Foreclosure Relief from The Federal Government

The US Attorney General has announced a plan to help homeowners, who are underwater on their mortgages, get relief.

Before you start doing “the wave” there are a couple of items you need to know:
• Your loan must be owned by one of five banks: Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial
• You will need to be delinquent on your payments, threat of foreclosure, and mortgage is more than the home’s current value

If you qualify then this program will reduce the amount of principal on your mortgage. Numbers range from $15,000 to $20,000 in principal reduction.

Overall Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, own approximately 46% of the nation’s mortgages (including mine!). This means that the plan will be offered to a small amount of homeowners.

In my opinion: In my neighborhood (an hour north of Atlanta) I have seen multiple foreclosures in the past few years. Matter of fact there are another four that are available at this time. The reasons for these foreclosures were varied: Loss of a job, builders losing their companies, divorces, and one neighbor convicted for federal mail fraud! While their home were in short sale, and then ultimately advertised for foreclosure, I looked at the debt acquired on their homes. The numbers, in some cases, were astonishing! Multiple mortgages in excess of 110% of the purchase of the home. One homeowner had over $1 million dollar in loans on his home (the home sold in foreclosure for approximately $390,000). My take on my local foreclosure market is this: The majority of folks I knew had a lot of debt in the good times and was always on the edge. No program would help them stay in their home. It appears that the quicker we can clean out the foreclosures in my neighborhood then the quicker we can return to some sense of a normal real estate market. $20,000 reductions on my neighbor’s loan principal will not

MOLD! A Four Letter Word

I bring up the subject of mold because we just dealt with this situation. Please read our prior blog entitled "We Know What We Are Doing".

What I have learned about mold is that the very word sounds off alarm bells with most people. Realtors have placed mold with synthetic stucco and for sale by owner as terms we hate to discuss.

Here is what I will say about mold:
•Take the time to check your homeowners insurance to see if you have mold coverage
•If you suspect mold in your home call at least three certified experts to discuss optionos.
•Do not try to treat the mold yourself.


Very simple advice but words that my partner Barb and I had to put into practice recently (again read our previous blog).

We know what we are doing!

I have had to emphasize this point for many years: THIS IS OUR PROFESSION.

My partner Barb and I have had the pleasure to work with many well educated, business savvy, experienced clients. Some of them have bought and sold more houses than I have!

However after 7 years of success in this real estate market we can say with confidence that we know what we are doing.

Recently we had a client who was dealing with a possible mold issue in a home that he was lease/purchasing. A water leak occurred in the bathroom (nail in a pipe). The homeowner sent out an insurance adjuster who made a report. The homeowner next sent out a plumber and contractor to fix some of the items but not everything in the adjuster's's report.

In the interim our client's son, who is 4, had been sick for over four months! Possible mold in the home and how it relates to their son's illness.

Once the "M" word was mentioned my partner Barb and I took this to a higher level.

We asked our clients to not talk to the current homeowner and let us discuss options. Our client, who had lease/purchased the home, wanted to work this situation out with the homeowner but nothing was being accomplished.

Reviewing our GAR contract with our broker, we looked at possible options.

After a professional mold certified inspector filed his report we were at our next step.

Barb and I then advised our client to discuss all options with an attorney.

The contract was to be terminated pending a final walk through by the current owner, our client, and my partner Barb present.

Needless to say the current owner did not welcome my partner Barb with open arms. They proceeded to make a lot of comments and accusations, some rather harsh, at her. She had to listen to these irrational comments because she represented her clients.


Moral of our story: A lot of us thinks we can do everything our self. Whether it is working on our car, our house, investing our savings, doing our taxes, buying our houses there are times when we need to use a professional.

Barb and I pride ourselves on our knowledge, integrity, and hard work. All we ask is that our clients let us "watch their backs".

Time to Move

Moving is hard. Whether it is a new job, a transfer, different home, school, or church it is hard to say goodbye.

However moving brings about a new excitement to our life.

After 6.5 years at The Norton Agency of Cumming GA, The Wells Team has made a move. We are now members of Keller Williams Community Partners.

Keller Williams is the largest real estate company in Forsyth County Georgia (North side of Atlanta). We have an office in both Cumming GA and Dawsonville GA. Both of these offices are better located for The Wells Team and our clients. We will be able to more effectively serve our clients in the North Metro Atlanta area all the way to the North Georgia Mountains.

The change also gave us the "kick" we needed to jump start our business.

Even with our new partner The Wells Team will not change its overall recipe for success: Working hard for our clients. It is a simple recipe but has been the reason why we are where we are today.

The Wells Team and Keller Williams: A great combination.