But I came across one individual that thought she would just eat her house and then since there would no longer be a house, then of course there would be no longer a mortgage, right?

I’m thinking that it’s not that easy. Eating this gingerbread house might make Ciara’s imaginary debt go away, but once she’s done with it she’ll have the worst stomach ache EVER!

The situation that many people are in today with deciding whether to just walk away from their real mortgage and let the bank foreclose, or to perhaps talk to a Realtor like me and see if trying to do a Short Sale is enough to cause anyone to have a stomach ache as well.

I always recommend that everyone talk to a Certified Public Accountant (if you’re in the Stockton, CA area the best is Peter Holtz) or to a real estate attorney, or both.

As a real estate professional I do not give legal advice, nor do I sell home loans.  I sell homes for sellers and find great deals for home buyers in the central valley of CA, mainly in the Lodi and Stockton areas.

Bottom line, as a homeowner you have options if you are upside down with your mortgage.  Whatever you do, don’t resort to eating your house.  Be sure and seek out the advice from the professionals and make sure that you open all mail pertaining to your home, and save everything that you get in one place for easy access.

I hope you all have a Happy Holiday Season!

Sincerely,

Randy

There will be a carnival, petting zoo, reptile exhibit, many area businesses on display, concerts, fair food, art show, etc., etc.. 

You’ll want to come early and stay late, and enjoy everything that the Lodi Grape Festival has to offer.  Advanced purchase of tickets is recommended if you don’t want to stand in line to enter.

For more information on the Lodi Grape Festival regarding it’s location, hours it’s open, etc. then CLICK HERE.

What will the festival do for the local real estate market?  I’m hopeful that the people attending the festival from out of the area will see what a wonderful community we have here in Lodi, CA, and perhaps consider moving to Lodi and maybe even buying one of the many homes for sale here in town.  There are great deals on Short Sales and REO foreclosures in Lodi as well as Stockton, Galt, Lockeford, and surrounding areas.  The market is all about supply and demand.  We have a good supply and some areas are in high demand.

Make it a great day and week!

Randy

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A now former employee of Countrywide had downloaded millions of files of consumers and sold that private information to the employees of other lenders to be used as sales leads.

The alleged thief was caught back in 2008 and his trial begins on Oct 19th of this year, and he is currently free on bond while waiting for his trial.

There were possibly 15-17 million consumers that were at risk from this crime and Bank of America, which bought Countrywide back in 2008, is now offering free credit monitoring for two years to all those consumers that had provided personal and private  information to Countrywide before July 1, 2008, or who had a mortgage loan service by Countrywide before that date as well.

I don’t know what affect this settlement will have on the current real estate market, but Bank of America has been more quickly to respond to a couple of my Short Sales of homes for sale in Stockton and Lodi, CA recently.  Perhaps they realized they’d make more money on the short sale rather than letting the home go into foreclosure.

If you’d like to get more information on this and even file a claim for the free credit monitoring you can call (866) 940-3612, or visit their website at www.CWdataClaims.com.

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• Bank of America Settles Data Theft Claims (dailyfinance.com)

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I came across a good article by Stephanie Andre and posted by RISMEDIA yesterday that hits on a subject that we’ve all heard and read about many times in the last few years…water conservation.

Summer is nearing the end soon and here are some tips that we can all adhere to in order to use/consume less water and do our part to make a difference.

1. Water your lawn only when it needs it. An easy test to tell if your lawn needs water is to simply walk across the grass. If you leave footprints, it’s time to water. (An added benefit of watering less often is that fewer, deep-soaking waterings encourage deep root growth and stronger turf.)

2. Water in the early morning. As much as 30 percent of water can be lost to evaporation by watering during midday.

3. Set your lawn mower one notch higher to make your lawn more drought-tolerant.
4. Use drip irrigation hoses to water plants, and water in the early morning or evening.

5. Use a broom instead of a hose to clean your sidewalk, driveway, or patio.

6. Forego the hose and wash your car with a bucket and sponge instead. According to EPA WaterSense, a hose left running can waste as much as six gallons per minute while a bucket and sponge uses only a few gallons to do the job.
7. Keep a bottle of cold tap water in the refrigerator. You’ll avoid the cost and environmental impact of bottled water and you’ll have cold water available in the summer without running the faucet.

8. Run dishwashers and clothes washers only when they are full. If you have a water-saver cycle, use it.

9. Adjust the water level of your clothes washer, so that it matches your load size.

10. Regularly check your toilet, faucets and pipes for leaks and have them fixed promptly. An easy test for toilet leaks from EPA WaterSense: Place a drop of food coloring in the tank. If the color tints the water in the bowl without flushing, there’s a leak. Check your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter changes at all, you probably have a leak.

**********************

There are many homes for sale in the Lodi and Stockton areas that are now empty due to foreclosure and/or a short sale situation, and since no one is living in the house, then no one is watering the lawns or flushing the toilets.  This can of course cause damage to the grass and plumbing of these homes.  This is not the same as water consumption.  Some of these homes are unsightly in their appearance, but it won’t take much for them to be brought back to life and beautify the neighborhood once again.

Well, I hope you can use at least a couple of these tips and implement them into your routine.  It WILL make a difference.

Make it a great day!

The group focuses on renter’s rights and th

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eir study states 37 percent of California’s foreclosed residential properties involved renters and effected an estimated 200,000 residents, many of whom were displaced, which is a nice way of saying they were given their walking papers, which is a nice way of saying they were evicted from their homes.

Unfortunately I have seen this first-hand while working with Short Sales in Stockton, Lodi and the surrounding areas.  It’s never a good day when families are being asked to leave (evicted) from their homes even though they may have been paying their rent on time, but perhaps the owner of their home wasn’t paying the mortgage.

Once the owner stops paying their mortgage, soon after they have to decide whether to let the home be foreclosed on by the bank or to try and do a Short Sale, but either way the renter loses out and has to find another place to live.

At Realty World-Davis Homes & Properties, we try to be advocates for all parties involved in any situation if we can.  If you have questions, then most likely we have answers.  We highly recommend that anyone facing foreclosure or a short sale of their home to always seek the advice of a CPA as well as a real estate attorney.

Don’t just “wait and see what happens”.  Be sure to seek professional assistance to get a fully informed as you can.

When the banks have ‘bad debt’, they write it off.  When a business or corporation has a ‘bad debt’, write it off.  BUT when a homeowner has a ‘bad debt’, just writing it off ain’t gonna happen.

A lot of people who can afford to stay in their homes are just saying good-bye to them  and their mortgages by exercising their freedom of choice and just walking away from their financial responsibilities.  This is commonly referred to as Strategic Foreclosure or Strategic Default.

So, what’s a honest homeowner to do when they’re home is now worth much less than they paid for it only a few short years ago?  Well, before you just get up and walk away you should definitely consult with a real estate attorney, a good Realtor, and also a CPA to find out what options and legal consequences you’ll have depending on your choices and situation.

You could let the bank foreclose, or you could Short Sale your home.  REOs and Short Sales in Stockton and surrounding areas are the bulk of what’s on the market these days.  Just look around and I’m sure you’ll see For Sale signs up and down many streets in your own neighborhood.

Walking away from your home that’s “under water” (worth less than you owe) instead of trying to work with your bank(s) or having a Realtor short sale it for you, could actually leave you in deep water.

Here is some more specific information about this…CLICK HERE.

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• The Short Sale Process (home-mortgages.suite101.com)

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I’ve been hearing a lot more lately that banks are actually starting to work more easily with Sellers and Realtors® in order to get the process to go more smoothly with the short sale of the home

because it’s less costly to the banks than a foreclosure and they are starting to learn how to streamline the process a little better.

Here is a great that I came across that explains just that…CLICK HERE

I am beginning to see more and more Short Sales listed and being SOLD in the Lodi and Stockton, CA areas.  Here at Realty World-Davis Homes & Properties, we are taking the necessary steps to help homeowners that may be facing the decision to have to do a Short Sale on their home and assist in this process to help make it as less stressful as possible.

READ THIS ARTICLE, then contact us to get your questions answered and see if a Short Sale is right for you.

Randy

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• Don’t foreclose! Do a short sale (money.cnn.com)