Good Home Help Offers Alternatives to Foreclosure

Attorney Peter Goodman has been involved in the local real estate market since 1992. He has a special interest in helping First Time Home Buyers and has been invited to speak at seminars on behalf of the Long Island Housing Partnership, the CDC of Long Island, Legislator Robert Corbin, New Yorkers for
New York and many others. Additionally, he is a member of the Long Island Housing Partnership and serves on their Strategic Planning Committee.

Together with real estate agent Rafael Jose, they have recently started Good Home Help, a Loss Mitigation company. “We are trying to help solve the housing crisis one home at a time. We meet with homeowners in distress and attempt to modify their existing loan so that the homeowner may remain in the home and eventually bring their loan current. Unfortunately, many of these homeowners cannot afford to make their mortgage payments under any circumstances as they should never have been given the loan in the first place. Therefore, most of these homeowners must sell their homes as a shortsale“, says Mr. Goodman.

A shortsale is when the home is “upside down.” In other words, the mortgage balance is higher than the value of the home and related selling expenses. In that situation, the lender must agree to pay the seller’s expenses and forgive a portion of the mortgage debt in order for the homeowner to complete the sale of their home. In this instance, the only other option for the homeowner is foreclosure, a deed in lieu of foreclosure, or bankruptcy. As the lenders do not want to own real estate and need liquidity, they are generally agreeable to a short sale transaction. In fact, most of these homes can be bought at 15-20% below market value.

As in most businesses that require specialized knowledge, many unscrupulous businessmen have figured out ways to take advantage of the shortsale process, which is further hurting the real estate market. New scams include directing the homeowner to destroy the home so that the lender’s appraiser significantly devalues the home. The scam-artist then gives the homeowner cash “under the table” after the sale. Another scam involves getting the lender to agree to a significant reduction and providing a fabricated HUD-1 Settlement Statement to the at the closing when the scam-artist is in fact “flipping” the property and making a quick profit. Obviously, none of these scams help the homeowner or the neighborhood where the transaction is taking place.

At Good Home Help, we are taking a new approach to the market. We are trying to match homeowners in distress with qualified homebuyers. In fact, there are many government and not for profit organizations in
New York who qualify homeowners for grants that the homeowner can then use to buy their first home. Generally, the only contingency to obtaining these grants once the prospective homeowner qualifies is that they live in the home as their primary residence and that they remain there for a period of years (usually 10 years). The benefit is that each successful transaction gets a home out of foreclosure (which often reduces the value of homes in the neighborhood 10-15%) and puts a homeowner in the house that truly wants and cares for their new home. This process is helping the local community one house at a time.

Simply put, we believe in home ownership. We have expertise in real estate law, purchases, sales, mortgages, credit and foreclosure counseling. We provide ethical assistance to individuals and families facing difficulties with home ownership, whether it is saving an existing home from foreclosure or purchasing a new home. Contact us today for a free consultation to find your options. Good Home Help is centrally located at

in Melville, Suite B-45 or call 516-620-4500. Or visit us on the web at www.goodhomehelp.com.