What Are Nevada’s Hardest Hit Funds?

Nevada was selected by the U.S. Treasury’s “Hardest Hit Fund” program and has been awarded over 150 million in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money to assist Nevada home owners.

The Nevada Affordable Housing Assistance Corporation (NAHAC) has been approved to oversee the distribution of Nevada’s Hardest Hit Funds to home owners. The primary objectives of the programs include:

• Assist the low and moderate income families to preserve home ownership and avoid foreclosure, if possible, or assist in the short-sale of a home, if necessary.
• Assist approximately 22,000 income restricted Nevada homeowners who are in need of assistance with a mortgage problem due to either an unemployment situation, second liens, and/or large principal to home value mismatches preventing timely payments on loans.

Nevada’s Hardest Hit Funds – Programs

The following four programs have been approved by the U.S. Treasury for Nevada

• Mortgage Assistance Program (MAP) - This program is designed to assist in monthly mortgage payments up to a maximum benefit of $500/mth.
• Principal Reduction Program - With this program a homeowner can receive up to a $50,000 principal reduction in their mortgage.
• Short-Sale Program - This program is designed to assist with the short-sale process and will assist with future rental payments as a home owner transitions into rental property.
• Second Lien Relief Program -This program is designed to assist with a second mortgage that is interfering with a refinance, short-sale or loan modification of the first mortgage. The home owner can receive up to $16,500 for contribution toward payoff of the second mortgage.

Nevada’s Hardest Hit Funds – Eligibility

This is a list of general eligibility for the programs, detailed requirements can be found at www.NevadaHardestHitFunds.org.

• Owner occupied
• Legal U.S. resident
• Loan originated 1/1/2009 or earlier
• Documented finalcial hardship
• Maximun income: 120% Area Median Income
• Facing imminent default
• Currenlty own only 1 property
• Current maximun mortgage ilmiits are:
• Clark County : $427,184
• Reno/Sparks SMSA: $431,189
• Rural Nevada Areas: $347,087
• Required : 5 year occupancy after assistance
• Additional requirements exist for all programs

Additionally the Nevada’s Hardest Hit Funds are only available to home owners if their mortgage servicing company agrees to the terms and conditions governing the use of these funds. A current list of participating servicers can be found at the official web site.

For more information on Nevada’s Hardest Hit Funds, Contact Us and we will be able to assist.

Loan Modification, Nevada's Hardest Hit Funds, Sellers, Short Sales

Selling a home in Las Vegas comes with a whole new set of questions.

There was a time when selling a home in Las Vegas was a rather simple equation.

It consisted of:
How much is it worth?
What is the balance of my loan?
What will my sales costs be?
How much will I make?
When do I want to move?

Now granted there was a bit more to selling a home in Las Vegas; you had to interview REALTORS, do some clean-up and repairs, plant some fresh flowers, change some light bulbs, sweep the front porch, make a few of those neglected repairs and start packing away those knick-knacks. After that the buyers would line up and if you were selling a half-way-decent property it was very likely that you would end up with a bidding war and make enough extra money to cover your moving expenses.

Selling a home in Las Vegas today is a whole different game, complete with a new set of questions.

Are you asking yourself:
How many bank owned homes are on my street?
Will I live long enough to recover my losses?
Should I stop making the payments?
Will I qualify for a short sale?
How many of my neighbors are in default?
What about filing bankruptcy?
Should I sell now or wait it out?
Maybe I need a tenant and I’ll sell in a couple of years?

These are all very tough questions to answer and the outcome will be different for everyone. The old showing rules have not changed, you still need to do all of the detail work and get your home in top condition if you are going to sell even if you are going down the path of a short sale. I know this goes against the grain of what you may be thinking but there is a set of rules that still dictate bringing the house into the best possible condition.

One thing to keep in mind is that the new buyer will be getting a loan and the guidelines for loans in Las Vegas have become VERY strict. If your home is “Unlivable” in any way the repairs will need to be made. This means no exposed electrical wires, no missing appliances (like a stove), no missing fixtures (like a toilet) and you will need to have the utilities turned on for inspections and appraisals.

One other thing has changed in selling a home in Las Vegas

It is now much easier for you to do your homework on homes that have sold in your neighborhood. We provide you with access to all homes sold in Las Vegas in the past 12 months. You can now zoom into a map of your neighborhood, see what has sold and get a much better idea of what you are facing when it comes to market value.

Remember selling a home in Las Vegas is more art than science and sometimes there are mistakes when it comes to reporting of public records, so feel free to contact us at any time for assistance and direction in answering those tough questions.

Sellers, Short Sales