After taking nearly three months to approve the sale, the bank then took another two weeks to determine that the buyers only had 30 days to close. If the buyers couldn’t close in 30 days, they would be assessed a $1,350 fee and a to-be-determined per diem penalty. “Any mortgage person can tell you that getting a loan to close in 30 days is going to be difficult,” Catanese says. “This is especially true for those that are using FHA financing, which is now taking 45 days.”

Fortunately, Catanese and her buyers were able to convince the bank to give them 30 days to close without the penalties. But the problems didn’t end there. After the lender took nearly two weeks to set up an FHA account and schedule an appraiser, the buyers decided to change lenders, fearing that their bank would not be able to close and they would lose the home. Two days before close, everything seemed to be going smoothly, until Catanese found out that the sellers had received a notice of foreclosure. For the buyers, this means they have until the end of the month — or eight business days — to close on the home before they lose it for good.

TIP: Even under the best circumstances, short sales take a long time to close and may take extra effort from the buyer. If you want to buy a short sale, be sure you have plenty of patience and an agent who has experience with the process.

If you need help buying or selling a short sale home, please give me a call 813 784 7744 or Contact me here.

Rae Catanese, Realtor-Prudential Tropical Realty

Selling your home as a short sale in the Tampa Real Estate Market is no easy task. Clearly, negotiating a successful short sale is even more difficult. It will require countless hours of phone time and inevitable frustration. It is highly recommended that you enlist the services of a professional to perform negotiations on your behalf.

As a Realtor with Prudential Tropical Realty here in Tampa Bay, I’m excited to announce that our real estate agency is working with a top Real Estate Law Firm to handle the short sale and foreclosure process for our clients.

If you are thinking about selling your home as a short sale, and would like representation please contact us.

Here’s the article published in the Tampa Bay Business Journal

Prudential Tropical Realty turns to Yesner & Boss for legal help

Here’s the latest update on Bank of America’s short sale incentive program.  Thanks to Mark Puente with the St. Pete Times, we now have more clarification on how the program works, deadlines, payout amounts and qualification process.

The biggest disappointment is that homes already under contract are not eligible for the cash assistance.

It was only a matter of time before other banks started offering incentives to homeowners to sell their home as a short sale.  Chase Bank started the trend and now Bank of America (BOA) has started offering Florida homeowners who are underwater anywhere between $5,000-$20,000.00.  Even better HAFA is offering $3,000 towards moving expenses.  

Bank of America encourages distressed homeowners to explore a short sale as a viable option for avoiding foreclosure. To that end, for a limited time we are offering enhanced relocation assistance to help motivate homeowners to engage with us on a pre-offer short sale. An additional benefit for these pre-offer programs – such as the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) and Bank of America’s proprietary program - is that deficiency may be waived for the homeowner.

Eligibility:

• Homeowners with property in Florida
• Short sales initiated without an offer between September 26 and November 30
• The customer will have to be eligible for one of the without offer programs such as the HAFA program or our proprietary program (specific investor participation and eligibility criteria do apply to these programs)
• Successful closing of the eligible short sale by August 31, 2012
• Minimum relocation assistance is $5,000 and maximum is $20,000, with the specific amount calculated based on the unpaid principal balance
  
  

  What’s the next step? You must put your home on the market with a Realtor.  To find out more about the Short Sale Relocation Assistance program, you may contact one our our Short Sale Experts at Prudential Tropical Realty.  We cover Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater areas.

  See also: BOA Deadline For Short Sale Incentive Approaching Soon

  Prudential Tropical Realty is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan. If you stop paying your mortgage, you could lose your home and damage your credit.

If you could get the same deal buying a home from a seller instead of a short sale or bank foreclosure would you?

So what’s the big attraction to short sales and foreclosures? Can you really get a better deal buying one? That seems to be the number one question people ask me. They say “I only want to look at short sales and foreclosures”. I hear this from buyers almost every time I consult with them the first time.

I wanted to know that my buyers were going to get the same deal buying a home from a regular seller, which seems to be everyone’s biggest fear right now. By only looking at distressed sales we would take half the homes on the market and say we just don’t want to look at them.

I called a local appraiser here in Tampa to get the facts.

What happens in the appraisal process?

We look for the most comparable sales regardless of short sales and foreclosures. Some homes do sell at market value, and some don’t. Some foreclosures are trashed and they can’t be comparable to a regular home sale. Jeff Alpert, of Action Appraisal Services, said “Homes in South Tampa are in desirable neighborhoods are selling for same amount most of the time. However, everything is on a case by case basis. The reality is the home must appraise, and appraisers are using short sales and foreclosures as comps.”

An appraisers’ job is to find the best comps available for the subject property. If an average house sells for 200K, and a similar foreclosure sold for 150K, they probably won’t use it because it’s not the norm and something strange may have been going on with the sale. Often there are missing appliances, mold, or the home needs a total rehab.

Jeff said, “In Riverview, there are so many foreclosures that everything is selling way below market value. Their job is so hard because the banks are saying that they are either overvaluing or undervaluing the homes. The appraiser finds the happy medium. It doesn’t matter if it’s a foreclosure or short sale.”

If a short sale appraises less than market value you won’t get the deal you thought you would.

Sometimes the BPO (Broker Price Opinion) comes in higher and the bank says no, we’re not doing the deal and everything falls apart. Now you just wasted 3-6 months, so you need to make a realistic offer to begin with. Low ball offers just aren’t being accepted.

When asked, this is what Lain Rogue had to say about short sales and standard sales:

“I think it’s in the psychology of it– people associate short sale with good deal. They automatically conclude that the price of the house is less than its actual value since the bank has agreed to sell for less than what the owner actually owes (thus instantly meaning good deal in one’s mind)…for a buyer to know if a standard sale is a good deal– it requires “extra steps” to get the comps and review..although if they have you, it should take out those steps out.”

It seems that even in a short sale, the value of the house should still be assessed by reviewing the comps.

What about those instances where someone paid too much for a house? Just because the bank will let it go for less than what they owe doesn’t necessary mean that the price is less than market value.

I fear I may have gotten a bit convoluted in this, but I think people are just assuming that short sale means less than market value. A wise buyer should still do their due diligence and do the comps- short sale or not!!! But as we have come to learn…fair market value is only what one is willing to pay, right?