Posted by: Joyce Zangmeister
It seems like we get the same questions daily about SHORT SALES. It is confusing to people; it’s confusing the agents. We even had a friend refer their employee to us who had written an offer on a short sale listing and thought he had purchased the property and would be moving soon. Unfortunately his agent did not explain (maybe did not even know) what the process was in dealing with a short sale.
With that being said, Greg and I have put together the “Top Ten Things You Need to Know about Short Sales” to hopefully clarify the many misgivings of short sales.
1. Don’t assume anything! There are no guarantees that the sale will ever close even though the seller has agreed to your offer.
2. The seller/homeowner might not ‘qualify’ for a short sale. If this is the case, the short sale will not be successful. Period.
3. Even if the seller’s lender does agree to the short sale, the lender could come back with a higher purchase price.
4. The transaction requires great patience due to the length of time and the uncertainty of the whole process. It is a very long and complex maze; it’s a big “maybe.”
5. The bank who is accepting/not accepting the short sale does not own the house; the homeowner still owns the house.
6. Many short sale sellers just don’t care; when their house sells, they are out of a place to live. The seller’s motivation can be minimal.
7. The property might need extensive repairs. Count on it.
8. It is often the second or third lien holder that refuses to cooperate unless they receive part of the sale proceeds which can hold up the whole process — even if it is the same lender.
9. The homeowner’s lender may ask the homeowner to sign a promissory note for the shortfall amount of the short sale. If the homeowner refuses, the short sale is unsuccessful.
10.Each lender and situation is different. Federal guidelines have been introduced but are not mandatory. There is no way of knowing what the various requirements will be with the various lender involved.
We could probably “write a book” about our collective experiences on short sales but who would want to read it?? If you have more that you would like to add to the list, please make a comment.
One more item — both of us recently completed the designation of SFR which is the only Short Sale and Foreclosure designation sanctioned by the National Association of Realtors. If you need help with either a short sale or a foreclosure property, we are the Realtors to call throughout Ventura County, CA.
Posted: April 14th, 2010 under Bank-owned properties, Home Buyer Info, Home Seller Info.
Tags: buying a house in Camarillo, buying a house in Thousand Oaks, Camarillo homes, Camarillo real estate, Camarillo short sales
Comments: none



What are these people in the picture to the left doing?
Many of our readers know that 805Local answers questions on Trulia.com. Recently we received a Two Thumbs Up BEST ANSWER on Trulia for the answer to a question dealing with multiple offers.
The Ojai Valley Lavender festival is this weekend Saturday, June 27. The festival goes from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in downtown Ojai. Admission is FREE.
Many of us living in Ventura County are ‘transplants.’ We were born some place else and luck enough now to call Ventura County our Home.
May 2009 closed sales of detached homesin the
May 2009 closed sales of detached homes in