We've noticed that a large percentage of properties we pull to show are short sales - and we always include a session on Short Sales as part of our initial Buyer Counseling Interview. The Pinellas Realtor Organization ran some statistics and found that 34% of all properties under contract are short sales! Considering that many are offers that haven't been accepted yet, that figure is probably considerably higher.
What I'd really like to see is what percentage of actual closings are short sales.
Hi Sharon:
I'd bet anything that that is where we are heading; Short-Sales, Foreclosures and Bank Owned Real Estate (REO's) When searching the MLS, here in South Florida, it seems like the only properties worth showing (due to the low, low prices) are the Short-Sales. I'd like to know~ How many of these listed short-sales have been approved by the lender?
Sharon~I too am worried that the properties that we our buyers think are such a great deal are not really such great deals. According to a recent Orlando Board stat, the number of short sales that actually close are less than 15%...Seems to me that there are a lot of properties that are in the MLS that aren't legitimately able to even be purchased and closed on within 30-60 days. In my humble opinion, a property should not even be listed unless the bank has agreed to the price it is listed for.
Hi Sharon, I am with you on that. With this new Housing bill that passed , one would think there would be great incentives for homeowners not be selling short. We shall see how it manifests itself over some time.
Mott - unfortunately, not enough of them. There was one on my list of properties to show tomorrow and I asked the agent where in the process the lender was and the response was - oh, they won't start to look at anything until after there's an offer.
LaShawn - oh, wouldn't that be nice, if all the listed short sales were already at an approved price!
William - so much is going on, with so many aspects up in the air ... for many people a reduction in interest rate wouldn't begin to bring them up to water level.
I am glad that we do not anything close to those numbers. Short sales can be such a royal pain in the neck. The lenders are no joy to deal with.
Randy - they ARE a royal pain in the neck. Today we had our first closing on a Short Sale for one of our buyers.