Bank Owned in Terracina in West Palm Beach, FL.

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Winston Trails, Lake Worth, FL Market Snapshot

Current Market

48 properties currently on the market

• 10 properties are under contract (pending)
• 11 properties are under contract (contingent)
• 27 properties currently available for purchase

Properties currently available

• 16 are traditional sales
• 10 are short sales
• 1 bank owned

Prices

• $150,000 to $525,000

Square Footage

• 1,336 to 4,066

Sold Properties

• In the last 3 months 20 properties have sold
• average size was 4 bed 2 bath with 2,204 under air
• average sales price per square foot was $121 per square foot
• average days on market was 163

If you need a Realtor that knows the market, you can contact me using the form located on the contact us page, for a comprehensive market analysis and pricing strategy for Winston Trails, Lake Worth, FL. Looking in other communities, I have Community Market Snapshots for other communities, contact me for a copy.

Bank Owned in Boca Isles North, Boca Raton, FL.

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In today’s real estate market, you don’t have to look very far to find a short sale. In my area of Palm Beach County, Florida it is not uncommon for one to find a development with 50% to 70% of the homes on the market listed as a short sale. The good news is that banks are getting better at handling the large volume of distressed property sales. However, the bad news is that these transactions have many more pitfalls then a traditional home sale. In this article I will address the five things you need to know when buying a short sale that will help you throughout the buying process.

The first and one of the most important things to know about buying a distressed property is the experience of the agents involved. The listing agent is responsible for the pricing strategy, submitting the paperwork to the bank for approval and advising the homeowner throughout the process. Having a listing agent experienced with short sales will go a long way in improving the odds that the home owner will be approved for a short sale transaction and then close the deal. Having your agent, also known as the buyer’s agent, familiar with the short sale process is also an important factor. An experienced buyers agent will know which questions to ask the listing agent to help guide you through the process and improve the likelihood of the deal reaching the closing table.

The second question you need to consider, what is your timeframe? If you were my client and you told me that you would like to be in a house in 30-45 days, I would tell you maybe a short sale might not be for you. However, there are certain situations when the time frame may be shorter for a short sale. If for example, there was a previous offer submitted on the property but by the time the bank approved the offer the buyer had found another property to buy . If your time frame is flexible and staying in your current location for a few months is feasible then pursuing a distressed property could be a great deal for you.

Thirdly, you need to know how many parties/lenders are involved in the distressed sale. It is not uncommon for there to be two different mortgages on a property, a first and a second. In addition there may also be a home equity line of credit to deal with or a mortgage insurance company. The fewest number of parties that need to approve the transaction the better. Your agent should ask the listing agent what parties are involved and then based on their answers you can make an informed decision on whether or not to move on to the next property.

Fourthly, the listed price of a property should be evaluated. If it sounds too good to be true, it just might be. In a normal market the pricing of a house is part art and part science, but in today’s distressed market, pricing can be fraught with danger and bait and switch strategies. The typical approach for the listing agent to price a short sale is on a formula based on the amount owed on the property plus the commissions for the sale, attorney fees, penalties and taking into account the amount of time until foreclosure. But wait, you may realize at this point it would put the property well above market price, and you would be right. This is the listing agent’s way of proving to the bank that they attempted to get the best price for the property.

Once the house has been on the market for a period of time without a full price offer, the agent will aggressively reduce the price of the property until they finally get a fair offer. The other approach used by listing agents is to price the property well below the current market value in order to get offers to start the short sale process, knowing full well the bank will not accept an offer at that price. If the buyer has not read this article they may not be aware of this tactic and not understand that there would be little chance of getting the property even though they have made a full price offer to the Seller. Your agent should know their market, the other comparable properties and the amount of money owed on the home to help you determine if the property is a legitimate deal or not.

Final thing you need to know is how your offer will be handled once submitted. If the property is at fair market price and your offer to the Seller is accepted, two things can happen. The listing agent will submit your offer with the short sale package to the bank for acceptance, and change the status of the property to a contingency status which will alert other buyer’s agents that there is an offer on the property. Or the listing agent may submit your accepted offer with the short sale package to the bank for acceptance but keep the property on the market leaving the door open for another buyer to offer a higher amount. The bank approval of the original buyer’s offer can take 2 months or longer to be finalized; in the meantime if the bank receives a higher offer for the property yours may be denied or countered.

Distressed properties are a reality of the current market. In the best scenario it’s a win-win-win, for the seller they avoid having a foreclosure on their credit record, the buyer who gets a good price on the house and the bank who saves the cost of going through a lengthy and expensive foreclosure process. Armed with the knowledge in this article, you can now make a more informed decision when considering the purchase of a home that is a short sale. Happy house hunting.

For more information about short sales visit

www.Short-Sales-Specialist.com

Versailles Market Snapshot

Current Market

76 properties currently on the market

• 11 properties are under contract (pending)
• 13 properties are under contract (contingent)
• 52 properties currently available for purchase

Properties currently available

• 13 are traditional sales
• 36 are short sales
• 3 bank owned

Prices

• $280,000 to $1,900,000

Square Footage

• 2,443 to 6,959

Sold Properties

• In the last 3 months 13 properties have sold
• average size was 4 bed 3 bath with 3,687 under air
• average sales price per square foot was $113 per square foot
• average days on market was 182

If you need a Realtor that knows the market, you can contact me using the form located on the contact us page, for a comprehensive market analysis and pricing strategy for Versailles in Wellington. Looking in other communities, I have Community Market Snapshots for other communities, contact me for a copy.

Bank owned home for sale in Olympia in Wellington

Here is the latest news on home prices in Palm Beach County and across the U.S.

While I have seen a noticeable uptick in the number of transactions taking place, there is still downward price pressure given the amount of short sales and bank foreclosures currently on the market.  This news gives us  some hope that the worst rate of price declines is behind us.

Standard & Poor’s Case-Schiller Home Price Index, a measure of prices in 20 major cities, fell 18.6 percent in February from February 2008. Prices now are what they were in 2003.

But for the first time in 16 months, the drop didn’t set a record.

In metropolitan Miami, which includes Broward and Palm Beach counties, year-over-year prices fell 29.5 percent, but that wasn’t worst in the nation. Phoenix was off 35.2 percent, Las Vegas was down 31.7 percent and San Francisco fell 31 percent.

The index is considered a strong measure of home prices because it examines price changes of the same property over time, instead of calculating a median price of homes sold during the month, as the Florida Association of Realtors does.

POSTED IN: South Florida home prices (20)

Current Market Snapshot (5/18/09)

Current Market

53 properties currently on the market

• 2 properties are under contract (pending)
• 17 properties are under contract (contingent)
• 34 properties currently available for purchase

Properties currently available

• 14 are traditional sales
• 17 are short sales
• 3 bank owned

Prices

• $197,000  to $695,000

Square Footage

• 2,130 to 4,215

Sold Properties

• In the last 90 Days 11 properties have sold
• Average size was 4 bed 2 bath with 2,338 under air
• Average sales price per square foot was $95  per square foot
• average days on market was 190

Looking in Madison Green?  Let me put my market knowledge to work for you.  Contact me for showings or questions… or for a comprehensive market analysis and pricing strategy for Madison Green in Royal Palm Beach.  Looking in other communities, I have Community Market Snapshots for other communities, contact me for a copy.

Oakmont Estates – Builders Inventory Home

Property Details

• 10586 Willow Oak Ct, Wellington
• 5 Bedrooms 3.5 Baths
• 3,480 Living square feet
• 2 car garage
• Waterfront

Price

• $349,990
• Up to 6% for closing costs
• $235 a month HOA fees

Details:

Builder inventory home, only 3 homes left. Beautiful Emerald model with 3,480 under air, 5 beds 3.5 baths and 2 car garage make this home big enough for the whole family. Located on the water just across the street from resort style amenities. Seller to pay up to 6% for closing costs. Can close within 30-45 days.