NAREOB's Newsletter

April 2012 

Dear (Contact First Name), 

In this newsletter, we will identify the Best Banks to buy from and why changes in the marketplace have investors seeing hundreds of billions of dollars in NPLs changing hands over the next two years.

Also we will also review the FHFA position of the slow foreclosure process, the debate on REO-to-Rental Initiative, and the CoreLogic report on the increase in negative equity in the fourth quarter of last year.

Walter Barnes

President

National Association of REO Brokers, Inc.  

Best Banks to Buy From

March 2012 issue of Foreclosure New Report

More the 644,000 Bank-owned properties nationwide give buyers ample inventory to choose from. But not all bank-owned purchases are created equal; some banks sell more quickly and offer bigger discounts. But which are the best banks to buy from?  

What lenders offer the best deals? Which servicers sell their REOs fastest?

To come up with the lists of 6 'best banks to buy from' that sold more than 1,500 REOs during the last quarter, the folks at Foreclosure New Report used a combined ranking of the lenders with the highest percentage savings and the shortest times to sell REO properties.

Ally Financial (formerly GMAC) was number one with an average sales price of $60,254, a 60% savings in 104 days.

#2 was Wells Fargo with an average sales price of 83,530, a 43% savings in 157 days.

#3 was Citigroup with an average sales price of $68,406, a 49% savings in 167 days.

# 4 was the U.S. Government with an average sales price of $93,941, a 30% savings in 187 days.

The was a tie for #5, JP Morgan Chase with an average sales price of $98,864, a 41% savings in 203 days and Bank of America with an average sales price of $120,8010, a 27% savings in 187 days.

ByPaul Muolo 

APR 5, 2012 4:06am ET

Loosening the Reins on Bank Nonperformers  

In the early days of the financial crisis investors were lining up for the mother of all loan auctions. It was thought to be the best buying opportunity for bad debt since the S&L crisis. And then a funny thing happened: banks and investment bankers decided not to dump their nonperforming loans, at least not in large numbers-or at fire-sale prices.

CoreLogic® Reports 22.8% of Mortgages in Negative Equity

CoreLogic released negative equity data showing that 11.1 million, or 22.8 percent, of all residential properties with a mortgage were in negative equity at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011. This is up from 10.7 million properties, 22.1 percent, in the third quarter of 2011. An additional 2.5 million borrowers had less than five percent equity, referred to as near-negative equity, in the fourth quarter. Together, negative equity and near-negative equity mortgages accounted for 27.8 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage nationwide in the fourth quarter, up from 27.1 in the previous quarter. Nationally, the total mortgage debt outstanding on properties in negative equity increased from $2.7 trillion in the third quarter to $2.8 trillion in the fourth quarter.

Debate Intensifies About REO-to-Rental Initiative

By Evan Nemeroff 

MAR 21, 2012 1:05am ET

Mortgage servicing industry executives all have different opinions about whether the REO-to-rental strategy initiated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency will help spur any type of housing recovery.

Since the government-sponsored enterprises currently own nearly half of the nation's REO inventory that is available on the market, the FHFA recently decided to launch an initiative in which qualified investors can acquire these distressed assets in bulk and convert them into rental units for prospective tenants.

To Learn More 

FHFA Blames Local Laws for Slow Foreclosure Process

By Kevin Wack

March 20, 2012

The Federal Housing Finance Agency had sharp words early this week for state and local governments that have passed laws meant to help homeowners facing risk of foreclosure.

A top official for the agency, which is charged with minimizing taxpayer losses from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, told members of Congress that those laws are slowing down the foreclosure process, ultimately to the detriment of everyone involved.

To Learn More 

NAREOB Exchange and Referral Service

The National Association of REO Brokers (NAREOB) is a nationwide membership base REO Disposition Service.  We have spent the last 28 years in the REO industry, having place more the 25,000 Referrals to a network of over 1,800 REO Brokers.  Over the years, we have worked with 131 financial institutions.  With the a recent acquisition, we have add another 250 clients to our database.

The following are the services that NAREOB offers:

Real Estate Valuation Service - This service is provided by licensed Real Estate Professionals.  Whenever there is a need for an appraisal or broker price opinion, NAREOB 24/7 online Real Estate Valuation service is available. 

"Fast Track" REO Service - This Real Estate Owned (REO) Disposition and Marketing Service turns distressed properties into cash more efficiently and effectively.    

NAREOB Exchange Service - Provides an opportunity to quietly sell distressed assets either singular or in bulk to investors with little or no seller paid commission.

All NAREOB services are available online 24/7 at nareob.com/Lender_Services.  

You may also request services by emailing us at nareob@nareob.com or faxing your request to (707) 375-2700.

Please call Walt Barnes at (707) 374-3635 with any questions you may have.