HOA dues when short selling your home:  Pay them!

HOA's are a major stumbling block when short selling your home.  If you are delinquent on the dues, they must be brought current or negotiated down to a short payoff before your association will allow the home to change hands.  The banks aren't that willing to pay your HOA dues and it's better off to just keep paying them and completely avoid this continued problem in successful short sale closings.

717 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

A popular question in the short sale world:   I need to short sale.  When do I start the process?

Quick Answer:  Sooner the better.

We, the professional real estate community, have done a horrible job of educating the general public about the short sale process.  Many of the clients I have, have never heard of a short sale until their friend or family member tip them off.   And that's horrible - and I'll take part of the blame for that.

A short sale should be started the second you realize you can no longer continue making payments.  You can start the process at any point up until the day of the Foreclosure auction.  Obviously, if you intend to have a successful short sale, you should start well before the house is being auctioned off on the…

689 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

Not a #1 that we want, but it's true.  Reported by my friend at the Jacksonville Business Journal, Ashley Gurbal, Jacksonville is the Worst Real Estate Market in the Country.

Her article is based on Thursday's report from Clear Capital's Real Estate Market Report.   The report highlights top performing cities and worst performing cities.  Jacksonville has overtaken Detroit to be the worst.

Stats making Jacksonville the worst:

-2.7% quarter over quarter decline in house values

-13.2% year over year decline in house values (that's from end of August 2o10 to August 2011)

33.5% Foreclosure/Bank Owned home sales per month (that's a lot)

Those are dismal numbers to end the typically strong summer home selling season.  A little worrisome…

816 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

Recent article in Bloomberg referencing RealtyTrac's recent stats on U.S. home sales and distressed home sales.  The article states, "Home Short Sales Increase as Banks 'More Realistic' on Market".

In a nutshell, banks are agreeing to more short sales as the best alternative to foreclosure.  Something we the public already understand, however the banks have often times proven not quite as smart as us.

Proof the banks are a little off their rocker when dealing with short sales:

  • Will often counter offer an already strong offer.
    • Why piss off the very few lucky soles who can qualify for a mortgage in this tight lending environment?
  • Will counter offer above the market value.
    • Isn't paying more than market value what led us to the…

788 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post