Posts Tagged ‘Short Sales’

NAR to Lenders: Stop foreclosing, keep people in their homes or go short sale instead

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

Short sales are notoriously risky, unreliable and frustrating primarily because of how the banks are processing them; at a snails pace and often void of logic and reason. As Realtors in the Portland market we’ve seen more than our share of short sale transactions and we’ve seen a number of them go to foreclosure, list and sell for a price very close to a short sale offer that was on the property before it foreclosed, occasionally for more than the REO list price. This is doing a dis-service to everyone involved including the bank itself as it’s not cheap to foreclose on a home. The National Association of Realtors yesterday aired some grievances about the foreclosure, loan modification and short sale processes and have apparently been meeting with some of the largest banks to discuss these issues, like Bank of America, Wells Fargo and they have meetings scheduled with JP Morgan Chase and Citi. Read more about it here if you’re an Inman subscriber or here if you are not (yes, the latter is a blog, but it posted the article subscription free).

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New Construction & Custom Built Homes in Happy Valley, Oregon is a win-win!

Monday, October 4th, 2010

Scott and I have sold alot of homes in Happy Valley, in fact we think it’s a fantastic place to invest right now as you can buy an amazing grand home with a view, level lot, great school and a great neighborhood all within in a few minute drive to the freeway.  We’ve watched Happy Valley’s housing market go through several changes, short sales, bank owned…. but what we are seeing as the current and growing trend is new construction homes for sale and they are selling fast.  New construction homes are not only competitively priced they are amazingly priced. Smart builders are picking up lots at great prices and passing the savings on to the home buyer. Not only does the home buyer get a new home, they get to chose finishes, make changes to the plans or even design their own.  What we are seeing in the way of resale homes is that the good ones are picked over and the ones left are beat up, distressed , on impossible lots, poorly constructed or attracting multiple offers. When going with a new constructed home you can move into the home you envisioned and not spend an abundance of time waiting for the right one to hit the market. Another advantage is that the home is taxed at today’s value, not a tax assessed value from 2005.

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McDonald Group Real Estate Trends: It’s Still a Buyer’s Market in Portland

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

The latest market report for the Portland Real Estate market shows a steady level of continued price reductions on homes for sale around the Portland Metro area. Back in August we talked here on the McDonald Group Real Estate blog about the Portland Business Journal article stating that thirty-two percent of Portland homes for sale in early summer experienced at least one price reduction, ranking  Portland No. 16 on Trulia’s list of price reductions in America’s 50 largest cities. Those numbers are sticking around.

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Portland Real Estate Trends: Homeowners Slashing Prices

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

In a report published in the Portland Business Journal yesterday, we learned that thirty-two percent of Portland homes for sale, listed since the beginning of this month, experienced at least one price reduction. That ranked Portland No. 16 on the website Trulia’s list of price reductions in America’s 50 largest cities.

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Wow! Short Sales are FINALLY breaking Loose!

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

Scott and I  have written alot of offers on short sales, few of them result in a happy ending….. HOWEVER, I’ve had 3 of them break loose in the last 4 weeks. What exactly does that mean? It means that you can write an offer on a short sale and with some patience you have a better than 25% chance of getting the home! (with a reasonable offer of course).

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Typical Short Sale Story- Limbo for Buyer & Seller

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Yep, this is a typical story. It’s amazing! I am always explaining these types of stories to buyers but it’s so hard to believe that the process is this awful!  There are “some” circumstances that will allow for a smoother process but in most cases your chances of pulling off a short sale are minimal. To make the short sale process worse, I frequently see listing agents that don’t know what they’re doing in a normal transaction let alone a short sale. IF YOU ARE SELLING SHORT, MAKE SURE YOUR LISTING AGENT IS A SEASONED SHORT SALE AGENT!  Anyhow, take a read at the Oregonian’s “Short Sale Leaves Homebuyers, Sellers in Limbo” .  -Kristie McD. Your Portland, Oregon Realtor!

Look at the price on that SHORT SALE! It’s too good to be true!

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

dealYep! It probably is.  Until an offer is received, the short sale process between the homeowner and the lender(s) cannot begin. In other words, the seller & listing agent need an offer, any offer, before they can turn in the initial packet required to get the process started.  You are likely being used; they just want your offer.

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Hey Short Sale Listing Agents Out There! HELP ME OUT would ya?

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Short SaleI find myself having to call the listing agents of short sales all the time with the same questions, over and over and over. Even the “famous” ones (well they are the worst actually) do little in their listings to help me out (or other real estate agents for that matter). Please short sale listing agents, note answers to the following in the agent remarks of your listings so I don’t have to bug you!!!!! Every short sale is different! (more…)

Oregon Senate Bill To Help Homeowners Facing Foreclosure…. okay….

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

senateSenate Bill 628 is congested with too many words for me to read thoroughly but it “sounds” like all it is is a law that says that lenders must send homeowners a notice of clear instructions on who and how to can contact someone via phone or in person to discuss whether they would qualify for a loan modification. (We know that few homeowners will have the opportunity to meet with someone in person)

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First time home buyers; time is running out to get your tax credit!

Saturday, September 12th, 2009

timeSo I was discussing with a client today when she should have a home picked out, negotiated and in escrow to ensure she gets the tax credit when I realized, we’re less than 3 weeks away from what I consider a safe bet, September 30th.

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What we’re seeing: Market activity picking up, homes priced right are moving

Friday, May 29th, 2009

We’re seeing lots of new activity in the market and RMLS’ posting of Oregon and Washington lockbox activity numbers shows the increased activity:

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Short sales going away due to increased risk to seller?

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

With short sales the seller is already risking getting a 1099 for the difference of what they owed ss-for1on the home and what it sold for after their “bank” approved the sale, this is known as phantom income. As such it’s standard practice for Realtors talking to a seller about selling short to advise them to speak to a CPA and/or real estate / tax attorney about the tax consequences before doing it…Well, it’s getting even more complicated now, apparently there’s a new trend of lenders beginning to require sellers to sign a note to repay that difference or they will not allow the sale; this is on top of the 1099.

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Having to Sell Your Home Short? 7 Short Sale Legal Pitfalls

Saturday, April 11th, 2009
realtorFrequently I find myself at a listing appointment and find that the homeowner owes the bank far more than what their home will sell for. If they are needing to sell because they can no longer afford the home, need to move, etc. they will likely fall into a short sale scenario.  In many cases the homeowner will seek a second opinion, even a third or fourth. Unfortunately they may eventually find a Realtor that either doesn’t know better and takes an overpriced listing or “buys the listing” because they are hoping to generate new buyers/clients from the listing. Regardless, the homeowners can lose alot of time which is frequently the one thing they do not have.

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Looking for Bank Owned Real Estate? Ask Me to HOOK YOU UP w/a Report!

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

hookIf you are interested in seeing what bank owned properties are looking like out there, send me the area, zip code, school district, or whatever your area criteria is and I’ll shoot you off a report with pictures, addresses, etc…

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Short Sales & Bank Owned -lenders requiring you apply for loan through THEM?

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

I have a link to an article below that is focused around this happening with short sales, but here in Portland I’m seeing it mostly with bank owned. What am I talking about? When a bank or lender (I’ll use Countrywide as an example as that’s the one I see the most often) lists a home with an agent it is not uncommon to see the words “buyer must be pre-qualified for purchase through Countrywide” in the listing. Many buyers (more…)