[WestieJeff]

I'd guess the vast majority of property taxes are paid via impounds, all of those taxes are always being paid by the bank, regardless of the owner making their monthly mortgage payment.

Even when I was not paying impounds, the bank required I send them proof the taxes were paid on a yearly basis. I assume if I didn't provide that, they would pay the taxes themselves.

A bank can lose a property entirely (worse case, hardly ever happens) or have to pay a high interest rate (12% IIRC) on unpaid property taxes. That's why they pay attention to it like a hawk.

The vast majority of property taxes in Vegas are getting paid. HOA dues however are another matter.

Originally Posted by tbill618

If squatters are not paying their mortgage then are not paying there property taxes and though those taxes might get paid in the future that doesn't do the school district any good right now.

[tbill618]

Then Attorney General Masto must have another motivation. Still, I am glad to see they are coming to there senses about moving forward with foreclosures.

Another question for the RE gurus: I heard on the radio that banks will soon start qualifying homes for short sales without a buyer present. Have you heard this?

[WestieJeff]

This has been "available" for awhile under the HAFA program.

No banks actually do it though or at least it's pretty rare.

Originally Posted by tbill618

Another question for the RE gurus: I heard on the radio that banks will soon start qualifying homes for short sales without a buyer present. Have you heard this?

[von949]

http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/06/real...les/index.html


Posted from Nokia 8210

[lvoc]

Prices continue to climb and volumes drops a little more. Now at price levels last seen in 2009. REOs are now below 10% and non-distressed is the largest category.

One would expect a large drop in shorts as the tax push ends Dec 31. So January is going to be very interesting. I would bet a sharp drop in volume and a big increase in average price.

Things are quite out of control.

[von949]

The Best Housing Markets for Buyers and Sellers | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance

The top 10 seller's markets are:
1. San Jose, Calif.
2. San Francisco, Calif.
3. Sacramento, Calif.
4. Las Vegas, Nev.
5. Phoenix, Ariz.
6. Riverside, Calif.
7. Los Angeles, Calif.
8. San Diego, Calif.
9. Seattle, Wash.
10. Washington, D.C.

[tbill618]

Just to kill some time I decided to calculate the number of short sales in the neighborhood of Henderson that I am trying to buy a short sale and the number of days it took to close from acceptance. (All data from Redfin.com) I defined the neighborhood as within a half mile. There are currently 7 short sales (s.s.) pending in the neighborhood. There are 4 s.s. that have closed within the past 3 months for which I can find acceptance and closing dates. (There are 4 more that don't have either one or both data points. I excluded them.) My short sale is currently the longest from acceptance to date. 140 days. The average of acceptance:closing for the closed in the past three months is 147. (Range 57 to 211)

Then I expanded the distance to about 2 miles. There are 12 more s.s. that closed over the past three months. Average of acceptance:closing is 148 days. (Range 55 to 287)

The couple of flaws I can see. Obviously to little data. Also, some short sales fall out of contract and then come back. I am not sure if Redfin starts the clock over or not. I assume they do; i.e., new acceptance date for a new contract.

What am I taking out of this? I am only 7 days away from the mean and, worst case, we are half way through this process.

[WestieJeff]

The question you should be asking now, is your seller going to be willing to close with the federal tax exemption not being extended after Dec 31?

You have to understand also that there is no guarantee that a short sale will close. Some listings I have been watching have been trying to work through a short sale for over a year. I have to ask myself, will these ever close?

MLS #1068662 is one I looked at in person and decided not to offer on, but I have been watching it anyways. It's a short sale that they are having difficulty closing. It's been working for 863 days. Will it ever close?

Originally Posted by tbill618

Just to kill some time I decided to calculate the number of short sales in the neighborhood of Henderson that I am trying to buy a short sale and the number of days it took to close from acceptance. (All data from Redfin.com) I defined the neighborhood as within a half mile. There are currently 7 short sales (s.s.) pending in the neighborhood. There are 4 s.s. that have closed within the past 3 months for which I can find acceptance and closing dates. (There are 4 more that don't have either one or both data points. I excluded them.) My short sale is currently the longest from acceptance to date. 140 days. The average of acceptance:closing for the closed in the past three months is 147. (Range 57 to 211)

[Californiapch]

I just recently asked our realtor if anyway to try see if our short sale can try get approved soon.

Ours started last Jan 10th area and still waiting.

[tbill618]

Originally Posted by WestieJeff

The question you should be asking now, is your seller going to be willing to close with the federal tax exemption not being extended after Dec 31?

You have to understand also that there is no guarantee that a short sale will close. Some listings I have been watching have been trying to work through a short sale for over a year. I have to ask myself, will these ever close?

MLS #1068662 is one I looked at in person and decided not to offer on, but I have been watching it anyways. It's a short sale that they are having difficulty closing. It's been working for 863 days. Will it ever close?

The listing agent said that they would stick with the short sale even without the tax exemption but I doubt that. They are about 80k short so that would be around 20k in taxes. I expect the tax exemption to be extended because the whole point of the bank settlement over foreclosures and the fund that was created is to push people into short sales versus foreclosures. The state AGs are pushing for the tax exemption, too.

I did that little exercise to give me an idea if our wait is out of the ordinary and it doesn't seem to be. We have a place to stay that while not always comfortable is good enough if moving into our dream house is the result. 863? No way, I don't know when we would give up but we aren't at 5 months just yet. Give me two more months and we will be having that conversation.