1/31/10: Underwater or Under Motivated? Options to Rescue Your Property When You Can’t (or Won’t) Pay the Mortgage
Amidst the green shoots, silver lining and contrarian investment opportunities – there are still millions of property owners in America struggling to make the payments. The Real Estate Guys™ Special Report: What You MUST Know Before Attempting a Loan Workout has been (by a big margin) our most requested report. So we know there’s still a lot of working out to do before many people are able to move forward.
Because of all the changes in the mortgage mitigation business over the last several months, we thought it was time to re-visit this fun and exciting (not!) topic. After the show, we decided to lighten up a little and go get a root canal. Of course, dentists like it when people get root canals, so it appears we can’t escape the reality that there is opportunity in pain.
Enjoying the nitrous oxide in the studio for this week’s show:
- Your Host, Robert Helms
- Co-Host and Financial Hygienist, Russell Gray
- The Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms
- Loss Mitigation Industry Insider, David Lies
Once the nitrous kicked in and we were feeling no pain, we drilled into our discussion starting with the State of the Union in the Loan Modification business. With changing laws and attitudes, plus bailouts and political pressure – as well as an industry that is no longer considered fledgling or renegade, we had a lot to chew on.
To fill the cavities in our understanding, we quickly turned to our special guest David Lies. Davis is a 20 year loss mitigation industry veteran, 10 of which he spent directing the efforts of lawyers and collectors to reduce the lender’s losses. Even though it’s a whole new ball game, he has a great understanding of what motivates lenders to re-negotiate.
David shared what he sees as the most common misconceptions and misunderstandings about mortgage loss mitigation. He reminded us that lenders are actually the source of some of the confusion – and that lenders loss mitigation department’s mission is to reduce the lender’s loss, NOT the borrower’s.
David also shaped our understanding of who the ideal candidate for a workout or modification is. When time is short, it’s important to know what scenario is most likely to be accepted by the lender – and why professionals often can delay foreclosure faster, better and longer than do-it-yourselfers.
We talked about the government programs like HAMP, HASP and HEMP. Actually, there is no HEMP, but after the nitrous it sounded like a good program. Anyway, when the smoke cleared, David explained the 4 step waterfall process that lenders go through when deciding if and how to modify a mortgage. Then he shared the two things lenders always require before they will consider modifying a loan.
Before we knew it the show was over and we could feel our cheeks again. But it was so much fun, we’re going to do a follow up show on renegade strategies for delaying foreclosure. Even if you are not personally facing the loss of a property (and we hope you’re not), if you’re trying to acquire a property from a distressed seller, it could be very useful to know how to help them hold on until you can get your deal done. Be sure to tune in!
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