Amy Swaney, CMB ~ Citywide Home Loans ~ NMLS#209752 ~ BK#0116254

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

A Christmas Gift to You, BK Short-Sale and Foreclosure Waiting Periods, FHA Flips through 2012

Having grown up in Utah, my family of six children was not uncommon. My parents, Ralph and Kathryn, after 52 years together are proud to say that from their six children they have 21 grandkids and 5 1/2 great-grandkids. As you can imagine, family dinner at my house has always been pure chaos. But it is that chaos that I miss every holiday and why I have always returned home as often as I could. This past year, however, did not permit much travel, so I had not been home since last year at this time. As such, this past Thanksgiving at my parents was momentous for me. All six children and all but 4 grandkids spent some time at my parents house over the holiday, including spouses and a few strays brought home from college. You would imagine that it would be difficult to have that many personalities in the same household without challenges. But this year was a blessing. This year brought solidarity, and at least for me, a grateful opportunity to mend broken fences and learn an important lesson about my life.

I am the fifth of six children with a mix of five girls and one boy. Needless to say, my brother had a lot of attention, good and bad, placed on him. As his younger sister, I idolized him, I wanted to please him and make him proud of me, whether he wanted the attention or not. After college, he married a girl from St. Louis and moved to the Midwest to complete dental school. His wife was just a few years older than me and we became friends. She was from a great family, she was smart, fun and of course, beautiful. Their life appeared to be the fairytale just as I wanted. But like the way life goes, their fairytale was not without its share of evil witches. Over their twenty some years of marriage, we grew apart, nothing of legends, just many years of growing up and learning that life isn't a fairytale.

It was about 3 years ago that I had last expected to see her, but she did not make the trip to Utah with my brother for a family event celebrating PJ and my marriage. I wasn't surprised. But when my mom called PJ, to tell him my brother and his boys were leaving on the first flight in the morning back to St. Louis, I was taken aback. Out for a run while her family was away, my sister in law had a seizure and was in critical condition in the hospital.

We learned over the next few weeks that she had an inoperable brain tumor that the doctors estimated had been growing for over twenty years. She was given less than six months to live and those months would be spent in and out of treatments, chemotherapy and hospitals. She found out that traditional protocols were not working to shrink the tumor but were in fact speeding up its growth, so experimental treatments were given to extend her life. I can now only imagine how difficult that time was for their family and I'm embarrassed that not once did I reach out to her.

I had not yet spoken to her when I was diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Even though one of the initial cards I received was from her and she included a gift for me, a book on Courage. In fact, it was that book from which I pulled the quote, "courage is not the absence of fear, but moving forward in spite of fear," to let my business partners know about my own battle.

Along with my brother and three of her four boys, she made the trip to Utah this year for Thanksgiving as well. When we finally spoke I immediately felt a change in her. I hoped she saw the change in me. I had the opportunity to spend some time with her alone and we spoke about treatments and healing, difficulties and finally death.

Other than a few moments of uncertainty and fear of my diagnosis, I never thought much about my own mortality. But she awakes every morning facing death's door. She has long surpassed her doctor's expectation of her life, but she has never stopped living it.

When she talked of her own survival, she knew her time was short. Her goal was to survive until July when her son returns from a two year stay in Chile. This took me back as to how final that felt. How would it be to ultimately know that today was your last? She was content. She lived the past three years exactly as she wanted to live it. She couldn't say, I'll do better tomorrow, or I'll change tomorrow, what she would be was determined today.

Knowing only slightly the tremendous amount pain, suffering and fear she has endured, I could not help being amazed at how she has embraced this tragedy for the opportunities it gave her. Imagine for a minute if you knew how long you had left to live, what would you do different? Would you argue with your spouse or children less? Would you let things go unsaid or would you challenge yourself to do more? Would your personal and professional goals be different?

My sister in law chose to spend her days traveling to Egypt and the Holy Land. She went on a photographic African safari and she spent time in Paris. But more importantly she became the mother, wife and friend she wanted to be.

What a tremendous gift that my sister in law gave me this year. She made me look at my own life and ask "how do I want to spend the last days of my life?"

I want to make a difference...in the lives of my family, friends and customers. Others have given so much to me, so I want to be able to say I have given back. That I made someone's life better, because I was a part of it. As the year comes to a close, it is the perfect time to reflect on our lives and look forward with a plan to become better personally and professionally.

Even though I know I will beat breast cancer, I also know that every single day I am one day closer to my last, be it in 6 months or 60 years from now, and I want them to count.

I wish each of you a Merry Christmas and hope you have an incredible New Year!

Thank you for your business, your referrals, your kind words and your friendship.















Foreclosure, Bankruptcy and Short Sale Waiting Periods


FNMA, FHLMC, FHA and VA Requirements

2012 already has the economists predicting another tough year for the real estate industry. Property values, economic and unemployment concerns as well as legislative and regulatory measures look to reduce production even more. While this ominous outlook may scare the faint of heart, it makes the true professionals in our field dig deep and find new ways to earn market share.

One niche, not to be ignored is your own previous client database. Those clients that you represented in a short-sale or assisted in bankruptcy or foreclosure may be your best asset in 2012...if you know the rules.

My Christmas gift to you is the knowledge of how to find these customers.

Review the attached WAITING PERIODS CHART to see what customers of yours may be eligible to purchase this year. Be proactive with your clients before someone else is.

Keep in mind that you will want to prepare those clients who may be eligible, about 6 months prior to their eligibility. This will allow time to fix any erroneous credit items, build or establish new credit or possibly save for the down payment.

I hope this tool will help you with your business in 2012. We would love to be your lender this year! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact myself or Greg.

FHA Extends the Property "Flipping" Waiver through 2012

We will do FHA Property Flips Greater than 120%

On December 22, 2011, in an effort to continue stabilizing home values and improve conditions in communities experiencing high foreclosure activity, FHA announced they would extend FHA's temporary waiver of the anti-flipping regulations.

With certain exceptions, FHA prohibits insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days. In 2010, FHA temporarily waived this regulation through January 31, 2011, and later extended that waiver through the remainder of 2011. The new extension will permit buyers to continue to use FHA financing to purchase HUD-owned properties, bank-owned properties, or properties resold through private sales. It will allow homes to resell as quickly as possible, helping to stabilize real estate prices and to revitalize neighborhoods and communities.

The extension is effective through December 31, 2012, unless otherwise extended or withdrawn by FHA. All other terms of the existing Waiver will remain the same. The Waiver contains strict conditions and guidelines to prevent the predatory practice of property flipping, in which properties are quickly resold at inflated prices to unsuspecting borrowers. The Waiver is limited with the following conditions:

•All transactions must be arms-length, with no identity of interest between the buyer and seller or other parties participating in the sales transaction.
•In cases in which the sales price of the property is 20 percent or more above the seller's acquisition cost, the Waiver will only apply if the lender meets specific conditions and documents the justification for the increase in value.

There are additional documentation requirements for properties pursued under this waiver, so please contact me if you have any questions!

Ha Ha
A Russian couple was walking down the street in St. Petersburg the other night, when the man felt a drop hit his nose. "I think it's raining," he said to his wife.

"No, that felt more like snow to me," she replied. "No, I'm sure it was just rain, he said."

Well, as these things go, they were about to have a major argument about whether it was raining or snowing. Just then they saw a minor communist party official walking toward them.

"Let's not fight about it," the man said, "let's ask Comrade Rudolph whether it's officially raining or snowing."

As the official approached, the man said, "Tell us, Comrade Rudolph, is it officially raining or snowing?"

"It's raining, of course," he answered and walked on. But the woman insisted: "I know that felt like snow!" To which the man quietly replied:

"Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear!"