Las Vegas Loan Modification

My wife and I bought a home in Las Vegas. At the time of sale we took out a first and second mortgage. The second was secured by the property and was used partially for the down payment (to achieve 20%) and the rest used for improvements to the home (we have documentation to prove that). My wife and I had to move for work and were not insolvent or forced to file bankruptcy. The home was foreclosed on this summer, leaving the second mortgage of $133,300 unsecured. The bank is willing to settle the debt for $15,000 cash. My concern is that they will file a 1099c for the difference ($118,300) and we will owe taxes on that amount. I called the IRS help service and they were not certain whether this amount would be covered under the dept forgiveness act.

Can someone please answer my question; will I owe taxes on that $118, 300?

Yes that could very well happen.
Use the search box at the www.irs.gov website for The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act and Debt Cancellation
If you owe a debt to someone else and they cancel or forgive that debt, the canceled amount may be taxable.
The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 generally allows taxpayers to exclude income from the discharge of debt on their principal residence. Debt reduced through mortgage restructuring, as well as mortgage debt forgiven in connection with a foreclosure, qualifies for the relief.
This provision applies to debt forgiven in calendar years 2007 through 2012. Up to $2 million of forgiven debt is eligible for this exclusion ($1 million if married filing separately). The exclusion does not apply if the discharge is due to services performed for the lender or any other reason not directly related to a decline in the home’s value or the taxpayer’s financial condition.
More information, including detailed examples can be found in Publication 4681, Canceled Debts, Foreclosures, Repossessions, and Abandonments. Also see IRS news release IR-2008-17.
The following are the most commonly asked questions and answers about The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act and debt cancellation:

What is Cancellation of Debt?

Use the below enclosed website addresss for more detailed information and some question and answers
Hope that you find the above enclosed information useful good luck.

I’d look in your local phonebook for realtors or maybe check out an online real estate agent directory to find one for your area. Good luck.

My husband and I bought a condo in Las Vegas in 2006. It has dramatically dropped in value and is currently worth $30K, and we owe $144K on it.
It’s a 1 bedroom 560 sq. ft condo, which was fine for us back then. Last year we had a baby and even though space was tight we were trying to make it work.
Now that our kid is a toddler and running around, the space issue is really a concern. We have our son sleeping in the den (about 4 feet away from the stove).
It’s very hard on my husband and I because once our toddler goes to sleep at 7pm we are confined to a tiny room about 10ft away and have to be silent as to not wake him up.
We cannot go into the kitchen or the living room since he sleeps right next to them. We have thought about renting it out, but no one will pay $1200 for 560 sq ft. The condo next
to us is larger and renting for $650. I called the mortgage company and they will not refinance our mortgage. I have thought about short selling, but it’s not completely a financial hardship
(it’s a hardship in many other ways!) We don’t have enough money to pay the mortgage and rent another bigger place out. I’m at the end of my rope and I have no idea what to do. Any suggestions?

if it has dropped $100k in value - you won’t see any equity until it paid off in another 25 yrs - walk away, but you won’t be able to buy another house for awhile due to the foreclsoure

The members are Vanessa Burke and Ronnie Kramer and they want something catchy. Thanks so much.

Fire and Ice Realty

Hello everyone, firstly thank you for reading my question. I need some serious answers. My husband and i am buying a house in Las Vegas Nevada because my husband is retiring soon (propably nect year or in two). We are house huntig right now and we fell in love one 2 bedroom house and 1 bath for $20,000. We are going to make a $10,000 down payment on it. Since he filed for a bankruptcy a year ago, i do not think that he will be able to have a loan for the rest of $10,000 that we have to pay for the house. I don’t work but i do odd jobs occasionally (selling avon, baking cakes and sell my home made tamales to my friends and neighbors) so i don’t have a steady job. but i have a little over $10,000 saved up for the down payment next year. how can i get the rest of the $10,000 to be financed? Plus, i have a new credit. I did not have a credit card before but now i have one and i am building my credit score. My credit score is about 750ish. Is it possible that i can have the rest of the mortgage to be financed by a company or a bank?? If not, what are my choices? Please help me. Thank you very much. Suggestions from experts are very important to me please give me some advice. I am curently living in Los Angeles Area. Thank you

The bankruptcy might not be as much problem as you think. You should apply for a FHA mortgage loan, Most lenders will consider a mortgage loan application with a bankruptcy that is at a minimum of 12-24 months with the ideal situation being 24 months.

You might consider a FHA mortgage loan as the requirements are not as stringent as those of a conventional mortgage loan. There are some FHA mortgage loans that require as little as 3.5% down payment.

You might want to verify this property that is being sold for $20,000, the ad might say as low as $20,000 and then of course there is the neighborhood where this type property might be located. Also this $20,000 property could be a condo or perhaps a townhouse.

I hope this has been of some benefit to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

I’m thinking about investing a little bit money and buying real estate (condos / townhomes) in Las Vegas. What areas are good neighborhoods and what part of towns should I avoid? Budget is under $100.000

Rule of thumb is the further from the strip the better. Try to stay as close to or outside the 215,

Right wingers claim that the housing bust was caused by "liberals’ making it too easy for lower income people to buy homes. This of course is a lie but who cares, it sounds good!

The housing crisis was caused by the massive de-regulation of the mortgage industry. Just go to Las Vegas and see the blocks of foreclosed homes that were bought for a half million dollars by people who could only afford a two hundred thousand dollar house. These homes were bought at inflated prices through ARM loans, and interest only loans. They were told the home would go up in value to the point where at the end of three to five years they could either sell the home for a large profit, or else refinance. These were the six figure yuppie types that bought these places, not lower income people.

The government did not "force" banks to loan money to anyone. This is a Limbaughesque lie.

As for Bush seeing the crisis coming and trying to stop it is laughable. I saw a speech on You Tube where Bush is speaking before a group of Realtors in 2002. He says and I quote, "Just because people have lousy credit does not mean they have to live in a lousy home." He encouraged people with "poor credit to work with Fannie and Freddie."

Yes, after the roof started caving in the Bush Administration told Congress to do something. If Bush was as on top of this as right wingers claim, why did he never mention it in any of his state of the union speeches?

Mortgage companies are who we ought to blame. They were lending money to people with NO CREDIT checks, and lying about people’s incomes to get them into expensive homes.

The Republican National organization of Realtors were cheering as well.
Lower income people did not get ARM loans and interest only loans, the got standard FHA loans.

When Bush ran for re-election in 2004 he boasted at every campaign stop about all the new and "minority" home ownership.
The Real,
Even Alan Greenspan said that blaming the "Community Reinvestment Act" is nonsense.

low income people did NOT buy homes on anything but standard FHA loans.
White Power,

Bush did not warn anyone until the ship had sailed. Bush ran for re-election in 2004 boasting of all the new home owners. Low income people DID not get loans with balloon payments. Six figure types did.

Turn Rush,and Hannity, off and get real facts.

Why did Bush not ONE TIME mention this impending crisis in any of his State of the Union Speeches?
Warren,

The banks were NOT forced to loan money. They loved the government backed loans because they could make money with little risk.

Bush bragged in 2004 about all the new "minority home owners." It was part of his "ownership society."

It was actually the Bush administration who encouraged the onslaught of subprime loans. A couple of things happened. There were house flippers who thought the prices of homes were going to continue to rise (right before the so-called bubble pop). Also, a lot of high risk (or low income) people obtained loans they never should had. All this piled up. Then, companies like AIG sold credit protection on these loans. And when the housing market topped out and declined and the unemployment rate went up, many loans couldn’t be paid off.

The whole plan of blind consumer confidence was a fail. Money circulation in itself isn’t enough for a good economy.

Hi Guys, I need your help. I live in San Francisco, CA, and I want to be a real estate agent in Las Vegas. I have a four years degree in accounting. I want to change my career into real estate because I have been unemployed for 2 years, and I have had hard time to find an accounting job in CA. Anyway, does anybody know what is the best and the cheapest real estate school in Las Vegas and San Francisco? Can I take some real estate courses in CA that are transferable to Nevada? I am thinking that I will take some of the courses here in CA, then move to Nevada. I need your advice. Please give me your best advice because I only have some money left on my savings to achieve my goal. Thank you in advance.

You can take a basic Real Estate Foundation course but every state has its own exams and there are different laws. I went to Anthony Schools in San Francisco for the Calif. state exam. it was a prep course just for passing the test for R.E. sales. But I had already studied Real Estate in Arizona. I had to read up on California laws before i took the exam in Calif. So I really went through twice, but Anthony was just a test prep class for 6 weeks live on site. I would never go online because R.E. was difficult for me without any business or finance background. Anthony Schools is probably in Vegas too.

I have a perfect credit (estimae between 745-795) and I have been with new employer for over 6 months not a bad income too (500 per week). I would like to get something with no money down in Las Vegas, NV. Is it gonna work? What is the best way to do that now? Thanks.

I never owned a home or anything, I only had one auto loan and I paid it off. I have / had credit cards too (no late payments at all etc). No collections or nothing negative at all, credit history for 6 years.

It is difficult, but if you find a private seller, who will do AN AGREEMENT OF SALE", then you will have a chance. Possibly someone in financial difficulty or some one with several homes to unload.

What employers in Las Vegas region offer jobs that pay at least $20/hour these days? From reading online it seems pretty bleak now. I saw some ads for loan modification specialists, but are those jobs scams? Are they commission only?
I’d also be interested in hearing what the average monthly electric bill is for a one bedroom apartment in Las Vegas area. I’m worried that having to have AC on constantly would result in sky-high electric bills. I’m used to New England climate.
what about white-collar jobs in IT, finance, or accounting industries? names of specific companies would be helpful

scam yes.
commission they will work you 3 days do not meet goal, release you.
$20 is near impossible here. right now.
do you have a license. plumber, elevator.
you can make it then
if not, sorry.