underwrite.
• Legislative authority permitting HUD maximum flexibility to establish separate “areas” for purposes of review and termination under the Credit Watch initiative. This would provide authority to withdraw originating and underwriting approval for a lender nationwide on the basis of the performance of its regional branches

Ultimately, the FHA is continuing to review its overall response. This response to the issues of housing market conditions and continuing to evaluate its mortgage insurance underwriting standards helps the distressed and underwater borrowers. It helps the borrowers through the FHA/HAMP and other FHA initiative. All this is going forward and will hopefully create a huge impact on the ways of housing.

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I find Twitter to be a HUGE leverage point for young entrepreneurs to build instant credibility.  By using Twitter, I have found business partners, constantly get sent tons of free stuff (books, cd’s, food, etc.), made money, drove tons of traffic to my blog, been invited to private parties, met my idol, been on radio and TV shows and the list goes on and on. The only reason if you believe Twitter does not work, is if you don’t work. Plain and simple.  You must have a reason to be on it in the first place or you will end up like a lost child in a theme park.

The big three sites I use include Twitter, Facebook and a Wordpess Blog.  The first two serve as giant funnels that drive traffic to your home base (your blog).  You purpose of being on these social networks should be to increase your value to the world and gain people’s trust in your brand.  In doing this the right way, you will drive many visitors to your blog and there you can continue to serve them with value until the are so stuffed to the point they feel like they have and want to pay you for your product or service.  On your blog you can have advertisements to your products or services or use a list building strategy.

But, back to Tweeting…we are using it for business, right?  These days, business is personal.  The more authentic you remain and stay true to yourself, the more success you will have in this space.  Feel free to share interesting things about yourself and talk about the things that you love.  You don’t have to wear a mask here.  To help get your Twitter game off the ground, I compiled a list of common tweaks I often tell people to make to improve their online brand.

Name, Please!

Don’t you hate having to send someone a message or email and having to address it “Hey @JonasFan1992.”  Scott Ginsburg is on a mission to have everyone in the world wear a nametag.  He even has his tattooed on his chest.  Imagine how friendlier of a place this would be.  You can use Twitter as a giant nametag to get your name out there and this actually allows people to be more friendly with you.  When you don’t use your real name, it feels like you are trying to take on some mystery persona.  People won’t feel the same connection with you.

Be Cautious With Automatic Tweets

You’re too lazy to find good content and share it, I get it.  What did you do before Twitter?  Most that use a twitterfeed just abuse it and if it hurts your brand, why would you want to do it anyways?  Everyone is trying to take shortcuts to replace hard work.  Automation is great, but it is still automatic.  You are not going to build a connection with a robot.  A Twitter feed should be used for two purposes.  One is to automatically post your new blog posts to your account.  Two would to be auto post someone’s blog posts in your inner circle that you would repost anyways.  That could be a business partner or similar.  If you think setting up a Twitter feed on Mashable is going to get you anywhere in building your brand, you are nuts.  Stop being so lazy.  You can alternatively hand select content for your twitter feed which can be an acceptable option.  You can tell people are running automated accounts if you look at a profile and see a series of tweets from twitterfeed.

Profile Picture

5 seconds.  You have 5 seconds to make a good first impression.  Is it going to be your favorite football team, a picture of your family, your dog, your company logo or Barack Obama?  How about just a picture of you?  And not one with you and some business leader that 99% people on Twitter don’t know.  I know you are excited about meeting them, but that is a recipe for confusion.  Crop a nice clean closeup head shot or torso shot so people can see the expressions on your face.  They can reveal a lot about you.  Another tip, if you ever plan on meeting people outside of your home…put a picture up that actually looks like you, not some photoshopped piece or something from the 90’s.  The last thing you want is people to meet you in person and be shocked about how you really look.  That could get quite uncomfortable.

Get Listed on Twitter Lists

In my honest opinion, Twitter lists are the new measure of influence and effectiveness on Twitter.  Someone has to actually go to your profile and add you to a list of their choice. That means you are doing something good.  Unless you are listed on someones “spammer” list.  First, organize your tweeps into lists.  Then you just want to be as fascinating as possible for people to list you.  Tweet about links, resources, quotes, articles and retweeting other people.  Spend the majority of your time interacting with other people.  Complement and comment.  It’s simple.  Those 20,000 followers that all those spammers hoarded just completely went out the window.  If you can see that they are not on anyones list, they have no popularity.  Game over for now spammers.  Look at the picture below.  Who has more influence?

Write a Catchy Bio

Think about Twitter as a giant personal billboard when you can informally meet thousands of new contacts in a short period of time and decide if you want to do business with each other.  It’s kind of like speed dating for business.  You bio is a chance for you to use your creativity to sell people on you and position yourself however you want.  You want to use powerful, magnetic, bold words here.  Something like “Aspiring Entrepreneur” can be replaced with “Passionate” or “Zaney Entrepreneur.”  You are exactly what you say you are.  If you always believe you are an aspiring entrepreneur, when will you ever become one?  Entrepreneurship is a state of mind.  You don’t have to build a million dollar business for you to call yourself one.  Also, don’t forget to capitalize all the main words in you bio.  A little internet marketing trick to make them stand out more.

It’s In Your Backyard

I never even knew how to use that latitude longitude thing that automatically updates your Twitter location.  Remember this appears as jargon to most people on Twitter.  If you are from a small town, roll with the next biggest city nearby.  Put your city and state.  You want to make yourself discoverable, right?  This will help you build connections in your local area.  Many times I see young entrepreneurs start by trying to creating a worldwide influence.  Just start in your backyard.  These are going to be your biggest fans!

Don’t Link to Sales Pages

Instant credibility buster.  There is no need to link to a sales page.  No one is going to buy from it.  Just save yourself the embarrassment.  I say this because even if you make like one or two sales on your product or service, is that few bucks worth being know as the guy or girl always trying to sell you stuff?  People buy from people they know, like and trust.  You must create a safe zone around your social media funnel if you ever want to move serious volume of your product or service.  And if all you have is a business opportunity website, still don’t link to it.  Link to your Facebook account or to another social networking profile.

Remove the “www.”

Take out the “www.” on you website.  You want people to remember it right?  So why you trying to hide it?  The “www.” removes four characters from the website name.  You may be missing out on some free branding.  This can be huge, especially for personal brands.  The first thing many people look at to see if your are legit is your website.  And you score big points with me if you have a personal blog.  When people see your name and look down at your website and it is congruent, it gives your credibility that you are a serious entrepreneur and not some spammer that is linking to some sales page.   Also, if you have multiple words in your website, capitalize the first letter of each.  Sometimes the words can run together and this will help distinguish them.

Share Photos

If you are not taking advantage of photo sharing on Twitter, you can be missing out on some serious traffic.  It just so happens to be that Twitpic is retweeted more than Mashable.  With having this set up on your mobile phone, you have the ability to share your life with people everywhere you go.  Imagine a photographer traveling without their camera.  There will be things that come up in your life that you would love to share with people.  Take and share pictures of people you meet, food you eat and places you go.  You are more fascinating that you think.  Why do you think reality TV is so popular?  There are several photo sharing sites you can use for free, so pick one that works best for you.

Brand Your Background

This one couldn’t be more self explanatory.  It  is like having a good business card.  People that get the free ones from Vistaprint, you really just can’t take seriously.  If you were going to spend money anywhere online, I would suggest you spend it on a Twitter background and blog design.  Look, it does not have to be anything spectacular.  Just have something to call you own.  It will make you stand out big time.  You can even create one yourself with a cool font and a nice picture.  That’s all you really need.

Bonus Tip: Don’t Protect Your Tweets!

It defeats the whole purpose of Twitter.  It is for people who just want to be connected to a small group of friends.  It is like going to a networking event and standing in the bathroom and locking the door.  You want to be discoverable.  You want to be found.

What “Twitter tweaks” do you know that can instantly improve your brand?

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Reason #1

Every state has different regulations on credit ratings, but you can usually expect an 80 to 100 point decrease in your credit score from a short sale. The actual point drop may differ, depending upon other things that also affecting the credit score. By contrast, a foreclosure typically leads to a drop in your credit score of more than 250 points! Thus, even if you start off with an excellent 800 point credit score, a foreclosure can leave you with a score of a very low score of 550 points that makes a new home loan a hopeless cause.

Reason #2

The biggest difference between a foreclosure and short sale is that a short sale allows the borrower to purchase a new property soon after, so long as he/she misses no mortgage payments, has signed no promissory note, and has not had a deficiency judgment passed against him/her. Even if the borrower has had one these things occur, he/she still has the freedom to buy another home within two years. The foreclosure, however, would typically require the borrower to wait about 5 to 7 years before applying for a new mortgage. After a foreclosure, the borrowing terms for the new mortgage will likely be tighter as well.

Reason #3

Another big disadvantage to a foreclosure is that this always carries a deficiency judgment, while a deficiency judgment is rare for a short sale in which the lender agrees to solve the debt jointly. The lender (i.e., bank) does not have to acquire the property in a short sale. Rather, the borrower is selling to a buyer at a cost below the loan value.

Ultimately, each borrower and lender must resolve whether property will be foreclosed or sold short. But, you, as the borrower should consider the short sale advantages to your credit and to your ability to purchase another home in a reasonable time frame.

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Who Are You and What Is Your Story?

You will find lasting success in social media if and only if…you are authentic and you have a great story to tell. So before you start your social media journey make a promise to yourself.

One: Always be authentic. Never shove information down your follower’s throats…just assume they don’t eat SPAM.

Two: Focus on adding value to your community. Everyone has a story that is worth telling. That may sound cliché but it’s true. You may not be the CEO of your company but you can bet that there is someone out there that would love to hear how you got your job! Focus on giving out great content, links, advice, and help and watch your community grow!

Set Up Home Base

Without a home base your social media efforts will equate to trying to fill a water bottle with a fire hose. You will push out great content with nowhere to funnel your followers to. So create your own personal branded WordPress blog and create a clear-cut focus around your personal interest or expertise. Make sure to direct everything back to home base. From your Twitter account to your blog comments everything should be pointed back to your blog where people who show interest in what you do or say find out how interesting you really are.

Use The Big Guns: Engage on Facebook and Twitter

Public is the new default! Millions of people have access to most of your media on the web. Instead of fighting Mark Zuckerberg and the rest of the social web on this embrace it, better yet engage!

Facebook will give you the opportunity to tap into much of your personal network. Many feel like Facebook is for your friends that don’t want to be marketed to. Instead you can look at it as a platform where you can share your interests and passions with your friends (blog links, videos, quotes). Most likely your friends will like what you have to say and be eager to spread your message through Facebook.

Twitter is a whole new world. A world in which the question “What’s Happening?” has opened up an incredible amount of unforeseen opportunities. Out of the social web, Twitter is arguably the best tool that facilitates conversations between people. Twitter is almost completely open, meaning you can ignite a conversation with anyone from Ashton Kutcher to Joe the Plumber. Use Twitter to your full advantage by showcasing your web personality. For example, since you’re a young entrepreneur, following young entrepreneurs will help you connect with the audience you want to engage. Start tweeting some quality links, photos, insights and most importantly @tweet interesting people and start conversations.

Put on Your Suit and Tie

Professional social networks like Linkedin and Brazen Careerist can give you all types of exposure to more professional networks. By establishing your professional prowess on these networks you can dive into unfiltered business engagements (hard to do on Facebook and Twitter). One great feature is that you can cross promote your social media accounts by linking up your Twitter with these websites. Last but not least, make sure to link up your blog to your professional profiles (Brazen might even feature your blog posts).

Flip Yourself

That may have come off wrong. What I mean is that broadcasting yourself through entertaining and educational videos can go far beyond text. Regular blog posts can capture only so much. The more you record yourself on video the more access your community has to your real personality and passions. This can be a huge asset in building your personal brand. Start uploading you videos to YouTube or Vimeo and embed those videos back on your blog. If you are not too bad on the eyes and give good video content, you may become the next iJustine or Gary V!

Blog Simple Blog Communal

Platforms like Tumblr and Posterous are somewhat of new comers to the game but extremely powerful tools. Tumblr focuses on community blogging and can spread content through the social sphere with little effort. Essential Tumblr is a Twitter without a 140 character cap. When it comes to Posterous the ease of use is ridiculous! Just send an email to post@posterous.com and before you know it you have yourself a blog post which can be syndicated on your Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube accounts and much more!

Conclusion

Creating a systematized approach with social media tools can be one of the most rewarding and straight forwards things your can do to cultivate your personal brand. Don’t over indulge in the technology behind the tools; instead know who you are, know how you want to tell the world, leverage the most important social media platforms and link everything back to your blog. And never forget to be yourself and share your passion!

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The Treasury Department is offering incentives equivalent to $1,000 per completed short sale in order to encourage servicers to accept a short sale. The secondary lien holders including other junior lien holders will be paid up to $3,000 out of the short sale proceeds provided that the primary investor is ready to share the earnings and for that the government will also pay the primary lien holder up to the amount of $1,000.

According to the program chalked out, the Sellers/Homeowners will get up to $1,500 so as to help the seller in relocating and the seller/homeowner would become completely free from any liability arising in the future. The program of the Treasury named as “Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program” (HAFA) which was announced back in May 2009, but the Treasury has taken several months to put into effect the final plan of the program.

Before moving with a foreclosure, the borrower has to be considered first for the short sale program HAFA which then the servicer is to get an independent value of the property and also requires the servicer to get the lender to respond to a Short Sale Offer within a maximum period of 10 days.

For real estate agents there is more good news for them and it is not a big surprise; the reason being that these real estate agents are a well organized lobby. The HAFA program puts a restrain on the servicers whereby the servicers would not be able to force the real estate agents and the brokering firms to reduce their commissions as a pre-condition to the approval of the short sale.

The HAFA program also urges that the properties must be listed before the short sale is approved thereof. However, there is “bad news” for the real estate investors. Under the HAFA program, a Short Sale Agreement must put a restriction in order to prevent the buyer not to sell the property within duration of 90 days, to be calculated from the date when the deal is finalized fully. The big question here arises that is this going to be the end for the short sale investors. It will become undoubtedly a big topic of discussion within the investor world, but it must not be forgot that the HAFA guidelines don’t conform to all of the short sales and lenders have been and will continue to do short sales outside the of the HAFA program.

As it has said by me time and again that a house can “solve its own problem” by simply being enlisted with a qualified agent since the investor is not adding to the value of the transaction, the investor should not be involved in the process, in any manner, whatsoever.

It appears that the HAFA program may make the process smoother for those short sales that can and should be approved directly from the borrower to an end user purchaser, especially when a real estate agent is competent enough to handle everything himself. This will result into a good thing for the overall health of the economy and also for the future of the investors in the property market; thereby improving the overall stability the real estate market and our country.

There will continue to be millions of potential short sales that don’t conform to the guidelines and/or will not be able to “fix themselves” without the involvement of a qualified investor, a move which may take us back to the days of old. Wherever there is a possibility that an investor can add to the value, contribute and help in the finalization of the deals that otherwise would not be possible without taking into account their help, a plenty of opportunities will continue to be there before them.

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