Short Sales in Palm Beach County not handled well

As a real estate professional I find it very upsetting to find distressed owners in desperate need of help, getting little if any from their real estate agent. It unfortunate that so many of these distress owners have little or no idea how to traverse the complicated maze one needs to when dealing with a Short Sale workout. What's even worse is that their real estate agent who they are depending on for this help and guidance in most cases will provide neither.

Distressed owners looking to do a Short Sale workout with their lender need more then just finding a buyer for their home. While this is an important piece of the Short Sale work out puzzle, believe it or not it isn't the most critical piece of the puzzle.  I say this because unless the owner and lender can work out all the many other important details of the Short Sale and do it in the shortest period of time either the buyer will get frustrated and cancel the contract or the owner will end up in foreclosure canceling out the Short Sale contract. This happens because the lender will pursue both (Short Sale and Foreclosure) simultaneously to insure either way they will get this matter resolved without concern for what best for the owner.  

OK then so what does a distressed owner need to do to dramatically increase their chances they will resolve their differences with their lender.

First they must acknowledge their in trouble and need help. Second they need to find a professional Realtor who has the knowledge as well as access to the resources needed for a successful and expeditious Short Sale workout.  Realtors need to do more then just list a Short Sale home for sale, though this is where most agents stop, leaving the owner to deal directly with their lender which often ends very badly for the owner.

A professional Realtor will take the time needed to properly evaluate and determine if the owner will meet the lenders heart ship requirements for short sale consideration. Once that is established the Realtor would then get its support team in place to help with processing the owners work out package as well as monitor and assist the owner through what is actually a seven stage process that can take up to four months to complete.

Sadly, the failure of many distress owners to secure a Short sale workout from their lender is evident in Palm Beach County as our foreclosures are up 20% year to date. Also Per Realty Trac as of the end of January this year there was approximately 30,000 foreclosures pending in Palm Beach County. While foreclosure is the last and worst option for both distressed owner and lender, it is much worse for the owner then the lender. 

So the take away is that distressed owners need to find a professional Realtor like myself who has both the knowledge and support team needed to insure that they secure a Short Sale workout with their lender and not end up in Foreclosure.  

Peter ReJune

Realtor Broker Associate

Keller Williams Palm Beach

561-793-2493

West Palm Beach Foreclosures (REO) coming soon

Once again Palm Beach county is setting records in the world of real estate "according to RealtyTrac’s Foreclosure(REO)  Market Report for February 2013: One in every 282 housing units with a mortgage had a foreclosure filing during the month – more than three times the national average." that ups 6% from January 2013 and up 20% year to date. Florida has the honor to be #1 in the nation with the highest foreclosure rate for the past six months in a row!

Now dont let these stats get you down, on the contrary if your a buyer you should get excited because what this means to you is OPPORTUNITY. These REO homes coming to our markets soon have been in the REO pipeline for a long while. In the mean time Palm Beach County homes sales has been steadily growing with inventory drying up which has resulted in a shortage of good resale inventory.

So if you have been wanting to buy a home in our area look at the increase of REO properties coming as OPPORTUNITY to get a good quality home at below market prices.

You can keep track of REO inventory as well as daily changes through my website http://www.peterrejune.kwrealty.com. Just select the area of the county your interested in,

Real estate sale stats nationally

The National Association of Realtors says that based on the recent national housing stats it appears the industry could be shifting from a buyers market to a seller’s market.

Supporting data:
New home listings fell in January by 4.9%, leaving approx. 1.75 Million properties for sale which is the lowest sales inventory since 1999.
Home sales rose in January, to an annual rate of 4.92 million sales which is up from 9.1% one year ago.

So right now we have more buyers chasing a declining number of homes that are for sale. If the current pace of sales continues it will take about 4 months to sell the entire current national supply of homes on the market. Not only does this help to confirm the market could finally be shifting to the sellers side but then add to that a consensus by economists that they see sales increasing nearly 12% from last year and it really seems like a change in market sentiment.

This then explains why NAR believes sellers are beginning to have the upper hand.

Some advice for sellers:

If you want to sell quickly and get the best price possible put your feelings aside and look only at the current facts. You have to take into consideration your local resale market conditions, your homes overall condition, your neighborhood condition and your personal financial situation.

Its a known fact that homes priced to Fair Market Value will sell more quickly and at higher prices then over priced listings. Say what?

A home priced properly will get many showings its first week on the market then an over priced listing.

A home priced fairly will get more written offers faster then over priced listing if they get any offers at all.  

A home priced fairly will be contracted and closed before an over priced listing gets its first written offer.

A home priced fairly means money in your bank account sooner rather then later, or permits you to move into your new home sooner rather then later.

An over priced listing means you will be losing more and more money every single day it doesn't sell and close.

If your goal is to put as much money as you can in your pocket then hire a professional Realtor who will tell you what you need to hear not what you want to hear. You will be better off for it!