Exciting to see this one on Aquia Dr in Stafford making it to closing…after numerous snags. Bank of America changed their guidelines 3 times during the negotiations, but we stuck with it. This is a cash deal and the homeowners will be able to walk away from over $100,000 in debt since they owe that much more than what the home is selling for this month. Congrats to our sellers! For more information on short sales and how we can help someone you know who might need our help, call me at (703) 774-9572 or email me at me.

Great news from a friend of mine this week concerning her upside down mortgage…her lender, Bank of America, told her that her 2nd trust would be written off and paid in full! Here was her breakdown of the conversation with BofA…

“I just got back from Mexico yesterday. There was a FedEx package on my front door when I got home, and it was from bank of America. As most of you know, I bought my home in 2007 and am upside down on it. The package was a letter addressing my second trust and saying that the FULL second trust amount was being forgiven and that after 30 days I will no longer have a second trust. I was honestly floored and thought that it was some type of scam. Then I got a call from them today asking if I received it and wanting to make sure I wanted to accept. I asked a lot of questions and they said that my loan was part of the settlement that the  agreed to with the attorney generals regarding the robo signing. I asked why I was chosen and they said because my loan was with countrywide originally, it was chosen. She said that MOST second trust that were originally with countrywide will be totally forgiven and wiped away. I asked if there would still be a second lien on my property if I ever wanted to sell, and they said they will remove it totally from the title and will report it on my credit as paid in full!!” S.R.

For more information about short sales, 2nd trusts, Bank of America or anything else regarding upside down mortgages, feel free to call me at (703) 774-9572 or email me at me.

Our Short Sale on McKenzie in Manassas, VA has been approved by Virginia Housing Development Authority. We’ve been working with the sellers since the first of the year and this is their investment home. VHDA has agreed to waive their rights to the deficiency, but insisted on having a promissory note from the sellers to make up for part of the loss. Congrats to our clients on this next step in the process. We are expected to close on this property by the end of August. For more information on short sales in Virginia, call me at (703) 774-9572 or email me at me.

I read this and had to share…published by dsnews.com:

Parents going through foreclosure may see it as a nightmare, a broken promise of the American Dream. Many might try to hide the stress and the effects of foreclosure from their children to keep them from worrying. However, researchers from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) are saying that children may actually suffer because of foreclosure more than anyone.

According to a study conducted by CHOP’s PolicyLab and published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, there is a strong relationship between the rate of child physical abuse and local mortgage foreclosures. The study, titled “Local macroeconomic trends and hospital admissions for child abuse, 2000 to 2009,” found that overall physical abuse increased by 0.79 percent per year in the period between 2000 and 2009, while traumatic brain injury increased by 3 percent in the same time. This data, based on reports pulled from 38 children’s hospitals, stands in contrast to national child welfare data, which shows a decline in physical abuse.

“We were concerned that health care providers and child welfare workers anecdotally reported seeing more severe child physical abuse cases, yet national child protective services data indicated a downward trend,” said Joanne Wood, MD, MSHP, an attending physician at CHOP and lead author of PolicyLab’s report. “It’s well known that economic stress has been linked to an increase in child physical abuse, so we wanted to get to the bottom of the contrasting reports by formally studying hospital data on a larger scale.”

Researchers found that each 1 percent increase in 90-day mortgage delinquencies over a one-year period was associated with a 3 percent increase in hospital admissions due to child physical abuse and a 5 percent increase in admissions due to traumatic brain injury suspected to be caused by abuse.

According to another report written by researcher Julia Isaacs for First Focus and the Brookings Institution, foreclosure affects more than eight million children in the United States: An estimated 2.3 million are living in homes that have already been foreclosed on, and another 6 million live in rented or owner-occupied homes at risk of foreclosure. Isaacs also points out that the information the report is based on focuses on outdated loan statuses for loans between 2004 and 2008; noting this, she calls the 8.3 million estimate “conservative.”

Physical abuse is not the only issue faced by children in families suffering from foreclosure. Isaac’s report cites research dating as far back as the Great Depression which shows that financially distressed parents are more likely to engage in harsher and less supportive parenting, making it more difficult for children to interact with others. Furthermore, studies found higher rates of emergency room visits in zip codes with high foreclosure rates, pointing to the physical toll taken by stress and the need to postpone medical expenses.

Analyzing the data of Isaac’s report and the Pediatrics study, Wood and the PolicyLab team called for more collaboration between child welfare agencies and hospitals so that both can have a better idea of the extent to which abuse occurs in communities hit hard by foreclosure. They also noted that public agencies working with vulnerable children and families would be better equipped to prevent abuse if they had better working knowledge of the risk factors.

“Two major themes emerge from this study,” said Wood. “First, we see a clear opportunity to use hospital data along with child welfare data to ensure a more complete picture of child abuse rates both locally and nationally. Second, the study identifies another economic hardship–mortgage foreclosures–that is associated with severe physical abuse. As the foreclosure crisis is projected to continue in the near future, these results highlight the need to better understand the stress that housing insecurity places on families and communities so that we can better support them during difficult times.”

Thanks to our clients in Alexandria, VA who posted this review for us on Zillow.com http://www.zillow.com/profile/Jennifer-Young-Homes/Reviews/. Here’s what they had to say about our service while selling their short sale in Alexandria:

“The professionalism displayed by all members of the JYT (Jennifer Young Team) was beyond reproach. Their commitment and dedication to their client was impressive and at all times kept their client abreast of any information pertinent to the sale. I doubt that any firm could have better represented their client and acted in their best interest. I highly recommend JYT and would be first to say that if you need a firm to represent you in a short-sale, JYT is the team that you need on your side. I wish to sincerely thank every member of the team for their outstanding representation and commitment to insure client satisfaction and unparalleled service.” J.M.

For more information about short sales and how we can help you or someone you know, call me at (703) 774-9572 or email me.

Congrats to our clients who sold their investment home with us in Parkville, MD as a short sale. The lender was Wells Fargo and we negotiated a full deficiency waiver with them on our client’s behalf. The sellers bought this investment property in 2007 for $240,000…the current market dictated we sell it this month for $118,000. Approval letter from Wells Fargo are below. For more info on this sale or if you know someone that might need my help, call me at (703) 774-9572 or email me at me.

Successful Suntrust Short Sale – Jennifer Young Homes

Seller Walked Away from Owing Over $150,000 on Their Upside Down Mortgage!

All deficiency rights have been waived by Suntrust on this short sale. Our clients bought this home on Cheyenne Knoll in Alexandria, VA at the height of the market and owed over $576K. We just sold it for $420,000. Congrats to our sellers! Here is the testimonial from this seller: “Jennifer Young’s group at Keller Williams is just AMAZING!! They took care of us through the extremely difficult short-sale process and we were able to successfully sell our property in 6 months. Their negotiator, Edson, is very experienced and had the right industry connections to get our contract approved by our leaner in record time. He was very responsive and informative throughout the entire process. From start to finish, we felt we were in good hands with the team’s coordinators, Leslie and Bethany, whom guided us through the process with thorough explanations and realistic expectations. Through this stressful process the group’s expertise and personalized instruction was very helpful and appreciated. We were extremely luckily and grateful to have found this real estate group to help finally get our home short sold.” J&S

For more info on this case or to talk about your own situation, call me at (703) 774-9572 or email me at me.

This home just listed with us as a short sale on Churchill Glen Dr in Chantill, VA was referred to us by a very happy past client. This home is one of the largest in the neighborhood (over 5,000 sq ft finished) and is already pre-approved by Bank of America to sell fast. Ask about seeing this home today – great find – $725,000! For more info on these types of sales or if you know someone who needs our help, call me at (703) 774-9572 or email me at me.