Market for Vacation Homes on the rise

Great article here from the wall street journal. Click the link below
Market for Vacation Homes is on the rise

Foreclosures & short sales....What's the difference?

I am finding that many prospective buyers may not understand the difference between a bank owned foreclosure & a short sale, so I thought I would explain. When a property has gone through the foreclosure process and the bank ends up taking the property back it is almost always at a loss for them (not to mention the thousands of dollars the foreclosure process costs them). The payoff is an important bit of info in "Short Sale" situations because bank will usually accept a certain percentage of what's actually owed on the property (this becomes much more complicated when there is more than one mortgage). The general public doesn't seem to understand the difference in a "foreclosure" & a "short sale". A short sale is a last ditch effort by the homeowner (seller) to avoid a foreclosure by their lender. In a short sale the homeowner will accept an offer with the contingency that the lender will approve their net amount (No proceeds go to the homeowner at all but they come to the closing and sign all docs because they are still technically the property owners). I know that many prospective buyers look at foreclosures and short sales as great opportunities (and they are), but it's very important to hire a professional full-time Realtor as a Buyer Agent (representing & advising you) in order to have the best negotiating skills as well as market knowledge working in your favor. Let me know if I can help you in any way. Thanks!

Advice for Sellers in Financial Distress: Pre- Short Sale

4 Biggest Mistakes Short Sale Sellers Make
4 Biggest Mistakes Short Sale Sellers Make



1) Letting the house fall apart. Even though you are short selling your home you should not let your house fall into disrepair. A house full of deferred maintenance is not appealing to buyers. You can lower the price to compensate and attract a buyer, but ultimately the lender does have to approve the lowered price. The short sale lender may not want to take a hit on the price just because you decided not to repair that leak in the roof. Also, the buyer may be using FHA or VA financing and making those repairs could be required for the sale to go through anyway.

2) Taking too long to present the short sale application to the bank. Buyers are waiting for the short sale to be approved. They have many concerns on their end as well, including when they are going to move, interest rate fluctuations, and the cheaper short sale next door that just hit the market. Don't delay submitting your short sale package. Ideally, you should have all material for the short sale application ready to go when you put the home on the market.

3) Making the home difficult to be shown. Let's face it many short sale home sellers are not happy about selling their home. Some are angry because many efforts at a loan modification with the lender have failed. They feel that the bank is pushing them toward losing their home. However, making the home difficult to be shown will not help the situation. If the bank determines that you are deliberately delaying the short sale, they will simply continue the path toward foreclosure. A simple market twist and you may be unable to quickly get an offer that the short sale lender will accept.

4) Waiting until the last minute to put the home on the market. Many times sellers believe that they will work out terms with the bank and their loan modification will be approved, etc. If you want a short sale you need to leave enough time for an agent to get an offer and present it to the bank. I have seen more than one short sale listing fail where the sellers gave the agent two weeks or less to obtain an offer and have the short sale package presented to the lender in order to stop a foreclosure sale. If you want a short sale you need to give your agent enough time to present it. There are routine delays with short sales; banks lose documents and packages have to be re-faxed. Don't wait until it is down to the wire.

If you are looking for an experienced short sale agent that can help guide you through the process, set up a consultation with me by calling (866)244.8439

Blog Content provided by: Tni LeBlanc, Mint Properties