Will they Walk Away from Mortgage in Salt Lake

Foreclosure St

Is it better to walk away from your mortgage?

Interesting NPR Talk Of The Nation program about people walking away from their mortgages. We’re continuing to see upside down home values in Utah so we can expect to see more Owners in this situation here in Utah.  What do I think it would take for most families to consider walking away from their home and allowing the bank to have their house?  Well, if you’re 25% upside down or more on a home that was valued at $500,000 in 2006, and is now valued at $350,000 then you are  probably looking at 10 years before your home reaches back up to a $500,000 value.   In the high value or hardest hit areas; like Herriman, Riverton, Saratoga Springs, Lehi, and Eagle Mountain in Utah county the depreciation can be as high as 60%.   If you purchased or refinanced for 100% in 2006 or 2007 you probably are 25% to 30% upside down on you home.   I definitely see people walking away when even a short sale can’t get approved.  The real estate community is very active in listing short sales but the banks, especially the 2nd mortgage holders,  are not cooperating.  I currently have 3 short sales where the 2nd mortgages are causing a foreclosure because they want too much money for their payoff or they just wait too long for the first mortgage holder to make up their minds.

I have one friend that walked away from his home.  Well, he is actually still living in the home even though it was foreclosed on 6 months ago.  The bank never contacted him.  He lives in the earth slide area of North Salt Lake.  Continue reading Will they Walk Away from Mortgage in Salt Lake

Selling Your Home For Sale By Owner in Salt Lake County

I thought I would write a blog to help all the For Sale By Owner selling in Salt Lake. Selling For Sale By Owner or FSBO is something I know a lot about. Ok, I know some of you are rolling your eyes saying this is where the Realtor is going to tell us we have to list to sell because 80% of homes are sold by Realtor’s etc. Maybe and maybe not; it all depends on the market conditions at the current time.

Allow me to give you some credential, I was the nation Real Estate Broker working for  ForSaleByOwner.com from May 2005 to May2008. I listed dozens of flat fee listing a month for most of the Watch Front and consulted with national listing agent and customer support problems. Created new programs for ForeSaleByOwner.com to market to seller and buyers and yes sold real estate. For you people keeping score that was during the boom of the real estate flipping era. So I know a little about the For Sale By Owner  way of selling. I’ll be honest you can sell your home as a FSBO.   In today’s buyers market it harder.   It not easy because buyers are looking for the great deals of bank owned and short sales they want a great deal and those two category of homes are being show by Realtor’s only. So buyer tend to become clients of Realtors and end up seeing only listed homes not FSBO homes. I’m sorry that is the nature of the market right now. If it becomes a seller’s market again FSBO will be very effective again. I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Even if they don’t buy a short sale or bank owned home they buy a listed home. So how do you get listed without paying 6%?  Now that’s a really great question! Continue reading Selling Your Home For Sale By Owner in Salt Lake County