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Old 12-16-2016, 09:11 AM
 
667 posts, read 1,843,289 times
Reputation: 516

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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainNJ View Post
yes, any positive experience help a little. .
It looks like you will have your deal, but I had what I consider a positive short sale experience in New Jersey. (However, you may feel I was a bit foolish, so I hope that makes you feel you made a better deal!!) And I am in the mood to ***.

My house was on sale for 130,000, or 'any reasonable offer', the lowest I'd ever seen for a house in NJ at that time (2011). I was shocked. 240 was owed on the mortgage to Wells Fargo, and the house was in complete disrepair. It was a short sale, being handled by the children, whose sickly mother, reading between the lines, had debts and no assets.

I'd been outbid a quite few times in 2011, and really I wanted this house. My realtor wanted me to bid 109, she said, let's low ball 'em, I bet you get it. 109! That shocked me. I said, 125. She said, boy, you want this house. I said, yes I do.

The sellers (the children) agreed within the hour. The I started waiting for the bank.

Remember, it was in complete disrepair, but I think it looked worse than it was.

During this time, another house came on a few blocks away for 240, still shockingly low for NJ. This was not a short sale. I thought I could get that house for 230, and that's what it did sell for. For 230 it was a steal, and I missed it. Probably, that was the bottom in my town. I held fast with the other house.

I had to wait five months for the bank to agree. There was no news, just five months. Then they said yes.

It closed within the month. The only glitch was there was some fee the seller had to pay, $2000. The children did not have 2000. My realtor was beside herself and said no way. My lawyer, the same. I was perfectly happy to pay the 2000. I told my lawyer, tell them I'll pay, if they leave the furniture in the house (after they remove, if they want, some treasured items.) In the meantime, the kids had raised $500, and they were happy to leave all the furniture (which my lawyer said they were going to do anyway.) So, this was just face saving for me. I paid $1500, and all the furniture remained, including carved crucifixes in every room (which I have left there, they remind me of my Baba.) The furniture is pretty nice, old Italian grandmother furniture which I nonetheless like.

After I moved in I paid 60,000 to fix everything the township wanted and make it livable. So my total cost was 186,500. Still less than the 230,000 for the other house (the second lowest I'd seen for a reasonable house), but that house had updated kitchen and bathroom, mine has original (still, perfectly nice).

My realtor thinks I could have got it for 20,000 less if I'd been more brave. Probably she is right, probably I could have had it for 166,500, a better deal for sure.

The township recently appraised my house for 185,000. So, kind of on the money. It is the absolutely lowest, by miles, than anyone else on my block. I am thrilled to have that distinction. I think it was partially the purchase price which helped me get such a low appraisal.

Of course, to me, the house is priceless.

(edit, I don't know what the *** is for, I used a G-rated synonym for 'chat' or "tell a long winded tale'--, readers can substitute any phrase they like!)

Edit: By the way, it closed in 2012.

Edit: By the way, 60,000 did not include painting, pulling up carpet, hauling out junk, digging up overgrown weeds, etc etc, which I did personally, with the help of friends.

Last edited by Karen59; 12-16-2016 at 09:24 AM..
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Old 12-16-2016, 09:17 AM
 
2,170 posts, read 1,942,073 times
Reputation: 3838
I knew a guy that purchased a short sale as his first home, took like 7 months and had to put like $40k into it to actually make it feel like a nice home.. lots of little issues like water damage and such. At the end of the day he probably would have been better off going with a different house in the neighborhood and hoping the owner took a low bid. Its no secret short sales take forever and can be a headache.. if they're 20% off everything else in the area its probably not worth it, if they're 50% off you might be in business.
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Old 12-16-2016, 03:07 PM
 
Location: SoCal
14,530 posts, read 20,054,132 times
Reputation: 10539
LOL at the ***. Many perfectly reasonable words can be used in an abusive sense and the moderators seem to have found them all. I can't imagine what yours was but I'm amused.

For example there is a word that can be used to refer to a complaint or a female dog, but cannot be used on the forum because it has an abusive connotation too.

I generally just chuckle when the filter gets me, and edit it to use a synonym.
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Old 12-18-2016, 06:53 AM
 
5,048 posts, read 9,585,378 times
Reputation: 4180
Another word that can't be used is part of a common term for how a seller should leave his house when he closes...broom swept, **** and span. I got a ding for that a while ago. Live and learn.
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Old 12-18-2016, 06:42 PM
 
Location: SoCal
14,530 posts, read 20,054,132 times
Reputation: 10539
LOLOL yeppers I can get that word.

City-Data is owned by a corporation who is playing it safe. It's a corporate decision to tone down the heat.

If you are absolutely certain your use of a word is totally not offensive you can always put spaces between the letters or obfuscate/misspell it. Just make absolutely certain there is no offense that could be drawn from your statement.
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Old 12-22-2016, 08:19 PM
 
Location: NJ
31,771 posts, read 40,580,083 times
Reputation: 24590
just closed today. woohoo!
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Old 12-23-2016, 07:48 AM
 
3,963 posts, read 4,222,748 times
Reputation: 8671
I am a short-sale dummy, so forgive my question, please. Was the seller living in the house all this time? If so, what incentive do they have to make the sale move along any quicker? I assume they stopped paying the mortgage long ago, so they are essentially living there rent-free. Their credit is already toast. So why not drag the process out as long as possible? Or am I making incorrect assumptions?

Very glad you got the house, CaptainNJ -- 7-8 months after your initial offer! Your experience and others' experience has made me think I will just pass by any "short sale" houses in the future.
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Old 12-23-2016, 10:31 AM
 
Location: Ocala, FL
6,428 posts, read 10,260,812 times
Reputation: 7829
Some short sales do close quickly, but some drag on for months. Too many factors involved to predict what can or will happen going into such a transaction. Glad to hear Captain did close finally.
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Old 12-23-2016, 11:14 AM
 
Location: NJ
31,771 posts, read 40,580,083 times
Reputation: 24590
Quote:
Originally Posted by LoriNJ View Post
I am a short-sale dummy, so forgive my question, please. Was the seller living in the house all this time? If so, what incentive do they have to make the sale move along any quicker? I assume they stopped paying the mortgage long ago, so they are essentially living there rent-free. Their credit is already toast. So why not drag the process out as long as possible? Or am I making incorrect assumptions?

Very glad you got the house, CaptainNJ -- 7-8 months after your initial offer! Your experience and others' experience has made me think I will just pass by any "short sale" houses in the future.
it is my understanding that the owner lived rent free for about 6-7 years. so he did drag the process out as long as possible. i believe that the bank was close to foreclosing and going to auction. after the auction (if the house isnt sold) the bank owns the property and I assume a marshal evicts the owner. now, i am not exactly sure how he benefits from the short sale but i know that his deal was that the bank agrees to accept x dollars and the owner is no longer in debt to them for the full amount (or remaining amount). so that must benefit him even though he went through bankruptcy which theoretically discharges debts.

it is definitely not for someone who doesnt have a lot of time or someone who needs a mortgage. you also need to get a nice discount for the crap (which i did). now i have a little insurance issue where the companies are valuing the house (replacement without land value) of double or more than what i paid for it. which makes it more valuable than many of them can provide.
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Old 12-23-2016, 01:19 PM
 
5,048 posts, read 9,585,378 times
Reputation: 4180
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainNJ View Post
just closed today. woohoo!
Wow what a great gift.

Congrats!!
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