3347 Cashdan Ct Santa Clara Ca 4 bedrooms 3 baths $484900

Larger lot small homes. The kitchen has been remodeled with granite counter top and newer cabinets. The both baths are redone also. I like the over sided lot with an old tree.

I know it does need new landscape but overall it is a good buy.

1070 MARYANN DR, San Jose 95050 (Santa Clara)
$545,000 Beds: 3 bed(s) Baths: 1 1/2 bath(s) It is located at just the cornor of Lawrence and Benton. It has a fireplace and updated.

2028 LOS PADRES BL, Santa Clara 95050 (Santa Clara)
$499,999 Beds: 3 bed(s) Baths: 2 bath(s) with an open floor plan and 1566 sf.This one is a short sale. If you want to know more about the short sale please check on this blog.

Those two homes are all sold. If you want to see more you can check with

This Cupertino bank own/REO homeis just on the market for $684,5000. This one is lowest priced 3 bedrooms 1 bath and 1 car garage and it is located at the most affordable area Rancho Ricinconada. This area has the excellent Cupertino schools.

 There are many other bank owned listings in the surrounding areas such as Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, San Jose and Campbell. The San Jose has the most bank own and short sales homes available.

There is another bank owned property in this area. It is a 3 years old Sunnyvale home with 1483 sf and 3 bedrooms and 3 baths for $599,900

What short sale is:

• When the owner cannot make the monthly payment and a short sale is when a bank or mortgage lender agrees to discount a loan balance due to an economic hardship
• It is pre foreclosure situation.
• The owner’s hardship could be divorce, job loss, sickness, bankruptcy or combination the financial problems all together.
• The owner’s credit will hurt badly, but it is better than a foreclosure.
• The short sale is a long process. It could take 2 – 3 months easily. The closing rate of short sale is improving from 12% January 2008 to mid-year about 40%.
• The short sale is avoidable if the lender offers a loan modification to the owner.

What short sale isn’t:

• Not all the short sale is a bargain. It really depends. Buyers beware. Again location, location, location. Hire an experienced real estate agent to help you buy home.
• It isn’t a way for the owner walk away the loan free without trace. This owner’s credit score will be damaged.

Why the short sale happens:

• It all begins with the owner cannot make the monthly payment.
• The owner pays option ARMS there is no equity build up.
• The owner purchased with 100% financing (another no equity).
• The owner refinanced 100% or above 100% without equity.
• Owner’s economic situation is upside down and the owner missed payment.
• The home was bought over price and it is devalued.
• The owner cannot refinance anymore.

“Short sale” becomes a buzz word nowadays but what is that?

According to About.com the short sale is

A short sale occurs when a property is sold and the lender agrees to accept a discounted payoff, meaning the lender will release the lien that is secured to the property upon receipt of less money than is actually owed.

For example: In 2004 said Lisa bought a townhouse in Campbell for $344Kwhen the market is up in either 2005 and 2006. Liza taps into her equality. She borrowed $425K from the home. Something happened she cannot make the payment. The lender filed the notice of default and the lender requests she to pay. Lisa sells her home on the market for sale as $380K. The lender receives less then what was loaned out.

There are a few steps to short sale a home:

1). Contact lenders: To find the exactly what you need to get out the loan and home.

2). Do everything the lenders needs:

That the owner need to provide a personal financial hardship letter, proof of income and assets, Preliminary Net sheet etc.

3).The accepted offer. You have to hire the realtor to sell the home.

4). Submit the offer to the lender and wait for the lender to accept this offer.

The whole process could take up to 2 to 3 months to finish a short because backlog the lender and or asset managers to handle the demands. In the beginning of 2008 the success rate of short sale was about 12%. Now it went up to 40% because the handlers are more experience to do so.

When the homeowner cannot make the monthly payment. The lender can place a notice of default to this home. The home owner usually can make the following 3 actions:

1) Make the payment

2) Hire a realtor to sell the home

3) Do nothing.

If the home owner hire a realtor to sell the home. a lot of time it is a short sale case due to the homeowner owes more money then he can sell it for example the home owner bought this home with 100% loan and the market is not as much as it used to be.

The lender will receive less then the loan. The owner’s realtor need to negotiate the sale with the lender(s) to get the offer accepted. If the short sale is not successful.

If the short sale is not successful, then the lender can auction it or place it for sale again as a bank owner property. Any buyer can hire a RE agent to buy it. Usually at this time the price is well below the market price. Last two bank owned homes in Santa Clara were sold with 38 and 46 offers because they are such as good deals.

According to RealtyTrac, lenders repossessed 197,800 homes in the first four months of 2008 vs. 90,800 in that period last year. Banks is in the business of loaning money to earn the interest not owning the real estate. Banks sometimes accept the offers are much less than you might think to get off their books. But buying such properties has drawbacks. From Stephen Gandel of Money Magazine : Here’s 3 tips of buying foreclosure: 1. Use the WebWebsites can help you find foreclosed homes. On Redfin.com, you can do a free search for so-called real estate owned (REO) properties - those for which the bank holds the deed - in Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C. (and soon, Chicago). Or you can locate them nationwide on Foreclosures.com or RealtyTrac.com for a subscription fee of $49.95 a month. 2. Use a brokerForget buying directly from the bank (lenders typically deal only with pros) or at auction (you may wind up bidding more than you should). Work with brokers; banks use them to sell most homes. Once you’ve identified which properties are REO, you’ll know those are the ones for which a low-ball offer is more likely to be accepted. 3. Watch out for repair costsLook for houses that have been on the market for more than 90 days and offer Bank-owned houses typically need a lot of work: People facing foreclosure often neglect maintenance and may have swiped fixtures and appliances on their way out. Never buy an REO property without an inspection.I am not agreed with his opinion about looking homes that was on the market over 90 days. In Silicon Valley of Californian (Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Mountain View, Campbell, San Jose, Los Gatos, Palo Altos,

Larry Stone,

IRS Explains Mortgage Relief Provision I found an article from the SILVAR government News today about mortgage relief due to short sale or foreclosure.The IRS has released a technical document (IR-2008-17) to alert taxpayers on how to comply with the new mortgage cancellation tax relief provisions enacted at the end of last year. Borrowers who had some portion of their mortgage debt forgiven in 2007 should receive a Form 1099C from the lender identifying the amount of forgiven debt. The borrower/taxpayer will then file a newly-created form, Form 982, to report to the IRS that the debt relief was for a qualified mortgage. The instructions to complete Form 982 are available at the IRS Web site, which can be accessed here: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f982.pdf. The mortgage relief provision applies to debt forgiven in 2007, no matter when the mortgage was entered into. The most frequent circumstances in which there is debt forgiveness is on a foreclosure, short sale, mortgage workout or reformation agreed to with the lender.Normally, debt forgiveness results in taxable income. But under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, enacted on December 20, 2007, taxpayers may exclude debt forgiven on their principal residence if the balance of their loan was less than $2 million. The limit is $1 million for a married person filing a separate return. Details are on Form 982 and its instructions, available now on IRS.gov.The late-December enactment means that reporting procedures for this law change were not incorporated into tax-preparation software or IRS forms. For that reason, people using tax software should check with their provider for updates that include the revised Form 982. Similarly, the IRS is now updating its systems and expects to begin accepting electronically-filed returns that include Form 982 by March 3. Even the Form 982 is now being accepted, but the IRS recommend those affected taxpayers to file theire tax electronically, which greatly reduces errors and speeds refunds.The cancellation of mortgage debt rules apply only to a limited number of taxpayers. The new law applies to debt forgiven in 2007, 2008 or 2009. Debt reduced through mortgage restructuring, as well as mortgage debt forgiven in connection with a foreclosure, may qualify for this relief. In most cases, eligible homeowners only need to fill out a few lines on Form 982 (specifically, lines 1e, 2 and 10b).The debt must have been used to buy, build or substantially improve the taxpayer’s principal residence and must have been secured by that residence. Debt used to refinance qualifying debt is also eligible for the exclusion, but only up to the amount of the old mortgage principal, just before the refinancing. Debt forgiven on second homes, rental property, business property, credit cards or car loans does not qualify for the new tax-relief provision. In some cases, however, other kinds of tax relief, based on insolvency, for example, may be available. See Form 982 for details.The new law is best understood with an example. Assume a family purchased their home for $100,000, with a mortgage of $95,000. Later, they need to sell the home. They find that the value of homes in their area has declined and they can sell for only $89,000. At the time of the sale, the outstanding balance on a mortgage might be, for example, $92,000. Thus, there will not be enough cash at settlement to repay the lender the full balance of the mortgage. In some limited circumstances, a lender might forgive the amount of the balance that exceeds the purchase price ($3,000 in this example).The new provision does not affect current laws that already provide similar rules that grant relief to debt-burdened commercial real estate and rental properties. The new law grants relief for principal residences sold by their owners or to borrowers who arrange a “workout” with a lender that reduces the

Comment posted by Mortgages UK
at 4/11/2008 1:51:48 PM

Its funny how what happens in the US follows a few months later in the uk. The credit crunch has now crossed the pond. Lenders have withdrawn 50% of their products, increased interest rates, increased deposit requirements and the uk has seen the sharpest decrease in house prices during March for 15 years.

Its only going to get worse for the uk.

Comment posted by Mobile Notary Signing Agent
at 4/9/2008 11:45:32 AM

Hello Grace,

This is great information thank you. I have recently been made aware of “Prop 8″ which seems similar to this which is basically property tax relive for declining assessed values. I’m glad to see something is being down about this market.

Comment posted by Laura
at 4/8/2008 4:20:24 PM

A good way to reduce mortgage is getting a loan or Another way is saving money.
laura.
debt management

Comment posted by Real Estate Documents
at 3/19/2008 7:44:33 PM

I found your blog via Google while searching for real estate documents and your post regarding lains Mortgage Relief | gracekeng.com looks very interesting to me. Just wanted to drop you a quick note to say thank you for a great resource.There is nothing else like your site on the net today. My friends are just going to love this site once I let them know about it.

Comment posted by Foreclosure tools
at 2/24/2008 11:03:40 PM

Foreclosure tools…

Many of the web sites that you may locate dealing with this topic are very knowledgeable, while many are not….

法拍屋

星島日報記者施秋羽布雷斯本報道

受次級房貸風暴影響，灣區阿拉美達縣以及帝利市的法拍屋如雨後春筍般滋長。連帶著很多打著提供法拍屋列表的網站，點閱率也節節高升，位於聖里安德魯兩房一廳的房屋，標價不到30萬元，讓人不心動都難，書店的架上也冒出了不少專攻法拍屋的新書。法拍屋似乎是撿便宜的絕佳途徑，但購買法拍屋的管道與程序繁瑣，一般民眾在買屋前，可得先做好功課了。

根據RE/MAX資深地產經紀耿竹萍(Grace Keng) 提供的DataQuick July24 2007數據顯示，灣區2007年第二季收到違約通知 (Notice of default) 的房屋戶數目前7696戶，比去年同期的2910戶成長了164.5%。

三藩市美亞輔鄰社的房屋發展部經理鄭柏健表示，「釋出法拍屋的屋主主要以拉丁裔與白裔為主，傳統上華人對自己辛苦供的房屋不會輕易放手，因此灣區法拍屋屋主華人所佔比率不到2%。次貸風暴引起的法拍屋效應在灣區阿拉美達縣與帝利市最為明顯，而三藩市的房價因居高不下，所以法拍屋的數目很少，也許一個月才兩三戶房子要法拍。」鄭柏健坦言，買法拍屋的確可以找到比較便宜的價錢，但也沒有如網站上面所寫的便宜到50%這麼誇張。

廣義的法拍屋(foreclosure)指是拖欠房貸款項，因而被債權人收回轉賣的物業。在美國法拍屋常常不是透過法院來拍賣，銀行、公家單位、地產公司、貸款公司、拍賣公司，都可能處理法拍屋業務的單位。 

法拍屋通常有兩種情況，一種是欠稅法拍屋，主要因為拖欠土地、房屋稅款而遭法院拍賣，拍賣資訊會在地方政府的網站或公布欄公佈。而次貸風暴直接影響的，則是欠銀行貸法拍屋，屋主因為付不出房貸，房屋面臨被轉賣的命運。

一般民眾要購買法拍屋，有幾個主要管道：

地方的警長(Sheriff)辦公室主持法庭交付的拍賣業務，通常只站監督輔導的角度，真正的拍賣還是委託民間公司辦理，拍賣的資產複雜，商用建築、停車場、民宅，都是可能的拍賣項目。

拍賣會，大大小小的拍賣公司或物業公司針對不同的物產分類進行拍賣，法拍屋的產權項目與狀態都是民眾要事先注意的。拍賣會的節奏與程序非常的快速，一般非地產專業的民眾要參加可能會碰了一鼻子灰，最好是事先已經知道拍賣會上哪一棟房子是自己的目標，再來下手。

專業地產經紀，有專門負責拍賣屋的地產經紀，這些地產經紀或追逐拍賣通知尋找便宜的法拍屋，或代表買屋人參與拍賣會。負責拍賣屋業務的華裔地產經紀目前較少。

法拍屋網站，提供法拍屋資訊網站以會員制管理，會員一年約需付出600元左右來取得進一步的資訊。民眾使用法拍屋網站，主要是相信藉由網路的無遠弗屆，可以得到更多資訊，一方面也是存著「避開中間人」的心態，以節省層層附加下的成本，但事實上，大部分的法拍屋網站，在某種程度上也是仲介網站，列表的拍賣屋背後事實上都有地產經紀在處理。

政府機關如房屋與都市發展部 (HUD, Department of Housing and Urban Development)、退伍軍人局 (Veteran Administration, VA)、聯邦國家房貸協會 (Federal National Mortgage Association, 簡稱Fannie Mae)、聯邦住宅放款抵押貸款公司 (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ; 簡稱Freddie Mac)都會有房屋拍賣，其中HUD的房屋以1到4單位的民宅為主。一般民眾要與此類機關交涉買屋，通常需要透過該單位認證的地產經紀來下標，如果成交，部份機構如HUD也會支付地產經紀佣金。

法拍資訊除了可以透過上述的管道獲得，也可以多注意地方報紙的分類廣告欄的法拍屋資訊。更積極的買屋人，也可以注意離婚啟事、訃聞等消息，因為此類事件也常將房屋送入市場求售。

不管透過何種管道找到理想的法拍屋，對於買屋人來說資金調度可能說是一大麻煩，因為法拍屋在理論上是以現金交易的。一般的房地產買賣，可以用買賣的房屋向銀行抵押借貸，但是法拍屋就是因為在貸款上出了問題，債權人要的就是變賣房屋求現來解決爛帳，因此不可能先過戶到買屋人名下，再來貸款慢慢還清。

當法拍屋得標之後，必須先下訂金，之後在法拍單位規定的期限下要全額付清，這段時間通常很短，最短可以短至14天。由於短時間內就需要結清款項，因此事前先確定有現金來源就顯得格外重要，目前部份銀行提供代墊服務，先替買屋人付款，等到房屋過戶後，再轉成一般房貸處理，但切記事先取得銀行的貸款核准，免得好不容易等到的房子，卻因為付錢付慢而給飛了。 短時間內要籌措大量現金，但偏偏又不是每個人都有良好信用，銀行的效率也不一定可以跟上買屋進度，所以透過短期融資(hard money) 借貸，是常見手法，這樣的借貸方式可想而知，利率比起一般貸款要高得很多，最高可以到29%。由於次貸風暴的源起即是不良信用借貸，因此在追求好價錢的同時，買屋人也必須多注意自己的財務規劃，量力而為。 

另外與法拍屋相似的選項還有銀行或是貸款公司未拍賣成功房屋，此類銀行稱為銀行擁有屋REO (Real Estate Own)，銀行擁有屋的資訊通常不易讓一般的買屋人取得，通常銀行會委託房地產經紀人處理。銀行擁有屋通常銀行虧錢廉售（short sale），因為原屋主常已拖欠5個月以上的貸款，銀行需要錢不需要房屋，銀行將房屋以低於未還貸款的金額賣掉，房地產經紀人可以幫助你尋找這種廉售房屋。

耿竹萍表示，由於銀行是廉售交易的最後決定者，礙於銀行運作等結構性問題，廉售交易曠日費時，拖上數個月並不稀奇，有時銀行還會出爾反爾，因此買屋人可得多用上一點耐心了。