Short sales, Foreclosures, REOs

Great news for anyone searching for Madison area homes and condos online! Due to popular demand we've just added four new search criteria to our advanced search screens. The new search options, which apply to any type of search be it City, Subdivision, School Waterfront, or Zip Code are...drumroll, please...Basement, New Construction, REO/Foreclosure, and Short Sale. Now you can set up searches that will narrow down your results even further by utilizing these additional criteria.

To get started, simplly choose one of the advanced search options from the Listings menu located on the home page (or click the big button marked Advanced Search). Select the city, subdivision, etc that you're interested in, type of property (home or condo), number of

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Facing Foreclosure?

A house purchase is a long-term financial commitment. If you are unable to keep that commitment, you can end up facing foreclosure. This is not a good position to be in, but there are several ways to deal with the situation.

Start Paying

If you have missed a few months of payments, you probably aren't in foreclosure yet. Start paying now and contact your lender to arrange a schedule for making up all your missed payments. Do whatever is necessary to get money. Take on a second job, cut back on discretionary spending, and even ask your relatives for help if needed.

The advantages of starting to pay are that you can probably avoid foreclosure, which means you'll keep your house. The drawbacks are that it may be painful to rearrange

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Have you recently been laid off from your job and are facing difficulty making your monthly mortgage payments? Are you thinking of walking away from your mortgage? If you answered yes to either one of these questions, then you should know what adverse effects walking away from your mortgage could bring to your financial life.

When to walk away from mortgage

It is strongly advisable not to walk away from a mortgage, unless you are faced with an extreme situation, such as one of the following:

o    Due to a sudden drop in income you are unable to make your mortgage payments

o    You are underwater and have little or no equity in your home

o    You are not eligible for a loan modification and you are in a non-recourse loan state (see below)

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Foreclosure rates have been receiving a significant amount of attention over the past couple of years, and for good reason. After all, the rate of foreclosure is a good indicator of the overall health of the economy on a national level as well as on a local level. Therefore, for those who live in Dane County and Madison, Wisconsin, taking a closer look at foreclosure rates is of great importance -- even to those who are not directly involved in the real estate market, since the condition of the economy is something that affects everyone throughout Dane County and the state of Wisconsin.

According to RealtyTrac, 1 in every 180 housing units in Dane County, Wisconsin received a foreclosure filing in April 2010. Taking into account that the

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Here's your opportunity to snatch up a well-priced 3 bedroom, 1.25 bath pre-foreclosure with 1.5 garage in the low tax Town of Blooming Grove. Located at 304 Memphis Avenue in the Fair Oaks subdivision on Madison's East Side, this home requires some TLC and yet boasts some expensive updates: a new roof on both the house and garage, some newer mechanicals, new hand-crafted 6-panel doors, and new wainscotting in the finished lower level. Note: the formal dining room is being used as a third bedroom which is also handicap-accessible. This home features a large eat-in kitchen, ample overall square footage, a flexible floorplan, and is located on a quiet sidestreet across from Worthington Park and within walking distance to the Hawthorne library, a fitness

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There is suspense surrounding the future of residential home sales. The driving forces include: the loss of tax credit for first time home buyers, interest rates increasing, and the new short sale guidelines known as H.A.M.P. (Home Affordable Modification Program).

The tax incentive may be ending but there are still many fantastic government programs available on a national, state, and municipal level. Fannie Mae foreclosures will guarantee 3.5% towards closing costs and appliances with a two year home warranty included.  FHA insured HUD homes can be purchased for $100 down in many cases.  There are tons of programs that are out there to help real estate recovery.  One just needs to go the
right sources such as a Realtor or Loan Officer to see what they

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Today is the deadline for participating banks and mortgage servicing companies to implement the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program, otherwise known as HAFA. Starting today, the HAFA program may make a short sale (or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure) a much more viable option than ever before for homeowners who are "upside-down" on their homes. Will HAFA merely shine a ray of hope on the glut of short sale inventory or will it be a panacea for most short sales?

A short sale is a transaction in which the lender (or lenders) agree to accept less than the mortgage amount owed by the homeowner, thus potentially enabling a homeowner to avoid foreclosure. The HAFA Program, which takes effect today, April 5 2010, and sunsets on December 31st 2012,

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The biggest investment many people make is their home and in recent years that investment has turned sour.  Rapidly rising home values appeared to be a sure bet.  As home values went up and equity magically increased, many homeowners sought and were given second mortgages which left very little net equity.  

Like all financial bubbles, the inevitable crash has arrived.  A major cause was Wall Street's securitization of "sub prime" loans.  A great explanation can be found at CrisisofCredit.com.  As housing prices fell, and as homeowners lost jobs or had other financial problems, their second mortgages and high interest rate loans combined to make many homes unaffordable.

One option to avoid unaffordable monthly mortgage payments is a short sale.  A short

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Happy Halloween from Lake & City Homes Realty! Check out this amazing pumpkin carving website and choose your favorite from the pumpkin carving gallery. Then comment on anything you see in my blog (including this post) and you'll be eligible to win a $10 sign-up promo code from Alice.com (no affiliation). The drawing will take place at Lake & City Homes Realty on Friday, November 6th, 2009.

When I realized that the creator of these amazing pumpkin carvings, Scott Cummins, only spends 1-2 hours on each carving, I was inspired to figure out how I too might start working smarter, not harder! So, whether you're buying or selling, here's some tips (as opposed to dirty tricks!) for working smarter in today's real estate market to get the kind of results you

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As both a Realtor and consumer, it would be hard not to notice what an overwhelming success the first-time homebuyer's $8K tax credit has been both nationally and on the Madison real estate market. Both homebuyer interest and housing sales shot through the roof before the ink was even dry on the legislation. Although lower prices and historically low interest rates have certainly been a huge draw, it's clear the $8K tax credit is primarily responsible for consumers' renewed interest in homeownership in the midst of the massive mortgage meltdown and ensuing housing crisis.


But progress may come to a screeching halt unless Congress extends the credit through 2010. Without an extension of the legislation, many people will miss out. Those who couldn't

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