Are Loan Modifications Real?

Posted by Justin McHood on November 17th, 2008

The other night, I found myself in the twilight zone and was having flashbacks to the year 2005.

I was at a neighbors house and he was having a “neighborhood get-together” with a handful of other families. We live in a newly built neighborhood and new people are moving in all the time, so I was meeting a few of our neighbors for the first time. One of them asked what I did for a living and when I answered “oh, Tammy and I are mortgage folks”, it was the trigger where the twilight zone theme started playing in my mind.

If you lived in Arizona in 2005 and attended a neighborhood party, what was the main topic that seemed to dominate every conversation?

In 2005, the main topic that dominated neighborhood conversations all around Arizona seemed to be the recent run-up in home values and “could you believe that so-and-so paid how much for that house?”

Fast forward to 2008.

The main topic of our neighborhood party today?

“Can you believe what so-and-so’s bank did to modify their loan? Their new house payment is only going to be __________ for the next 5 years!”

I left the party scratching my head… I mean - it was full of all kinds of stories about people getting their loan modified. You almost felt out of place there if you hadn’t had yours modified!

I would estimate that a full 25% of all of the people there had already had their loan modified and after the stories that were being told, I wouldn’t be surprised if the other 75% wasn’t far behind them in getting the process started.

Are loan modifications real?

Yes. Yes, they are.

And they apparently are only going to get more popular in coming months if/when the federal government begins to encourage lenders to modify people’s loans.



November 17, 2008 | Filed Under Arizona Home Financing Options, Loan Modification 

comments

7 Responses to “Are Loan Modifications Real?”

  1. jeff on November 17th, 2008

    can you fill me in on how to get my loans modified????

  2. Justin McHood on November 18th, 2008

    @jeff just responded to you via email!

  3. Raymond Day on November 18th, 2008

    It’s interesting that we have been doing loan mods on a consistent basis for the last 6 months, and how it is just now becoming the buzz word. What’s also interesting is the number of loan mods being done in the industry, only about 10% nationwide will actually be changed over the next 12 months by the lenders. What about the other 90%, well let’s just hope the homeowners are able to make their payments without any problems.

    Let me also mention that the lenders will never loose money, so hopefully you will get a decent loan mod that isn’t really just taking advantage of you for a second or third time. Consider who gave you the mortgage the first time, your current lender. I’m not trying to advertise our services here, that is not my intention. I do recommend however that you make sure your loan modification is good for you long term, not just over the next 12 months.

    Have a professional look at the paperwork before you sign it. We have many clients who use our service after their lender offers the loan mod. Not just us, many loan mod providers see these homeowners using their service.
    Thank you for your time and I hope this helps some homeowners make better decisions about their loan mods and from losing their homes.

    Maybe Justin and Tammy will provide this service too in the future. If your interested in doing that simply for your clients Justin, email me to find out how.

  4. Justin McHood on November 18th, 2008

    @Raymond

    Thanks for stopping by our site!

    We first started blogging about loan modifications in July and many, many, *many* people that we talk to who can’t refinance really can benefit from a loan modification and we try to refer them to great companies who can help.

    We do see a common theme of the consumer trying to work with their lender and getting nowhere — only to hire a reputable loan modification attorney and have their loan modified.

    Are loan modification companies worth the money that they charge? In general, our opinion is yes because they are getting loans modified where consumers have not been successful.

    Tammy and I have decided to stay in the loan origination business and out of the loan modification business, thanks.

    But this does highlight a point — there are many ex-loan officers who are now in the loan modification business, and as Raymond mentioned “consider who gave you the mortgage the first time…” how ironic it would be if you actually ended up getting a loan modification from the same person who gave you the mortgage!

    So proceed with caution when hiring a loan modification company. Just like everything else in life, there are good ones and bad ones out there.

    I am happy to be a resource if you need it in pointing you in the direction of a few good ones, I have personally met with about 10 CEO’s of loan modification companies (and blogged about at least one of them) and can give you a menu option of good and bad points about each one.

    Justin

  5. What is a Loan Modification? | Phoenix Arizona Real Estate Blog on November 18th, 2008

    [...] Listen to the full 18 minute conversation with Darrell Ankarlo. [...]

  6. Chris Geoghegan on December 15th, 2008

    I would be happy to discuss the loan modification process with anyone. I have been helping homeowners for 3 years. I will not offer any crazy low rates and massive guarantees, just honest information and real life cases that I have personally helped. Please call me at 1-888-612-4852.

  7. Justin on December 16th, 2008

    @Chris

    Thanks for stopping by - we have just added a page where we list different loan modification contacts that people can call if they are interested in getting help with their loan modification.

    Feel free to call me if you want to be on the list - 480 374 0303.

    Justin

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