How do I pick a Mortgage Lender in Portland?

There are three basic choices when you are ready to find a lender for your Portland home.

1. Brick and Mortar bank: This refers to a Wells Fargo, US Bank, Chase, etc. that has a local presence and services the public’s checking and savings and well as many of their loan options.

2. Credit Union: Similar to a brick and mortar bank, these banks provide all encompassing financial services, but they are non-profit institutions and tend to provide a higher rate of return for their members (instead of their stockholders).

3. Direct Lending Mortgage Company: These companies focus exclusively on real estate lending. They often have a physical location, but not necessarily (like Quicken Loans). They also fund their own loans.

Advantages and Disadvantages:

Brick and Mortar: No advantage outside of the fact you may already be banking there. Generally speaking the customer service and rates are comparatively poor.

Credit Union: Because they have a personal relationship with their members, sometimes credit unions can offer better loans than anyone else. However, the customer service is generally poor. I’ve missed a lot of closing dates because the credit union couldn’t service the loan fast enough. They have small lending departments and often are overwhelmed and understaffed.

Direct Lending Mortgage Company: This option receives my highest recommendation. Not only do they have the most loan options, they often have the best. On top of this, they tend to provide the highest level of customer service, something that is very important when the closing date (and your loan rate-lock) is on the line.

I’d be happy to recommend a Portland lender to you today. I’ve built a number of powerful customer service relationships to assist me in providing the best possible customer service for all my clients. Let me know if I can help.

This is a serious question for many Portland Oregon home owners who are underwater in their mortgages: Should I Short Sale my Home or Try for a Home Loan Modification? For your consideration, I will tell you a common and very sad experience I have regarding folks who try for Portland home loan modifications. Too many times, the bank has suggested that the Portland home owner stop making payments while proceeding with the modification. The modification then takes 6 months to over a year to process. At the end of that time the bank rejects their modification attempt and all of the sudden they get a notice that the bank is going to foreclose in a week or two! These unfortunate people call me, and simply put, there is no time left for the Portland short sale to work. They get foreclosed on, trusting the bank all the way.

The best way to approach a modification, in my opinion, is to keep making your payments. The best way to approach a Portland Short Sale is to start the process as early as possible – before you miss too many payments! I’m VERY successful in making short sales work (over 90% success rate), but I need time, it takes time to make the Portland short sale work. The more current someone is on their mortgage the better chance they will have at a successful short sale. (I have sold a Portland short sale for an owner who was more than a year behind, but that is not the norm.) Should you try for a home loan modification or for a short sale? Try the modification if you are committed to staying in the home – but be careful, and if you are going for a short sale situation, start the process early. That is my best recommendation. (Disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer, and it is always advisable to consult a lawyer.)

Below are some 2011 Portland MLS market statistics:

Foreclosures in Portland: In rough terms, nearly 100% of foreclosure properties in Portland, also known as REOs, sell in a 6 month period. If you are looking to buy or make an offer on a Portland foreclosure, know this: it won’t stick around for long. Banks do not take low ball offers, in general they sell the property site unseen. I have found banks will typically lower the sales price in Portland by 3% every 60 days or so. This means that they will eventually bring the foreclosure to a price that demands the market’s attention and gets the home sold in short order. It is common for a Portland foreclosure to sit for a month or two without any offers and then suddenly after the next price drop (bringing it to “deal” status), multiple offers are received by the bank in short order, and often these competing offers outbid each other so the home sells for more than the previously published price!

Short Sales in Portland: In rough terms, nearly 30% of Portland short sales sell within a 6 month period. Also, 1 out of 5 short sale offers actually succeed. Buying a short sale home in Portland is the hardest way to go about buying a home, but it is not impossible. There are a number of things an informed real estate agent can do to help improve your chances. Since the bank typically deals with one offer at a time, it increases your chances if no other offers have been submitted. If the Portland short sale price is already preapproved by the bank, this also can help to streamline the process – only if you offer exactly what the bank has preapproved. (For those considering selling their home via short sale, I have a 90% sucess rate mostly due to my experience and persistence in working with the banks.)

Traditional Homes Sales in Portland: In rough terms, nearly 50% of traditional home sales in Portland sell within a 6 month period. It is not as easy to buy a Portland home as it was in the past. Many home owners are underwater, bringing money to closing to sell their home, or have limited equity and negotiating room. Just because a property has been on the market for a long time does not mean the Portland homeowner has the equity available to even consider a low ball offer. However, dealing with a Portland homeowner is nearly always easier than dealing with a bank. The process can be much smoother with a greater amount of consideration for both parties. Banks do not play nice, to put it simply. You have to jump through all of their hoops without mercy or the Portland foreclosure or short sale will not succeed.
 

I often find people assume spending money on Portland home staging and professional photography is a waste of time and money. It is not for at least four reasons. First, the Portland market is completely online-driven these days. 94% of buyers find the home they are going to buy online. The number one reason homes sell online is good pictures. Staging sets the scene for just the right picture to peak the buyer’s interest and convince them to schedule an appointment to see the home. Second, unless the home is owned by someone with amazing artistic abilities, chances are a home staging professional is going to be able to improve the look of your home. Third, after homes are viewed online and that all important buyer’s visit happens, nothing is more important than the buyer’s emotions. A vacant home, an over-cluttered home, and a dimly lit home will all deter the buyer’s emotions. Home staging is just that, it changes the building to make it feel like a home. Lastly, the statistics prove that staging works. This is a 2010 report from RESA, known as Real Estate Staging Association:

These days many folks check out their home online, or a property they are looking to purchase, to find an estimate of value. Zillow provides these national in a format they copyrighted and call Zestimates. If you read the Zillow forums on Zestimates you’ll find a lot of angry home owners disputing the value. Recently I went to a seminar held by Zillow themselves to try to get an answer. Zestimates were the very first topic of discussion at the seminar, and from a Zillow representative I heard these words, “Zillow Zestimates are wrong by more than $30,000 dollars 30% of the time.” Now, most people will agree this is not an accurate enough figure to make any kind of an offer on a home!  Zestimates should not be used to determine hard values, but are useful to put you in the ballpark of value on a home in your area. The Zestimates are useful, but not the whole story on a house, not even close. In order to get the whole story, you need a top local agent with experience.

I hope I can help.

For an alternate search option for Portland, try mine. I believe it is as useful as Zillow’s and is – as I’ve discovered- more accurate and up-to-date.

Also called Sustainability Training for Accredited Real Estate Professionals (S.T.A.R) this designation comes straight from additional education earned from Earth Advantage Institute. The training focuses on green materials for new construction and remodeled homes accenting the lifestyle benefits, costs, and rewards.

Let me use my experience to help you find your new home!

Stephen FitzMaurice, Realtor
Click Here for all Twelve Designations

Trulia gives out its VIP award for answering people’s real estate questions on their website and their PRO designation for those who have a large number of listings and pay to promote them on their site. In my opinion, Trulia is one of the friendliest websites to use, but I prefer my own Portland home search site to theirs. I have a few reviews on Trulia, but keep most of them on Zillow.com and all of them on my website.

Stephen FitzMaurice, Realtor
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Zillow loves to give out awards and I think I have them all! Zillow gives out rewards for helping out visitors to their site who ask questions and also for contributing to their site – recording a lot of sales! Finally, Zillow gives out awards to those of us who get really good reviews from our clients. The nice thing about Zillow reviews is that they verify them before posting on their website. You can see all of my reviews here, or see them direct on Zillow.

Stephen FitzMaurice, Realtor
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I’ve been successfully selling foreclosures in the Portland Metro area for years now. This designation represents additional education and certification, rewarding experience and professionalism in the foreclosure marketplace.

Foreclosures are often the best deals you can find in Portland, Oregon.
Let me help you find one today!

Stephen FitzMaurice, Realtor
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I recently received by Trade Ally designation from Energy Trust. Energy Trust is an independent nonprofit that helps people throughout Oregon save energy by providing cash incentives and creative solutions to home energy needs. I’m proud to be a partner with them! As a trade ally of Energy Trust of Oregon, I can tell you about energyefficient features and improvements for your home. It is possible to make any home “greener” and Energy Trust will give you money to help you make that happen!  Save up to 30% on energy costs with Energy Trust of Oregon cash incentives.

Stephen FitzMaurice is Proud to be a:

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This is a very important question. Many people are afraid of doing a short sale because they are concerned the bank could come after them later for funds.  If you don’t do a short sale correctly, a bank CAN come after you afterwards.  If you do a short sale correctly, a bank CAN’T. I make sure the short sale process goes correctly.

Listen to this important question posed to a real estate lawyer.

Q. I have heard conflicting information regarding the banks’ ability to have a deficiency judgment against the seller of a property in a short sale and the banks’ recourse against that seller/borrower. Will you please clarify and address Oregon Law regarding recourse vs. non-recourse?

A. There is no recourse or non-recourse in the “deficiency judgment” sense in a short sale because there is no judicial foreclosure.  A short sale involves the voluntary modification of a legal debt obligation and therefore can contain any terms the parties want.  Recourse and non-recourse is about the ability to seek a deficiency judgment in a court of law under state foreclosure statutes.  In a voluntary modification (like a short sale) the “deficiency” is the unpaid balance of a note.  A note holder can sue on the unpaid balance of a note unless the maker of the note bargains for and gets “full satisfaction” of the note instead of just the note holder’s agreement to waive their lien and not foreclose.  To get full satisfaction you usually have to ask for it.  Otherwise, the lender can waive their lien, forego foreclosure and continue to hold the note.  With the note comes the right to the unpaid balance as personal debt no longer associated with real property.  The reason you hear conflicting information is that the difference between foreclosing on property and bargaining for modification of a debt witnessed by a note is not well understood.

I’ve been successfully representing sellers for years now. This designation was awarded to me after I took a number of courses, meet professional experience requirements, and passed the exams with flying colors.

Recently Sold Homes

Selling Package

Stephen FitzMaurice, Realtor, SRS.
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I’ve been successfully selling short sales for years on both the buyer’s and seller’s side. This designation was awarded to me after I successfully took a number of classes, meet professional experience requirements, and passed the necessary exams with flying colors.

Let me help you get out of that underwater home today. I have all the tools and training necessary.

Visit the Short Sale section
See Recently Sold Homes

Stephen FitzMaurice, Realtor, CSSA.
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Find out.. you’ll be suprised!


>>> Recently Sold <<<

Many people are concerned (and rightly so) that they may be taxed for the forgiven amount on their short sale. For those of you who don’t know, this is a short sale. Basically, you owe say 200,000 and the home short sales for 150,000, so on you next tax statement you could be 1099′d for 50,000. This would be a problem for most people!

The good news is that the government has provided relief from this potential tax problem.

You can read all about it on the IRS website: http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=179414,00.html They call it “The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act and Debt Cancellation”. At the time of this post, it is still active, but check with the IRS to make sure it is still valid for you today. There are certain (but very simple) restrictions. In simple terms (always consult with your tax preparer), if the home is your primary residence you won’t pay this tax if you file the provided form.

So… In summary: do I have to pay tax on my Short Sale?

No, most people will not have to pay tax.