MY FPPro Forclosure Prevention Testimonials
Buyer/Seller testimonials
Real estate transactions are complicated transactions. Anyone that has bought or sold a house knows the mountain of paperwork that is part and parcel of the concluding the deal. A short sale leaves most participants in unfamiliar territory. Dennis J. Rath has the experience and expertise to lead you through the process. But you don’t have to take his word for it. Just read some of the thoughts of his satisfied customers:
Dennis J. Rath helps homeowner save $80,000 with short sale
A layoff and a drop in the market left an Ohio man facing credit-crippling foreclosure. Rath stepped in to complete a sale that with a new buyer that left the original homeowner, new buyer and the bank happy.
LAKEWOOD, OH — Call it throwing salt on a wound. Walt T. lost his job and that left him facing a potential foreclosure — a scenario that could have left him with a huge debt, no home and credit-crippling debt.
But none of that happened because Walt called ERA Realtor Dennis J. Rath, who was able to complete a short sale and get Walt out from under a huge financial burden. Walt now rents a space in Florida, a new couple lives in his old house and the bank was able to recoup most of its loan and saved potentially thousands of dollars by avoiding a costly foreclosure and auction process. But it wasn’t an easy process, and not something Walt could have done by himself.
After Walt lost his job, he was able to find another position in Florida. He left his Lakewood, Ohio home in the hands a couple that agreed to pay him rent. While that money helped cover a portion of his mortgage payment, the financial burden was overwhelming.
“I was making a house payment and a rent payment down here and it was just crushing me,” explains Walt T. The couple living in Walt’s home wanted to purchase it from him, but the market downturn made it difficult for the pair to get their financing squared away.
“I approached the bank about a short sale,” Walt recalls. “Since I had a buyer in hand, they started working with us. We had do get someone involved.”
That person turned out to be Dennis Rath.
“Through no fault of his own, Walt found himself in a difficult situation,” Rath says. “He was laid off from his job, and was making two payments for awhile, but it simply became too much.”
A short sale occurs when a home is sold for amount less than amount owed. A short sale may sound like a last resort, but it is actually a win-win-win situation. The homeowner comes away owing much less or nothing at all. The new buyers get a great deal on a home and the bank saves money by avoiding a costly and possibly extended foreclosure process.
The Options
Walt purchased his home in 1998 and started working on the property to make it the home he’d always dreamed of. That process involved a large refinancing, which took place in 2000. In 2005, after 13 years of work, Walt found himself unemployed and faced losing the house he loved.
That refinancing left Walt deep in debt. He was able to find another job out of state, but rent and maintaining a mortgage payment proved too much of a burden. The couple he was renting to hoped to buy the home, but had their own financial problems and getting their own financing was taking too long for Walt — and the bank. He was facing foreclosure, the stigma attached to it. A foreclosure would mean the bank had a long and potentially costly process to recoup even a portion of its investment.
“The bank was getting a house payment from me until November 2009,” Walt says. “Until then, they were getting just about everything. Even though the lion’s share was being paid by me, and I wasn’t even living there.”
Two payments caught up with Walt and that’s when he needed to find another option — the short sale.
The property, when Walt left for a new job in 2005, was valued between $147,000 and $165,000. When Walt the financial challenges finally overwhelmed Walt the home was valued at $100,000. Walt still owed $132,000.
If it wasn’t for a short sale Walt might be in a far different financial situation.
The Resolution
A short sale would help ease, and possibly eliminate, Walt’s debt. The bank would avoid a costly foreclosure process and the couple purchasing the home would get a good deal on the house they wanted.
Walt was a couple thousand miles away. He needed an expert to handle the intricacies of the process. That’s when Walt contacted Dennis J. Rath to get the process started. It took awhile, but the couple renting Walt’s home was eventually able to get their financing in order.
“I’m sure there would have been a foreclosure involved,” Walt says. “I had stopped making payments of November of 2009. The original intent was they were going to close in April.”
But being so far away made it difficult for Walt to manage the process.
“Dennis handled everything,” Walt says. “I had a lot of correspondence with the folks at Huntington Bank proving I couldn’t financially afford to keep up house payments and live in Florida. Foreclosure would have come next if the short sale fell through. They finally closed the short sale in June.”
A short sale doesn’t necessarily absolve a homeowner of money owed beyond the sale of the home, but it can substantially reduce the amount. And in some cases, like Walt’s, the bank forgives that extra debt.
“There’s still a ding on my credit due to the short sale, but that’s not nearly as bad as a foreclosure,” Walt says.
“A short sale was certainly the best option,” Walt says. “I was able to get somebody in the property that was able to purchase it ultimately. There are so many scenarios that could have played out. I could have walked away in 2005 and who knows what would have happened to the house.”
It was a sweet deal for them because the property values fell to the point where they could afford the place that probably they wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise.
“By working with Dennis Rath I was able to save $80,000,” Walt says. “The alternative would have been foreclosure. The bank would have a bank auction. Then I would still have been on the hook for the balance not recovered in the auction. Dennis Rath did a great job for me.”
Dennis,
Thanks you for all of your efforts and hard work throughout my condo search. I especially thank you for finding my “Dream Condo.”
I look forward to meeting with you in the near future — as my condo on Vista Court awaits!
Sincerely,
Kimberly T.
Dear Dennis,
Thank you so much for making Tina’s house selling go so smoothly. I know you put a lot of effort on her behalf, and it’s appreciated. Have a great and healthy New Year.
Tessie L.
Dennis Rath is highly professional, knowledgeable, efficient and effective, and at the same time human — a real credit to the real estate industry.
John F. (from a buyer satisfaction survey
Dennis, I just wanted to express our appreciation for your efforts with the sale of our home. The Lakewood market is tough for sellers these days. As you know, Sue and I had our home listed for lengthy periods of tie with two other major realtors in the area with no results. Your honest assessment of what it would take to sell our home, while it was not totally what we wanted to hear, proved to be right on the mark. The sale within two weeks of listing was sure nice!
In retrospect, I believe your “tell it like it is” approach was what we needed. Your honest and accurate appraisal of the market and our home was not what we had been hearing previously, but proved to be what we really needed to hear.
Again our appreciation, and if there is a need in the future to use me as a reference, please feel free to do so. I whole heartedly support your honest approach and would be willing to discuss this with any of your prospective clients.
Sincerely,
Carmelo D.
Dear Dennis,
I just wanted to THANK YOU for all the hard work and time you put into selling my house. You were there anytime I needed you and you made a very difficult time for me much easier. I will recommend you to anyone I know that is [in ]need of a realtor. You were very helpful with all my questions, concerns and in getting my house ready to be sold. Again, I THANK YOU for everything you did.
Sincerely,
Lisa Z.
Alberta and I wish to express our appreciation for the excellent job done by Dennis Rath during the sale of our home. We interviewed Dennis along with several other realtors and were impressed with his preparation and presentation. He had gathered a great deal of information about the homes available for sale in the neighborhood as well as those recently sold. He was very professional and informative throughout the interview.
After talking with the other realtors, we decided to list with Dennis and are we ever happy we did. We were able to agree on a selling price that proved to be appealing because within 11 days of the listing an offer was made. Even though we were not in town, Dennis was able to present us with the offer and relay our counter offer within hours. Upon acceptance by the buyers, Dennis was able to fax us the offer for our signatures.
Since that time, Dennis has stayed in touch to ensure that the proper paperwork and inspections were completed as required. He has offered to follow up through the completion of the escrow and key presentation process so that it will not be necessary for us to make a trip back to Berea.
As a testament of our satisfaction with Dennis, we recommended him to a neighbor who has subsequently listed his home with ERA Realtors and Dennis. Again we would like to express our appreciation of the fine job done by Dennis during the listing and selling of our home.
Sincerely,
Curtis G.