Tampa Real Estate Insider Blog » Short Sales Tampa

Tampa Short Sales makes HGTV’S frontdoor.com top 10 Real Estate Nightmares List

Rae Catanese — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:00:04 +0000

Top Real Estate Nightmares

My article for HGTV’s frontdoor.com, Top Ten Real Estate Nightmares, came in at #7 on the top ten list and has been the most viewed article on my blog in 2011!

Learn how you can avoid these hair-raising real estate horrors

By Shannon Petrie, FrontDoor.com

Buying a short sale? Be prepared for plenty of obstacles between you and your home.

Nightmare #7: Scary short sale buying Don’t let the name fool you: buying a short sale can be a long, tedious process. Just ask Rae Catanese, an agent with Prudential Tropical Realty in Tampa, Fla., who is representing three short sale buyers. After being under contract for four months, one of the sales is finally closing — maybe.

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

Hiring an attorney to represent you in a SHORT SALE?

Rae Catanese — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:27:42 +0000

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

With short sales and foreclosures making home buying a bit tricky, 15 Tampa Bay offices of Prudential Tropical Realty have signed an agreement with law firm Yesner & Boss to represent clients of the real estate agency.

The St. Petersburg real estate and bankruptcy law firm will provide corporate counsel for Prudential Tropical offices all over the Tampa Bay region including St. Petersburg, Temple Terrace, Brandon and the Pinellas beaches, according to a release. Realtors will refer clients to the firm who need help with foreclosure defense, short-sale negotiations, asset protection and consumer protection.

“The goal of Yesner & Boss and Prudential Tropical is the same, to help property owners sat in their homes and work their way out of mortgage difficulties to which the current market is subjecting a lot of people,” said Christopher Boss, a partner with Yesner & Boss, in a release.

There are nearly 60,000 homes in foreclosure in Florida,according to Yesner & Boss, and the Tampa Bay region is one of the mostly heavily beset by foreclosures and short sales.

“While there are signs of life flickering in the residential real estate market, it is a long way from flourishing,” Boss said. “And improvement will not be significant until foreclosures return to normal numbers and the backlog of foreclosed properties is cleared. There is, unfortunately, still a lot of work to be done out there.”

Prudential Tropical Realty first opened 50 years ago and now has offices in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties.

Yesner & Boss was founded in 2004, according to the firm’s Web site, and specializes in real estate, foreclosure defense, bankruptcy, evictions, and corporate planning and probate.

Get in touch with a Real Estate Agent at Prudential Tropical Realty for help listing or buying your distressed home anywhere in the Tampa Bay area.

Rae Catanese, Realtor

Phone number: 813 784 7744

See Also: Are You Qualified To Sell Your Home As a Short Sale? The Process Defined…

BOA Deadline For Short Sale Incentive Approaching Soon-Tampa, Fl

Rae Catanese — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:06:19 +0000

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.

When do I have to list my home for sale?

Between Sept. 26 and Nov. 30.

The deal must close by Aug. 31, 2012.

Can homeowners with good payment histories qualify if their loans are under water?

Yes. Bank of America selected Florida for the test-and-learn program to determine whether the additional incentive increases the use of short sales instead of other more expensive, and perhaps less dignified, transitions like foreclosure. If it works in Florida, the bank might roll it out in other parts of the country.

How much money will I get?

Qualified homeowners will get 5 percent of the unpaid balance as of August 2011, with a minimum payout of $5,000, Bank of America says. For instance, a homeowner who owes $100,000 as of August would get $5,000 (5 percent of $100,000). A homeowner who owes $200,000 would get $10,000. And so on up to a maximum of $20,000. The sales price does not impact the payout. If you need additional information on this offer, please call 727-344-9815 or email a short sale expert Realtor at Prudential Tropical Realty.

You may also want to read the Bank of America article, Bank of America Offers Homeowners up to 20K Incentive To Sell As A Short Sale-Tampa, Fl, released earlier in the week for additional details to the program.

What Does a Bank Approved Short Sale Mean?

Rae Catanese — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 10:38:25 +0000

Great question from one of my buyers. Don’t be mislead when purchasing a short sale…

When a short sale says “Bank Approved” does that mean it is an easier process than a traditional short sale?

It could be a shorter process but there’s no guarantee. I always ask the Realtor to supply written documentation of the approved price. If they can’t, then I don’t believe the process will be any shorter. What happens is that the home had a contract at one time. The bank took so long to get back to the buyer that the buyer found something else and walked away from the deal. The only good news is that the Realtor will then at least know what the bank is willing to accept for the home and then they advertise that price as being “bank approved”. I’ve had bank approved short sales take 4 months to get a response because the approval price is only good for 30 days, or so. (depending on the bank)

It’s very misleading to the buyers to say a price has been approved by the bank. It may have been approved at one time…….but if you have to start the short sale process all over again what good is it?

Purchasing or selling a home as a short sale is a difficult process that requires in depth knowledge of our market here in Tampa. Whether you hire me or another Realtor to represent you, make sure you have someone to help guide you through the process. We are also seeing short sale scams that entail multiple buyers for the same property.

Have you had an experience purchasing a short sale you would like to share?

Can I get a short sale for 20% less than asking price?

Rae Catanese — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:29:07 +0000

Should you submit a low ball offer on a short sale? Every market is different, so I am giving examples of what we are exeperiencing here in the Tampa Real Estate Market, where about 40% of our homes for sale are either a short sale or foreclosure. Before you decide to buy a short sale, keep in mind the following:

How Banks Determine the Value of a Home:

After a buyer submits an offer on a short sale, the banks will perform a BPO (Broker Price Opinion). It’s not a perfect scenario, because Realtors, not appraisers are determining the market value. I’ll leave that debate alone for now. A BPO price is usually determined on what has recently sold in a 1 mile radius within the past 6 months for a similar property. Just like an appraisal, a BPO will use comparable sales to include foreclosures, short sales and regular sales.

Will they accept my offer?

Ask your Realtor for comparables. If the asking price is aggressive, the bank will most likely want close to their BPO price.

If we are forming a price opinion based on one half of our sales being either a short sale or foreclosure, then isn’t essentially everyone getting a good deal?

What does is mean when it says “bank approved price”?

The bank may have had an offer that fell through, which happens quite often. At least at that point we have an idea of what the bank is willing to accept. Which is why you see “bank approved” in the description. In my experience, I don’t believe any bank approved price unless the Realtor can give it to me in writing. Why am I a so skeptical? Because I’ve had “bank approved” short sales take over 4 months before we received a response.

Is the listing price for real?

Some short sales you see listed may be an unrealistic price.

It’s the case of pricing a property too low, giving a false sense of the market, which is very confusing to many buyers. This approach may be used to submit an offer to the bank quickly and get the short sale process moving. This is a failure waiting to happen. The buyer’s could wait 4 months or more for the bank to come back and reject their offer.

Go ahead, make a low offer. Chances are it probably won’t be accepted at a 20% discount if it’s already priced appropriately. If your Realtor tells you it is priced too high, then you probably have a good chance of getting a low ball offer accepted.

Have a short sale question? Please submit your question using the comment box below.

Rae Catanese, Realtor-Prudential Tropical Realty

You may also want to check out my article on the Top 10 Short Sale Real Estate nightmares on HGTV’S frontdoor.com

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