The Orange County Register is reporting that in the past two weeks, short sales and foreclosures have ballooned since the start of the year. Quoting realtor Steve Thomas, the Register reported that, "the active distressed inventory grew by 150 homes over the past two weeks and now totals 3,457 total foreclosures and short sales … The active distressed inventory started the year with 2,555 homes and has since grown by 35%. The distressed inventory now represents 31% of the current active inventory." Portola Hills, Rancho Santa Margarita, and Anaheim are among the cities hardest hit by this new wave of distressed home sales.
Many of the homes facing foreclosure or being sold as a short sale are priced below $500,000. Over half of those homes are starter homes being sold for less than $250,000. If you're a buyer looking to buy your first home or, perhaps, looking to move into bigger home, now is a great time to make your move. However, before you buy your first home as a short sale, be sure you find a realtor who knows what he or she is doing. Short sales may be common right now, but that doesn't mean that your run-of-the-mill realtor will be any good at them.
What if you're a seller - is now a good time to short sell your home? Absolutely. If you're in a bad mortgage situation, there are two reasons why now is a good time to short sell your home. First, buyers are looking to buy. Odds are there is a buyer out there to help you out of your underwater mortgage. Since the object of a short sale is to help you escape a bad mortgage and have your debt forgiven, you don't have to worry about playing the market to sell your home at the highest price possible. Therefore, the fact that we're presently in a "buyer's market" actually is to your advantage.
Second, short sales are common right now which means that banks are willing to work with lawyers and realtors short selling homes. Again, we recommend finding a realtor who also has a partnership of some kind with a lawyer who specializes in short sale negotiations. Banks turn down short sale offers all the time especially when they come from agents who don't understand the process and the paperwork. It's a long process which requires expert guidance. Now is the time to take advantage of the major banks' willingness to work with short sellers, but don't do it blindly.
If you're in the Los Angeles, San Diego, or Orange Counties, we recommend working with our partner companies Fitzpatrick and Prince Real Estate and Rasmussen Law Firm. These reputable companies will connect sellers with buyers and they have a great deal of experience working with banks to close short sales. Start a conversation with the team at Fitzpatrick and Prince today by calling them toll free at (800) 829 5158.
