Short Sales Info (Surprise: for sale, to rent, mortgages)

[louie217]

With the high amount of short sales throughout the Valley, can someone give a primer on how they actually work. I hear different things from different people. If a house has 2 loans on it, how does a short sale affect a buyer. I am looking at this from a buyer's perspective. Thanks in advance.

[crystalys]

Funny you should ask....I just went to a class/seminar on short sales today. As a buyer of a short sale there are basically only 3 things that impact you right from the beginning:

A. The closing date is a fantasy. No matter what date you put on the sales contract, it most likely won't happen on that day.

B. The national average for a short sale to be approved by the lender is 60 days and can take as long as 3 to 4 months.

C. The bank may not approve it in the end and you just wasted a lot of time. Also they can accept another offer at any time prior to accepting yours, so they can keep you hanging for awhile.

It does not impact you as a buyer if the seller has multiple mortgages....except that the lender(s) of the mortgage(s) may not approve the sale.

And finally, you should really be represented by a buyer's agent who is experienced in short sales because it is a tedious and long process and the above 3 things I mentioned are only a start to some of the things you may experience if you make an offer on a short sale. If you have a lot of patience then pursue it. Good Luck!

[Dennisc23]

My family and I will will be re-locating to AZ in mid-September and I have been watching the market closely in the Surprise area since January and it seems all the houses that I am watching that are listed at short sales never sell, but always wind up as REOs.

I did a search for liens on the short sale properties yesterday in preparatioon for a trip out there (we leave today) and most of the short sales have been schedule for NTRs (trustee sales). My feeling on the short sales is wait them out as over 90% will go to the bank and be cheaper and less of a hassle on that point.

On a slightly different point, we are likely to rent on a month to month basis as in my novice opinion from watching the market is that prices are still falling and with a lot of trustee sales scheduled that have not yet hit the market, that seems a very likely indicator to more downward movement on price points.

[dc1225]

Originally Posted by Dennisc23

My family and I will will be re-locating to AZ in mid-September and I have been watching the market closely in the Surprise area since January and it seems all the houses that I am watching that are listed at short sales never sell, but always wind up as REOs.

I did a search for liens on the short sale properties yesterday in preparatioon for a trip out there (we leave today) and most of the short sales have been schedule for NTRs (trustee sales). My feeling on the short sales is wait them out as over 90% will go to the bank and be cheaper and less of a hassle on that point.

On a slightly different point, we are likely to rent on a month to month basis as in my novice opinion from watching the market is that prices are still falling and with a lot of trustee sales scheduled that have not yet hit the market, that seems a very likely indicator to more downward movement on price points.

You know as much as the market dropped in Phx, these houses I believe are still listed at inflated prices....I don't know why? is it because alot of them are owned by the banks and banks can afford to sit on it longer? There are alot of houses for sale out there but they're still inflated prices and from what I hear from my friends, they say every houses have offers on them! total BS...