All Forum Posts by: Scott Hubbard

I disagree with this statement... Assignments are common to many kinds of paper chattel transfers. As long as disclosure is made and parties agree to it, then there should be no problem.

Nicole-

Assuming you already opened escrow, your end-buyer should be using your title/escrow company as a contingency to your contract. As part of the double close, the title company will offer your end-buyer title insurance. This should evidence clear title enough. If not, he can use his trusted title company to do their own title work at his expense.

If you have not yet opened escrow, you can consider using his title company. I will do this for certain end-buyer's as it helps them expedite the process.

However, once you have opened escrow, flipping escrow/title company's can be problematic. You want to offer the title company your working with consistent business to establish a positive reputation. The more business you offer them, the better service and more resources they will provide to you.

Good Luck!

If the note requirement is for repayment of deficiency (loss) on the mortgage's principal, then you can certainly try to negotiate. However, when they give an ultimatum such as the one stated above, I recommend you come at them with something like an attorney's recommendation against signing a note, a copy of anti-deficiency statutes (if applicable), a letter reaffirming that your hardship will not allow you to afford the note payment, etc. A verbal "I cannot pay this" is usually not enough.

Most lender's these days will not ask for a note and personal guaranty unless they believe you can afford the payment. If this is true, then your classified as a strategic default and they will be merciless.

If this is you, then you need to ask yourself, which is better, pay a little now and sign the note, or pay a lot more later by staying in your home for 10 years or more.

If you truly cannot afford it, then perhaps you have not detailed all of your financial obligations and they may not have you classified incorrectly. Then, have them re-evaluate your budget by submitting a revision and ask them to adjust their numbers.

Good Luck!

Having a mortgage insurer (MI) can be a tough obstacle to overcome. Simply put, the MI company has to approve the short sale because the lender wants to receive a payout of its losses. Also, generally speaking, MI is not considered a mortgage and can be collected post-foreclosure even in anti-deficiency states.

Problems with mortgages with MI.

1. As an investor needing a discount to market value, whenever an MI company in play, your discount may actually cause the seller a larger deficiency for them to repay.

2. Generally they are recourse and will pursue the seller/borrower after foreclosure.

3. MI companies will fight very hard to get the seller/borrower to sign a promissory note. You can on occasion get them to drop the amount, but rarely will they forgo a note.

In my opinion, it is imperative you speak to a seller to screen against MI policies. Ask them for a mortgage statement or question them directly about mortgage insurance. If they have it, then you may want to reconsider unless they are willing and motivated to settle with the MI company.

I, too, believe that you will need separate scoring systems in place. One system to keep track of participation and another for expertise.

Both systems should support quality not quantity. Let's face it, quality is what we are after because junk postings only contribute to server load and slow down this site's performance. Also, quality is what drives membership and participation.

Expertise:

I believe it is extremely important to focus on quality of topics and posts. For this, perhaps Josh can establish two separate equations, one for original topic quality and another for response or post quality. One single vote is allowed per topic per member on each the quality of the original topic and quality of responses.

Also, the higher the quality the original topic scored by members the more points the original poster will get, the best response posts overall points should be increased as well. Contrarily, the lower the quality of the post, the lower the points to the original topic poster and best response post.

Forums should be weighted. The forums with the most activity should also be weighted differently in the valuation of points.

Scoring system:

Original topic valuation can be based on a rating system. Perhaps 1 to 5 or 1 to 10 or whichever is user friendly.

Best post (response) should be based on a voting basis. Each member can vote once per topic and the top vote getter should be awarded the most points.

You can also award more points to the top post responses on topic which score high on topic quality.

Participation: Should also be a point system and anytime a member votes, posts, add files, blogs, etc. They should also receive participation points. Kind of like the influence scoring is done now. You can use a time factor, where points will be lost if the member's participation drops.

I, for one, believe that members should feel that they can come here and post as little or as much as they want. I wish I could send more time on this site and post as frequently as others, but I can't so I try to focus on quality instead. However, quality of posts is the ugly red headed step- child of the current influence system.

Josh, this site is great and if you do nothing to fix the current system, it will still be great in my opinion. But, I am very happy to see that you looking to improve, which, in the end, is why I expect this site to stay number 1!

I am a big supporter of AZREIA and belong to some independent local RE groups. I have been able to capitalize on my time spent at meetings and believe it is well worth the investment.

I agree with the others, you have failed to set expectations. Set some guidelines and benchmarks. If he continues on his path, then find another REALTOR.

Another point here is why hire your competition to buy and sell properties? Talk about letting the fox guard the hen house. At the very least, your pushing the envelope of a good fiduciary by allowing him to compete and perform. In my opinion, if he is working harder to sell his properties than yours, he is in violation of his fiduciary responsibility to you.

It is no different than a stock broker selling his shares in a company first, then calling his clients to sell also.

Are there not any non-investor agents to work with?

1. Consider this, why would you go through that? You can put whatever square footage you want on the listing. Personally, I would call an appraiser, to make sure he agrees with your findings. If the appraisal report supports your findings then use that as your source for the square footage listed in the MLS.

2. Eventually, the buyer's appraiser will make an independent determination of the square footage too, so you do not necessarily need to get it corrected with the county tax assessor since appraisers do not rely on their information anyway.

3. Filing a correction with the tax appraiser will mean higher property taxes for your buyer. This is a value add in my book especially if the buyer is seeking financing.

4. Someone may be responsible for lost property taxes and it may be you. A stupid move and a risk not worth taking in my book. Let the next buyer worry about that.

If you have read the above and still want to proceed, then go down to your county assessor's office with an appraisal report in hand and a blank check for applicable back taxes.

Good Luck!

That is one side of the coin and, while playing devils advocate, I would say that the foreclosure ball started rolling prior to the listing agent's involvement. Thus, proving damages beyond that which is tangible could prove very difficult.

If the seller can prove the agent also coerced her to stop payment which then led her down the slippery slope she is now, then this would be a huge bonus.

So, I agree with Jon, that this case, without some overriding cause, will be just about awarding tangible losses.