Banks getting better on Short Sales in Jacksonville

I've seen the slow shift since mid-summer-ish, and it looks like it is official.

Banks Want you to Short Sale vs. Foreclose

It appears as if most banks have finally gotten to the point of acknowledging that short sales are a much better alternative than chasing down properties through the foreclosure process.  In some states the foreclosure process takes years, and Florida is no exception.  The average foreclosure time in Florida is well over 600 days!  That's almost 2 years!  Why would a bank want to keep lawyers employed for 2 solid years while wading through the court systems?

Apparently, they don't want to mess with foreclosures any longer if the home owner is willing to short sale.  (Some banks are still a mess - I'll keep their names out of this article).  Some banks are even giving cash to home owners who will agree to short sale.  Source:  Why it can pay to short sale.

That's right, hard cash.  Several of the more progressive banks have started using cash incentives to lure defaulting home owners into taking the short sale route vs just walking away.

Even with the bank's view point on short sales starting to shift, it still is not a short process.  It takes on average 90 days for an approval of contract once the property has been sold and all supporting real estate and home owner financial documents have been provided to the lender or servicer.  That's a long wait for anxious buyers and sellers, and that is why it pays to work with a short sale specialists to handle a short sale.  Most agents are still staying clear of the complexities of short sales, but there are a few professional real estate agents in Jacksonville who have continued to provide successful short sales for their clients.

How many potential short sales are out there?  The stats show over 6,000,000 home owners are late on making their mortgage payments.