Short Sales… What do I need to know?

Short Sales for Sale in Central Oregon-Sunriver, Bend, Three Rivers South

What you need to be aware of!

We have all been hearing a lot about the housing market and how right now we are in a buyer’s market. With so many Short Sales and Bank Owned Properties for sale right now in Central Oregon how you need to be aware of a couple of things…

What is a Short Sale? For a short sale to occur a seller, with the Banks approval, will list and sell their home on the real estate market at an amount less than what the seller owes on the home. Not every homeowner will be approved by their bank to go ahead with the short sale of their home. Specific criteria needs to be met in order to approved for a short sale, for example, an extreme hardship. If a homeowner is upset that they are upside down in their mortgage loan, and are still able to make payments on time than they would not likely be considered for a short sale by their mortgage holder.

What to be aware of when buying or selling a Short Sale… Short Sales are readily available in most markets’; the same is true when talking about Central Oregon. The amount of time it takes to close on a home in a short sale situation dwarfs conventional closings. One reason for the lag could be the multiple parties involved in closings. The offer is submitted to the borrower or the homeowner for review and consideration. If the offer is accepted, the offer moves to the bank for bank approval. The process will most likely slow down a bit at this phase of the short sale process. The banks do not do this on purpose, more accurately the banks did not have near the man power needed to deal with the first (huge) waves of short sales and bank owned properties at the downturn of the overall economy. Some of that original overflow of work load has slowed a bit for the banks, some remains. In short sale situations buyers lose security over the contract/deal and this causes added stress for them. Stressful closings are the worst! Other issues that complicate a short sale closing are if the seller has taken out a second loan on their home. The second loan and bank will need to be satisfied as well as the loan bank holding first position. Often times this satisfaction is not visited until the late stages of closing… if the second bank cannot be satisfied by what little residual remain from the short sale than the deal will not go through at all. In today’s housing market the short sale process is happening more than one might think and it is very possible to navigate a short sale to a successful close.

Contact Kyle Hoak for more information, call cell at 541-639-7760 or email at khoak@prunw.com .