Ever since the collapse of the real estate market buyers and sellers alike have had multiple questions about short sales.  The Bend real estate market has seen and continues to see it’s fair share of short sales.  The good news to both buyers and sellers is that Short Sales are getting closed and they are doing so in a shorter period of time than we saw at the beginning of this environment in most cases.

Bend Oregon Short Sales

These listings are just a sample of homes currently listed as short sales in the $100,000 price range. At the bottom of this post you will find a link to an entire list of homes currently listed as short sales in Bend Oregon.
 

 

Searching for homes and including short sales online can be very frustrating for the Central Oregon buyer. There are some simple explanations but it does not make it any less frustrating.

Quick Over View of Short Sale Process

• The home is listed typically at the low end of fair market value.  This brings a quicker offer obviously.
• A buyer makes a written offer
• The listing agent changes the status to – Contingent Short Sale – which means the seller has accepted the offer and the seller and seller’s agent is waiting on the bank to approve the written offer.
• The property still shows on websites as available – because although the seller has accepted the offer they do not know if the bank will accept the offer…. so there is always a chance that the seller will be starting over so the marketing does not stop.
• When the bank accepts the written offer – the Listing agent will change the status to pending and it will no longer show as available online.

The message in the steps above is to realize that even though these homes show active, do not be surprised if you call, drive by or ask me to show you a home, I may tell you there are other offers on it.

Bend Short Sale Properties

Today Buyers and Sellers of Central Oregon homes are hearing these terms more and more which bring more questions than answers most of the time.  There are many misunderstandings of what these terms mean and what the process is or can be.  The current real estate market is one that even veterans of 40 plus years have never seen before.  Let’s explore what these mean here locally and have a glimpse of what they may mean in other areas.

The Short Sale – A seller is attempting to sell their home for less than they owe the bank.  That is the simple answer to what a short sale is.  As we tread on you will see that the answer is not all that simple.  How can the seller do this is one of the most common questions followed by how can I buy this home for less.  The seller of a short sale is usually behind at least one payment and can not keep up with the current mortgage.  The banks do not want to have to take the home (Foreclosure).  Some of the reasons are, banks are not in business to be home owners and the average cost to the bank for a foreclosure is in excess of $30,000 according to some experts.
Ashley Drake Gephart, Associate Broker, REALTOR® a good friend in Albuquerque explains in more detail what a short sale is

A short sale of a residential property is still owned by the owner, but the owner is usually behind in their payments and the price listed is short of what is needed to pay off the mortgage and closing costs. There is no guarantee that the bank will accept a short sale even if the owner offers the full list price, and the response time from a bank on an offer can take up to six months.

A Short Sale is always subject to the lender approval this process is far more complicated that it sounds.  Some homes currently listed as a short sale have a first and a second mortgage.  In these cases approval by both lenders is necessary.  Most short sales will be sold as is, with few if any warranties.  Everything about the contract depends on the bank agreeing to it.  A short sale can take weeks to months to get bank approval.

Joshua Jarvis REALTOR® in Georgia also explains short sales;

Pre-Foreclosures are also called Short Sales in some cases. Most of these will be listed as well.  Short sales can be a great deal and opportunity but do require patience and a easy living arrangement in case the deal falls through. Not all pre-foreclosures are short sales, but most will be.

The process is not as simple as it sounds.  There are specific documents the seller will need to provide sometimes multiple times, the listing agent will need to have extensive communication with multiple parties to keep the ball rolling and be familiar with the process and the specific situation.
As a buyer you can have the best agent out there and if the listing agent is un-aware of the process your offer can be a total waste of time.   Sellers if you are working with an agent and trying to short sale your home, make sure your agent knows the process.  More than one buyer can tell you that they had an offer with a short sale only to find that it went to foreclosure anyway.  Reasons for this can vary from the bank would not accept the offer to the listing agent did not ask for the sale date to be delayed while the offer was negotiated.
Some banks will not discuss a short sale or price until you have an offer, others will work with you on price and terms right from the start.  More often than not you will need an offer before the bank will talk about price and so on.  Part of the process of a short sale is that once that offer comes in – the bank will ask other brokers for their opinion of the value of the property, this is referred to as a BPO.
The Bank Owned Home, also called an REO or REPO – These are homes that have already been taken back by the bank.  These homes can be pristine or they can be real fixer up type properties.  Once the bank owns the home you are dealing with one person generally.  Although responses can be a little delayed because the decision maker is generally has a ton of files on their desk.  Acceptance of these properties generally only takes a couple days and things move a long much like a standard real estate transaction, if you agent knows what to expect that is.  There are a few quirky items that your agent needs to know to protect you.

Short sale helping hand

Just because you feel you are upside down in your home does not qualify you for a short sale. I do not know how many times I have been told by a seller their home is not worth what they owe so they are going to walk away or quit making payments, then try and sell (short sale) or let the bank take the house. The sooner you talk with an agent the quicker your stress will go down.  Many agents do not let these people know that there are specific guidelines to a smooth and successful short sale.

Banks have been overrun with homeowners attempting to sell their home for less than they owe and so the process can be longer than a standard sale.  Banks have over the last three years formed departments and standards to process and approve short sales quicker than in the past. However, many agents do not have a clue what it takes to put a short sale together consistently, if done correctly you can certainly shorten the time frame a short sale has taken and actually sell the home instead of loosing it to foreclosure.

Did you know there is no place on a credit report to report a short sale to show as a negative but there is a section for a foreclosure? So Do You Qualify for a Short Sale?

The first 3 questions to determine if you qualify are fairly simple, they are;

1. Do your expenses exceed your income
2. Is there a hardship that caused your situation
3. Is the likely sales price of your home less than what you owe and the expenses of selling?

There obviously are more questions to go with each of these but basically that is what determines if you qualify.  Because so many people had no clue of how to proceed with a short sale there are a lot of myths flying around that just confuse the home seller more than ever.

Contact me for more info and a quick interview  – let’s see what we can do to relieve some of your stress. To Successfully sell your home as a short sale it must be listed with an agent.

I am a Certified Distressed Property Expert – and have received special training to assist you in the sale or purchase of a short sale home.  Let me help you!

A couple of my buyer clients are participating in short sales.  They have done their home work, they know it can be a sit and wait just to have to hurry up at the final approval (if  it ever comes) approach.

One Buyer in particular is buying while living half way across the country – they have put everything in place to make this easy.  They qualified for a good loan, they have family in Central Oregon and have signed a power of attorney with one family member just in case.  They have the down payment, they are ready – ready to move to La Pine and enjoy their new home.

This week while chatting with them and letting them know where their offer stood – Ms. Buyer said “so, buying a short sale is kind of like the scene in Pretty Woman, we have all this money and no one wants to take our money.”  We both laughed, but she had a point, it is one of my favorite scenes of the movie and it does ring true.

When you are a buyer in a short sale, patience is the most important thing once you are approved by your lender.  I am here to help you with your short sale, bank owned or any other Central Oregon Real Estate need.

Fall is here which makes showing vacation rentals in Sunriver much easier.  Fall is generally speaking the best time to see vacation rentals – it is between the Summer rush of family vacations and the winter ski season.  This week we find 2 short sales in Sunriver.  Sunriver is a resort community located just 15 miles south of Bend, Oregon and a quick 18 miles to Mt. Bachelor.

With prices falling, interest rates still low now is a great time to find your Sunriver Vacation home.  Today we are looking at 2 particular homes that are currently listed as a short sale.  Short sales can be a long drawn out process but are often times well worth the wait.

Click here —-> Sunriver Short Sales