Short-Sales in Real Estate in the Vancouver area (Camas: bank owned, for sale)

[luckymoto]

Can anyone explain why there are so many Short-Sales in Vancouver. We are interested in purchasing a property, but not sure if the houses are assessed correctly. It seems that many properties were overvalued or are they still??

[9-percent-of-my-income]

The new assessments just came out and many properties have gone down. I've been looking since February and some of the same houses are STILL listed. I would be careful about short sales because it can take up to three months for a bank to approve it so making multiple offers can be a bad idea unless you want to lose your earnest money. There are plenty of bank owned properties in Vancouver though, so that's another option.

Check out the property information center for assessments.
Property Information Center

and the Portland Housing Blog for bubble speculation.
Portland Housing Blog

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by luckymoto

...It seems that many properties were overvalued or are they still??

hah, you don't have to be confused. Clark County is notorious for over-valuations...

$33 / day for my Clark county prop taxes That is 10 times what I spend on food per day

[sykesfamily]

alot of houses and not just short sells are still staggering in the market. We have been listed since november because we need to move out of the area and it is really rough. We are at the point that we may not walk away with any equity to purchase a new home and have to rent for a year or two before we can buy again. Its pure stress. Our realtor told us to stay away from short sells because there are alot of homes in foreclosure where we are moving that are really good deals. She said it could take 3 months or longer to even get anything going and you have to jump though all of these obstacles and hoops with the bank. Short sells don't mean short it can be a long process.

[luckymoto]

Thanks for the replies. It's difficult to make sense of all the various info when you are far away. We are living in SC at the time and have not seen any short-sales around here. Very stunning that so many people are loosing their homes. It makes me wonder if a lot of people got layed off or are giving up homeownership for some financial reasons. Somewhat worrysome if you try to move into a new area. Love the west coast and have to get back to "normal" people. Just hope it can work out. We're visiting Vancouver and Portland next month and hope things will look promising. I know it's beautiful and fun to live there, but gotta work and live dignified.

[lolivet]

My husband and I were originally looking at short sales and found out that in the case of short sales in Washington - if the property is purchased within 20 days of it being foreclosed on and the seller later decides that the purchase price was too low, he can then sue the listing agent, buyers agent AND the buyer for up to $100,000!\

Also, I would stay away from foreclosures until they go into Bank REO status. With a foreclosure, you often do not have the opportunity to even look at the property before you buy it and if there are any leins (including tax) left on the house, the new owner is responsible for them.

The bak REO is the best bet, it's free and clear of any leins, it can be looked at, appraised, etc..just like a normal sale, but is priced lower. Also, if you look close to the end of the year, the banks are motivated to get these houses off their books, so they are more willing to wheel and deal.

Good luck!

[coltoncity]

Great time to buy! You may like it very much. I know I sold my house at $10,000 less then I could have a year earlier but feel lucky to have sold it at all. This was Last September and from what I am told some of the houses up for sale then are still up for sale and have dropped $ incredibly. Make an offer and negotiate, the price may well go down even from there. Every place has foreclosure galore which is sad but someone will buy it.

[scottsostuff]

There are short sales all over the US. There are not as many here as there are in other areas of the country. Arizona, Florida, California are hit very hard. When these were the hot spots of the country investors and builders built and built. The market
slowed due to the economy and now those homes are being sold as a short sale or foreclosure. Investors and builders can't continue to pay the costs of holding
them which includes the monthly payment, taxes, insurance, lawn maintance, utilities and more.

If a person bought there home in the past 2-3 years and did a zero down with interest only purchase they do not have enough equity to sell and pay the required
excise tax, their closing costs and realtor fees. That is how it ends up a short sale. We just closed on a short sale for our clients last friday it took 4 months from the time we put in the offer to them getting the keys. In a short sale you are working with the bank that the homeowner has the loan with.

A short sale can happen to anyone. We are seeing many people that have lost their jobs due to downsizing or due to working in an industry that is effected by the economy like the housing industry, auto industry etc. Many people bought homes with adjusted 2, 3, 5 year adjusted ARM's that have now come due and their payments increased where they can't make the payment. others need to sell due to losing their jobs, others may be in a divorce situation and on and on.

By selling the home as a short sale it is a better situation than a foreclosure for the seller. According to lenders that we have talked with it is better on the sellers credit.
The buyer in most cases get instant equity. The drawback of a short sale is that it can take up to 4-5 months to close, the home stays on the market and others can put in a higher offer than you, the bank may not accept your offer and let it go foreclosure. There are laws here in the state of Washington to protect you so there should be no concern regarding purchasing a short sale all you need is a good agent that has done short sales and has taken certification and training to know how to get them done correctly and effectively.

[hml1976]

There are 10 houses in foreclosure in our neighborhood alone in Camas. Its much worse here than it was in Tennessee where we moved from. We would really like to buy a home here but are so nervous that we'll have to move again in a few years and be stuck with a home we can't sell worth much less than we paid for it.

[msfergy]

Here is a website you may find useful in searching for lower priced properties without the shortsale drama. HUD.gov....look at the map for properties for sale in all areas. Just click on the state and start your search. The prices are great and with a little work some of these properties make ideal family homes and also great investment properties. On the same site you can check for VA, Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac properties for sale, all coming at a fraction of the regular asking prices out there. Hope this helps.