This is a brief overview of the Short Sale and the Short Sale process.

A. Short Sale Definition

A short sale occurs when a owner of real estate has outstanding obligations against a property that is more then what the property can be sold for in today’s market.

B. Short Sale Function

A Short Sales is a way to avoid foreclosure. This strategy is designed to potentially allow a homeowner to reach an agreement with the lender(s) to eliminate loan debts.

Step 1

You need to negotiate with your lender(s). They will have to be contacted. While mortgage lenders can be sympathetic to your problems, Lenders are never anxious to allow a short sale. If you’re uncomfortable in this role, let your Realtor, lawyer or advisor negotiate with your lender.

Step 2

You must write a letter “authorizing” your mortgage lender to disclose your loan information to real estate agents, lawyers, title companies, or other interested parties. Your loan information is subject to privacy laws so your lender needs your written authorization to release this data. This letter should include the property address, your name, your loan number (or other identifying data), and, if appropriate, a list of the parties for whom you wish this information to be given.

Step 3

Discover the current market value of your home. It is best to contact a real estate broker. The broker will provide you with an estimate of market value.

Step 4

Project the cost of selling the home. Your broker will be able to provide this data to you. Include closing costs.

Step 5

Also include your current unpaid loan balance and payments due. Your task is to present to the lender the bottom line ‘Net’ from a projected sale.

Step 6

Do the math. Subtract the total amount owing against the property from the estimated proceeds of the sale. On a short sale, this will be a negative number.

Step 7

You must write a ‘Hardship Letter’ detailing all the events that have occurred to cause you to arrive in this financial situation. Explain your economic problems honestly and directly ask your mortgage lender to accept a less than full balance payment. While the more dire your circumstances, the better the chance your request will be granted, you should resist the temptation to over dramatize your situation.

Step 8

Prepare a statement of your current income and other assets for your lender to evaluate. Include all your assets, bank accounts, stocks, savings, additional real estate and all other items of value. You will often be asked to submit the last 3 to 6 months’ bank statements.

This information should display that you have neither the income nor the assets to repay your mortgage loan in full. Your mortgage lender will examine these to learn if there are recent large cash withdrawals or high numbers of checks clearing your accounts. Lenders want some assurance that you haven’t been hiding or diverting funds that might go to them.

Step 9

Talk to your tax account before you put your house on the market for sale. The IRS consider the forgiven debt obligations as income to you.

Step 10

Prepare to sell your home. You have two options. You can list the home for sale before you receive lender approval or you can wait until you have received approval. Please discuss this issue with your real estate broker before making a final decision. Many lenders will not even consider approving a Short Sale without the property being listed for sale.

Step 11

Sell the home. When you accept an offer, your broker will take care of the details with your lender(S).

Summary

This report serves only as a guide to the short sale process. It is not intended to include all details. Therefore you are advised to seek further clarification and confirmation of the process from your lender(S), real estate broker, lawyer, accountant or financial advisor.

In closing… please feel free to contact me if you have additional questions. It would be my pleasure to meet with you to clarify any issues you may have outstanding regarding the Short Sale process.

Yours Sincerely;
Steve Olmos, Summit Realty Group
909-590-1537, steveolmos@steveolmos.com

Phillips Ranch, Pomona, California

This article is about a community in the Eastern boundaries of Los Angeles County in California 91766.

This community sits in the Southwester portion of Pomona. This community is call Phillips Ranch.

A master – plan community started by Louis Lesser in 1965 but the land remained largely undeveloped until the late 1970′s. Located just off the Pomona freeway, commonly refer to as the 60 freeway, and the Chino Valley freeway, known as the 71. The 71 is more like a highway as it runs the boundary of Phillips Ranch. The Orange Freeway or what is refer to as the 57 freeway is just west of Phillips Ranch with an exit at Temple. The 60 freeway has an exit on Phillps Ranch Road, which is on the south side of the community of Phillips Ranch.

Phillips Ranch is less then 30 miles from downtown Los Angeles and less then 115 mile to downtown San Diego. The zip code for Phillips Ranch is 91766 and share by other areas of Pomona and parts of San Bernardino county. The Residents of Phillips Ranch use the neighborhood name “Phillips Ranch, CA” as a return address and is an acceptable alternative to “Pomona, CA” by the California Post Office.

Phillips Ranch was part of the ranch of Louis Phillips. Louis Phillips acquired the ranch in 1864, which was the southern end of the 22,340-acre of Rancho San Jose from two businessmen. The two businessmen had previously bought it from Ricardo Vejar.

Phillips Ranch is 4 miles southwest of downtown Pomona, with the cities of Chino Hills to its South, Diamond Bar to its West, San Dimas to its North and Chino to its East.

There are over 10,000 homes in the Phillips Ranch community, with the elevation being 800 feet above sea level, but it is as high as 950 feet, the peak being located at the northwestern tip of the neighborhood on Mission Blvd and Temple Avenue.

Phillips Ranch has its own shopping center, which is in the possess of being redone. Also the Winco Supermarket and Walmart are in the Phillips Ranch community. Phillips Ranch is surround by a number of restaurants, shopping centers and Malls like Chino Spectrum Marketplace and Towne Center, The Montclair Mall, The Shoppes in Chino Hills, Puente Mall in Hacienda Heights and the City of Industry and Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga.

Phillips Ranch is close to several Theme Parks, with Disneyland Resort and Downtown Disney around 25 miles away and Knotts Berry Farm a little over 25 miles. 6 Flag Magic Mountain is less then an hour away. Raging Waters Park is less then 5 miles away. The Pomona Fairplex, better known as the Los Angeles County Fair is under 4 miles.

You can drive to Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear or Silverwood Lake in about a hour or drive to the Santa Monica Pier or Long Beach or a number of other cities by the pacific ocean in an hour or two.

If you want go spend the day golfing. You are minutes away from several public golf course such as the 18 hole golf course at Diamond Bar, Diamond Bar Golf Club. The 18 hole course in Pomona, at Mountain Meadows Golf Course or Los Serranos Country Club, with two 18 hole courses in Chino Hills and Royal Vista, a also has 2 18 hole course, located in Walnut.

If you just want to get out for a hour or two then Palm Lake is a 9 hole course and is just on the other side of the 71 freeway/highway.

If you like bowling, you have Oak Tree Lanes in Diamond Bar, Chapparral lanes in San Dimas, Bowlium in Montclair and the a new bowling which entertainment center which just open in December, Chaparral 300 in Chino Hills, just to name a few around Phillips Ranch.

There are a number of movie theaters around Phillips Ranch. Like the Harkins, a multi-screen theater in Chino Hills, Regal Cinema – Edwards Ontario Palace 22 & IMAX in Montclair or the Cinemark 8 in the city of Chino. There is even a Drive-in, Mission Tiki Drive-in just a small drive away in Montclair.

Phillips Ranch is a great little community and still very affordable for Southern California. Phillips Ranch can be a great place to live.

To find properties for sale in Phillips Ranch or in the Southern California area, visit www.LookingRealEstate.com

Steve Olmos

www.LookingRealEstate.com/Phillips-Ranch-Homes

For mortgage infromation go to www.Mortgage Marketing Mentor.com

You’re a smart investor.You know that you need to have the title on a property checked and insured before you buy.

But is acloud on the title the end of the story for your deal? Not always. In somecases, title trouble can be resolved easily via simple legal processes like quit claim deed or a quiet title action. Never take it for granted that you can solve a cloudy title on your own, though.Always get professional, legal advice on the situation before moving forward.. Steve Olmos www.LookingRealEstate.com ]]> http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2011/12/19/handling-title-trouble/feed/ 0 http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2011/11/23/looking-for-a-great-place-to-live-walnut-california-may-be-what-you-want/ http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2011/11/23/looking-for-a-great-place-to-live-walnut-california-may-be-what-you-want/#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:33:22 +0000 Steve Olmos http://www.lookingrealestate.com/?p=224 Looking For a Great Place to Live?, Look at Walnut in Southern California The city of Walnut is located in Southern California in the County of Los Angeles, about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and encompasses 8.9 square miles. This is a great little city out side of Downtown Los Angeles, with highly raged schools and well located, within hours of great mountain resorts of Arrowhead and Big Bear. Beaches like Malibu, Huntington, Laguna and Santa Monica. Enjoy the year around entertainment of Hollywood, Disneyland, Knotsberry Farm and Universal Studio. Less then 4 hours from Las Vegas and within an hour or two from a number of Indian Casinos. Not to mention, the number of areas where you can just go to sight see and if you want to play in the sands in our locate deserts, you can drive to the dunes of Glamis or water ski in our many lakes such as Silverwood Lake which is just off the 15 fwy and just over an hour away. The City of Walnut’s rich history and its general information are included in this article. Walnut is located the in the Tri-County area of Los Angele, San Bernardino and Orange. The San Bernardino (10), Orange (57), and Pomona (60) Interstates are easily accessibility to all three counties. The master-planned single family homes in Walnut, range in size from 1,800 to 11,200 square feet. Just came up for Sale Walnut schools are rated in the top range of the state school system and the city is known as one of the cities with the lowest crime rates in the San Gabriel Valley. The Walnut Valley Unified school district, which also serves parts of the city of Diamond Bar are: * C.J. Morris Elementary School * Collegewood Elementary School * Oswalt Academy (used to be Oswalt Elementary School), part of the Rowland Unified School District * Vejar Elementary School * Walnut Elementary School * Westhoff Elementary School * Suzanne Middle School * Southlands Christian Schools * South Pointe Middle School * Ronald Hockwalt Academies (Formerly known as Del Paso High School) * Walnut High School * Diamond Bar High School Portions of the western side of Walnut are also served by the Rowland Unified School District. In addition, Mt. San Antonio College, one of the California Community Colleges, is also located in Walnut near its border with Pomona. Walnut is primarily a residential community with over 600 businesses and a population of approximately 32,486 people. The history of Walnut dates back to the Indians who were of Shoshone origin. They were called “Gabrielino Indians” by the Spaniards, who arrived in the early 1800s, because the Indians lived in an area controlled by the San Gabriel Mission. Walnut was primarily used for the grazing of cattle and sheep by the Mission. The Spaniards introduced the concept of ranchos and started agricultural development and the creation of home sites. The first land grants in the Walnut area were those of the Rancho De San Jose granted to Don Ricardo Vejar and Don Ygnacio Palomares by the Mexican Governor Juan Alvardo in 1837. Rancho Los Nogales, granted to Jose De La Cruz Linares in 1840. Rancho De Los Nogales, issued to Jose De La Cruz Linares; and Rancho La Puente, issued to John Rowland and William Workman in 1842 which consisted of a total of 48,790.5 acres. The City of Walnut was included as part of one of the 24 ranchos belonging to the San Gabriel Mission. In 1847, seven years after the unfortunate death of Linares, the rancho was acquired by Ricardo Vejar. This land included the eastern portion of Walnut and became part of Rancho San Jose, this land was known as ‘Ranch of the Walnut Trees’. In 1868, John Rowland and William Workman divided Rancho La Puente, leaving Rowland the eastern half and Workman the western half. Rowland’s land included the western portion of Walnut. The General Demographics for the city of Walnut are as follow: Population: 32,659 (as of 1/1/2010), Households: 8,597, Average Household Size: 3.81, Median Age: 37.8. Ethnicity of Walnut is Asian: 57% (21.5% of total is Filipino), Caucasian/Non-Hispanic: 26%, Hispanic: 2%, African American: 4% and Other: 9%. Homes & Income, Median Home Value: $664,662, Median Household Income: $89,267, Average Household Income: $106,996. Education (Over the age of 25), Bachelor’s Degree: 30.0%, Master’s Degree: 9.0%, Beyond Master’s Degree: 3.5%. The City of Walnut has several Historic Sites, Each site has been marked with a special sign to commemorate its significance to Walnut. Signs were placed at the following locations: 1. Suzanne Park, 1959 625 Suzanne Road Suzanne Park was the first park to be developed after the City was incorporated in 1959. The park was built by Walnut residents. 2. Bob Quattlebaum Windmill Fuerte Drive (Located within Suzanne Park Site) This metal windmill was donated to the City by the Quattlebaum family in memory of their father, Bob Quattlebaum. It was located on the family’s property on Kelso Road and is now located at Suzanne Park. 3. Brookside Equestrian Center 800 Meadow Pass Road This site first belonged to the Sentous family, holders of the 2,200 acre Sentous Ranch. It was later used in the filming of National Velvet, starring Elizabeth Taylor. The ranch is now owned by the Walton Family and used for equestrian programs, most notably as an Olympic training facility. 4. W. R. Rowland Adobe Ranch House 130 Avenida Alipaz This Adobe Ranch House, with its thick adobe walls, heavy wide doors, wood shingled roof and dirt floors, is the oldest building in the City of Walnut. It belonged to the owner of the Rowland Ranch, an area which included much of western Walnut. 5. Bourdet Home Home of Mayor Pete Bourdet 166 Lemon Avenue Pete Bourdet became the first mayor of Walnut in 1959. He was born here, farmed here and helped establish the first Walnut water system. His house was built in the 1920′s. 6. Martinez Adobe Built by Santiago Martinez 20222 Vejar Road (Vejar Elementary School Site) The Martinez Adobe was located on the current site of Vejar Elementary School, and was built in the 1840′s by Santiago Martinez. Adobe homes were advantageous in California’s hot climate, due to their efficient insulation. 7.Carrey Home Home of the Carrey Family 20330 Carrey Road Ernest Carrey, son of Pierre Carrey, found employment on a walnut ranch and used the money he earned to buy the site of present day Walnut High School. His son, Robert Carrey, was one of the first City Council members, and held meetings in his small garage. He also helped to build the first City Hall. Carrey and Pierre Roads honor this family’s contributions to the City. 8. Site of First Walnut City Hall 20550 Carrey Road Walnut was incorporated as a city on January 19, 1959, and the new town established a City Hall that same year. 9. Wild Life Sanctuary, Mt. SAC 1100 N. Grand Avenue This 10-acre nature preserve was established in 1964 to serve as a protected example of Walnut’s natural habitat. It contains a stream, pond and countless species of birds. 10. Grove of Walnut Trees Grand Avenue An example of walnut trees native to the area found growing throughout the City. The Map below was copied from the city’s official website, it marks the locations of Walnut’s historical sites and are identified by corresponding numbers above, The City of Walnut has a number of beautifully maintained trails and park lands including a state of the art recreation facilities, with a newly constructed Gymnasium, Teen Center, tennis courts and ball fields. The City’s Community Services Department oversees the maintenance of the City’s 11 parks, trail system, recreational facilities and coordinates the City’s sports leagues, leisure classes, and excursions. Steve Olmos www.LookingRealEstate.com References used: wikipedia and ci.walnut.ca   ]]> http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2011/11/23/looking-for-a-great-place-to-live-walnut-california-may-be-what-you-want/feed/ 0 http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2011/10/28/todays-real-estate-market/ http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2011/10/28/todays-real-estate-market/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:03:38 +0000 Steve Olmos http://www.lookingrealestate.com/?p=84 Today’s Real Estate Market Steve Olmos   www.LookingRealEstate.com ]]> http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2011/10/28/todays-real-estate-market/feed/ 0 http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2011/10/20/happy-halloween/ http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2011/10/20/happy-halloween/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:16:00 +0000 Steve Olmos http://www.lookingrealestate.com/?p=59 Happy Halloween and a scary look at Real Estate   Scarier Than Halloween “Need Help“? Steve Olmos www.Looking Real Estate.com ]]> http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2011/10/20/happy-halloween/feed/ 0 http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2011/09/02/success-and-being-happy-starts-at-home/ http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2011/09/02/success-and-being-happy-starts-at-home/#comments Fri, 02 Sep 2011 23:39:23 +0000 Steve Olmos http://www.lookingrealestate.com/?p=72 Success and being happy starts at home Happiness is now being seen as the best way to success. No longer is hard work and long hours to get to the top seem to be working. They are now saying that this theory only leads to having the problem of never reaching the top, because the goals keep moving. Happy people are more productive, will reach higher goals and will reach those goals faster because they are enjoying life and work. Happiness starts at home! Steve Olmos www.LookingRealEstate.com ]]> http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2011/09/02/success-and-being-happy-starts-at-home/feed/ 0 http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2010/11/23/homeless-home-owners/ http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2010/11/23/homeless-home-owners/#comments Tue, 23 Nov 2010 23:54:30 +0000 Steve Olmos http://www.lookingrealestate.com/?p=80 Homeless Home Owner Couple finds someone living in their home-to-be KOMO-TV STAFF SHORELINE, Wash. — The little yellow house perched upon a hill was positively perfect for a young couple in love. “I mean, this is our dream house,” said first-time homebuyer Veronica Botts. “This is, like, we’re 10 days away from closing. We’re ready to move in. We know what we’re going to do for Christmas here.” Botts and her then-boyfriend, Zael Zura, put in an offer on the Shoreline home several weeks ago. Zura proposed the same day. “It was a great day,” Botts said with a smile. The couple soon entered into a contract to buy the bank-owned home. Ten days from closing, on the day of their engagement party, Zura drove past the house and found strangers living there. The house was supposed to be vacant. “I thought, what are they doing here, what are they stealing, and why are they here?” Zura said. “I asked (one of them) who she was and she said, ‘Oh, I’m the new tenant.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I don’t believe we’ve rented to you, so who are you?’” Zura called the police after finding the realtor’s lock box had been cut, the home’s locks had been changed and a deed had been posted to the outside. The deed, filed in Snohomish County, attempts to lay claim to the home, which county records show is owned by a bank. At the bottom of the deed was the name James McClung and the notary listed as Jill Lane. Kirkland police opened an investigation on McClung and Lane in June after they arrested Lane and charged her with trespassing. Detectives believe she was squatting in a $3.2 million bank-owned mansion in the city. Since then, McClung’s name has popped up on documents appearing to stake claim on bank-owned homes throughout the area: in Kirkland and in Bellevue in August, and on a million-dollar mansion in Edmonds later that month. McClung declined multiple requests for an on-camera interview about the Shoreline home. Over the phone, he insisted he is doing nothing wrong. “Whatever the bank is stating is in the land of fiction,” McClung said. “(The previous owner) has eliminated the bank’s interest in the property due to fraud.” McClung said a friend owns the Shoreline home, and he was protecting his interests from the big banks and illegal foreclosures. “The machine that I’m fighting is the bankers. I’m just one of the little guys who’s fighting that,” McClung added. The King County Sheriff’s Office is now investigating McClung for his alleged involvement in the Shoreline home. “They changed the locks. They cut off the realtor’s lockbox to the front of the house. They put up no trespassing signs,” said Sgt. John Urquhart. “I’m going, ‘This thing stinks to high heaven.”‘ The listing agent for the home, Christina Lee with Century 21, showed police a title for the house that confirms the bank as the owner. In the meantime, Botts and Zura are essentially homeless. They gave notice on their rented home after they entered into contract with the bank, but the bank has delayed the closing date because of the new issues that have surfaced. “He’s ruined it,” Botts said. “He’s taken it away from us. We can’t have this house anymore, because he’s trying to make a buck off of something he doesn’t own.” Steve Olmos www.LookingRealEstate.com ]]> http://www.lookingrealestate.com/2010/11/23/homeless-home-owners/feed/ 0