We Appreciate Your Support, and Now We Need Your Help

The Lee Tessier Team has been nominated once more for Harford’s Best Realtor of the Year award, and we can’t thank you enough. We hope that this year you’ll continue to support us by lending your vote.

As you may know, the Lee Tessier Team has been nominated for Harford’s Best Realtor of the Year for the past couple of years now. This year, we are continuing that tradition and have been nominated once more.

First of all, we want to thank all of our friends as well as our current and past clients for your continuing support. We appreciate everything you’ve done to help us reach the honor of this nomination.

Today, we’ve got a favor to ask. If you could take a couple minutes of your time to give us your vote, we would massively appreciate it. We’ve been the No. 1 team in the county since 2011, and we hope to continue this trend.

"We’re proud to be top agents for you."

We’re proud to be top agents for you and this opportunity would give us the chance to reach our community even further.

If you would like to support us by lending your vote, you can do so here

As always, if you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Join Us for Free Pie and Drinks

I'd like to officially invite all of our friends and clients to join us for our Thanksgiving party!

I'd like to officially invite all of our friends and clients to join us Tuesday, November 21st at Liberatore’s in Bel Air from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. for our Thanksgiving party! We'll also have food and an open bar, just like last year.

To RSVP for your pie, email Rose@LeeTessier.com and let us know if you’d like apple or pumpkin pie.

"I look forward to seeing you Tuesday the 21st!"

We can't tell you enough how much we appreciate your business and the referrals you send us. I look forward to seeing you Tuesday the 21st!

What Do You Need to Know About Short Sales?

There are a significant number of short sales still happening in our market, so here’s a brief overview of how short sales work.

With the recent change we’ve seen in our market, homes values have increased, and as a result, we’ve also seen fewer short sales happening. There are still a significant number of people who are underwater at this time, though, so I want to answer a few questions you may have about short sales.

First, what does the bank do with all of the seller’s information? They gather that information to make sure that when they’re combing through your bank statements, income, and finances, everything is accurate.

For the private investors that put up the money for these short sales—say they put up $500,000, the home sells for $400,000, and they net $360,000 or $365,000 to satisfy that mortgage—where are they going to get back that $140,000 or $135,000 difference?

Many times, they get these funds back through mortgage insurance, but they have to see how those clauses were written originally. That’s why there is a lot of behind-the-scenes investigation during a short sale. Usually there are several investors, so it could be somebody that’s servicing the loan for—say— Wells Fargo. There might also be several different companies that are serviced by them. They’re gathering that information and taking it back to the investors and combing through what insurance premiums they have to offset those losses.

"There is a lot of behind-the-scenes investigation during a short sale."

After that, it’s a question of what those investors are willing to take. Sometimes they ask the seller to pay a portion of that loss. One of the other major factors to consider is tax deficiencies—maybe you lost $50,000 and now you have to claim that as income.

Sometimes it’s not just agents giving you that information, which is why it might be helpful to talk to a real estate attorney or an accountant who’s familiar with short sales. There are several people involved in the process who can help you.

If you have any more questions about short sales or need a referral for a good accountant or real estate attorney, don’t hesitate to give us a call. We’d be glad to help you.