View foreclosures and short sales for sale in Pasadena, including: single family homes/residences, condos, townhomes, lofts, and real estate income property.

For Buying and/or Selling Real Estate, contact me:
Ramiro Rivas – Pasadena Real Estate
626-497-4606
Email Ramiro!

condos, income property, lofts, Pasadena Foreclosures, single family homes/residences, townhomes

Stuck in a Pasadena house you can’t afford or can’t sell for more than you owe on it? Beware the Web, where you’ll see plenty of claims that short sales will save your credit, simple as that. But there’s nothing simple about deciding whether to sell your Pasadena house in a foreclosure or in a short sale, which means you sell the property for less than you owe the bank. And in most cases, going through either process will wreck your credit score. 

“Both short sales and foreclosures are considered negative by the score, because our data shows us it’s very predictive of future credit risk,” Tom Quinn, Minneapolis-based Fair Isaac Corp.’s vice president of FICO scores, said. “The claim that doing a short sale is not going to hurt your score is false. It’s inaccurate.” 

Notice of Forclosure

Credit scores, which are designed to assess how likely it is that consumers will uphold their side of the bargain, look at the severity (are we talking bankruptcy or a late car payment?), frequency (have you skipped a payment once, or have you missed a bunch?), and recency (did you miss a payment last month or last year?) of items on your credit report. 

That’s not to say that there aren’t some instances where short sales are better. If a borrower is current at the point of a short sale, for instance, then the consumer’s credit score won’t sink as far as it would have if he hadn’t made a mortgage payment for six months. Still, Fair Isaac says that the benefit from not having prior delinquencies on file pales when compared with the hit a score takes from a short sale. 

Dan Williams, program director for LSS Financial Counseling Service, says this widespread notion that short sales are better for credit is a big problem because it deters some people from going into foreclosure when that would be the best option for them. 

Breaking the Piggy Bank

Factor in the fact that many banks don’t start foreclosure proceedings right after the third missed payment, and families can potentially stay in a house for more than a year rent-free, hopefully saving that money to help them get back on their feet. This could amount to thousands of dollars. 

Housing counselors say that most clients have credit scores in the basement already. “If you’ve got a poor credit score and are doing a short sale to preserve your credit, it’s ridiculous,” Williams said. And it’s happening every day.” 

If you’re having mortgage trouble, seek help right away from a housing counselor or an attorney. Pasadena Realtors are the go-to professionals to learn about the local housing market and what it takes to sell your Pasadena home. But they aren’t credit experts, and I’d get a second opinion if anyone is telling you that a short sale will save your score. And don’t pay someone a lot of money if they promise to quickly rehab your credit score after foreclosure. Credit scores are forgiving—over time. 

Both FICO and its credit scoring competitor VantageScore have released estimates for what happens to consumers’ credit scores when they make mortgage missteps. In the VantageScore study, a homeowner with an otherwise clean record who then has a short sale sees their credit score drop between 120 and 130 points (on a scale of 501-990) compared with between 130 and 140 points if the same homeowner ends up in foreclosure. 

For a homeowner whose credit report is rife with late payments on everything from credit cards to car loans, a short sale would ding them between 15 to 25 points compared with 10 and 20 points for a foreclosure. Customers with rotten scores will see smaller point drops than someone whose score is good, because the score already has taken into account the lower-scoring customer’s risky behavior and adjusted the score downward. 

FICO’s example found short sales and foreclosures will set you back between 140 and 160 points if your credit score is a respectable 780 (on a scale of 300 to 850), or between 85 and 105 points if your credit is 680. 

Even if you do your homework, you ultimately can’t control how your housing woes are reported to the credit bureaus. For example, mortgage servicers may report your situation to the credit bureaus using different codes that could be interpreted more or less favorably by FICO, Quinn said. 

What if your circumstances change and you’re able to save your home from a foreclosure? “Once you’ve got a foreclosure starting to track on your credit file, you’re taking a major hit,” even if you ultimately save your house, said Sarah Davies, a VantageScore senior vice president. 

Credit scores play such a central role in consumer’s lives. Yet it’s so hard to understand them that people can end up making disastrous choices based on myths that are taken as fact. It’s certainly not a catchall solution, but Congress should at least grant consumers free access to their credit scores, an idea which is currently being floated at the capitol. 

For Buying and/or Selling Real Estate, contact me:
Ramiro Rivas – Pasadena Realtor
626-497-4606
Ramiro@RivasEstates.com

credit score, foreclosures, Pasadena Short Sales, SHORT SALE

Is Buying a Pasadena Foreclosure Really a Bargain? What You Need to Know

Bank Owned Home

In today’s tumultuous economy, it’s no surprise that there are foreclosure properties to be found in just about every community across America—even ours. While a terrible hardship for homeowners to endure, foreclosures can present a unique opportunity for first-time home buyers and investors looking to purchase a “bargain-priced home” with the potential for building instant equity.

As an experienced Pasadena real estate professional, I want to advise you to tread carefully when it comes to Pasadena foreclosures (also referred to as Pasadena Bank Owned Homes and REO’s)—they might not be quite the bargain you expect. Here are some important facts you need to know before venturing out into the foreclosure market:

Distressed Home Owners

- Homeowners faced with foreclosure are understandably stressed and resentful, which can often lead to neglecting routine maintenance on a home. Sometimes, even deliberate damage is done. Assessing the home’s condition, therefore, is a must.

- Foreclosure properties have often been vacant for an extended period of time. Look for problems caused by damp conditions, such as mold.

- Get a thorough home inspection before bidding on the property. Once the damage/disrepair of the home is assessed, factor this in when bidding on the home.

- Contact a real estate professional—like me, a Member of the Top 5 in Real Estate Network®—who is well steeped in the community and can provide information about pre-foreclosure properties, that is, homes that have been scheduled for foreclosure but have not yet gone to auction or been sold off. These homes need to be sold quickly as owners are trying to avoid foreclosure and its impact on their credit.

- Last but not least, go to www.hud.gov for information on how to buy homes acquired by the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development as a result of foreclosure action on an FHA-insured mortgage. The site also has information on special programs and opportunities for teachers, law enforcement officers and others.

While buying Pasadena foreclosures takes patience and research, the results can be well worth your time and effort. For more information, please e-mail me or call Ramiro Rivas at 626-497-4606, and please pass this on to anyone you know who might be interested in exploring a foreclosure purchase.

Pasadena Bank Owned Homes, Pasadena Foreclosures, pasadena real estate blog

The La Canada real estate market offers many luxury homes in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.  Here are active La Canada Foreclosures currently for sale.  Foreclosure inventory is comprised of La Canada bank owned homes and preforeclosure short sale listings.

bank owned homes, la canada foreclosures for sale, la canada homes for sale, la canada real estate

Pasadena Foreclosures

Pasadena Foreclosures, Bank Owned Homes, Preforeclosures

The Pasadena Real Estate Market has been holding steady with home sales going up. What most people don’t know is that Pasadena, like many other other cities, is flooded with what is called shadow inventory.

What is Shadow Inventory? Shadow Inventory are foreclosure properties not on the MLS (multiple listing service).

These properties are comprised of:

• Preforeclosures, homes that have a NOD (Notice of Default) filed
• Auction Scheduled NTS homes
• REO, bank owned homes not on the MLS

Many say that preforeclosed and Auction Scheduled NTS homes cannot be considered as shadow inventory, because they have not been been foreclosed on. The reality is that most people behind on their mortgage are typically behind due to financial distress. Most banks will not forgive a large debt and most loan modifications are not approved. Hiring a short sale specialist may be helpful to avoid foreclosure, but the chances on a short sale approval is slim.

As a lifetime Pasadena resident, I see this Shadow Inventory everywhere. A great way to spot these Pasadena foreclosures is by looking for the following:

• Boarded up windows
• over grown landscaping
• notice of “Do not trespass” typically on the front window(s)
• lockbox on the front door or gate

Search for: Pasadena Foreclosures for Sale         How much is your Home’s Value? 

Written By:

Ramiro Rivas

Rivas & Associates 

626-497-4606

Ramiro@RivasEstates.com

Pasadena Foreclosures, pasadena real estate blog