How Far Will House Prices Still Fall?

This year began with a foreclosure rate of 4.9% and a prediction that it will increase substantially during the year while housing prices fall off another 20% to 30%.  The government is proposing a number of programs to attempt to reduce the number of foreclosures but there are an equal number of “experts” that predict both their success and failure; we only need to wait and see.

But for the homeowner caught in the middle, waiting isn’t an option.  They don’t have time to sit on the sidelines to see who gets help and who doesn’t, and if they do, how and when become huge questions.  For the 1 in 10 American homeowners with a mortgage that are at least one mortgage payment behind or are already in the foreclosure process the time for assistance is now. 

The good news is that help just got easier to locate.

According to Jay Medley, Director of Corporate Marketing for RealtyU, the company that released the Certified Short-Sale Professional (CSP) course last year, “We have now made it very easy for homeowners facing foreclosure to locate a trained real estate professional to help them evaluate the short sale process, determine the best action to take and walk them through the process of marketing the home, finding a willing buyer, working with the lender(s) and the other parties involved.”  He noted that CSP trained professionals know how to work with lenders and how to present the offer to a lender that will make the lender’s job easier; which, in light of the hundreds if not thousands of requests for short-sales, is critical to resolving the problem.  Time is the critical element in the foreclosure process and the faster a homeowner can take action the better chance they have in effecting a successful short sale.  Now that help is just a map click away.

In order to make it easier for the consumer to locate a CSP professional in their area, RealtyU has created a searchable, national database containing the contact information for all agents that have successfully completed the Certified Short-Sale Professional course and earned the CSP designation.  One click and homeowners can be in touch with a short sale trained professional that can begin answering their questions.  To access the national database users only need to visit www.CertifiedShortSaleProfessional.com and search by state.  Time is critical and so is finding a professional to help.