What is a short sale?
We have been hearing this term a lot lately and some first time home buyers are not sure what a “short sale” is. Basically a short sale happens when the Bank allows the Seller to sell the property for less than what is owed on the mortgage. If the Seller can’t continue making the payments, it is better for them to sell “short”, than to go all the way to foreclosure. It is usually better financially (cheaper) for the Bank to allow a short sale than let the property go to foreclosure. Short sales are far from easy, but a patient Buyer may find a bargain on a nice home. There is no law that says a Bank has to agree to a short sale and short sales can take a long time to close, sometimes weeks and even months longer than a regular sale. The Seller has to prove than they can no longer make the payments and they may have to actually be delinquent on payments before a Bank will allow a short sale. Policies differ from Bank to Bank.
Fortunately we do not have as many short sales in the Tigard, Oregon area as other parts of the country. We are seeing an increase in the number of Bank owned properties, sometimes called REO’s, but we are also still behind most parts of the country in this category.
If you have any questions about Tigard real estate, give me a call. You will get straight answers with no sales pressure.
Wayne Pruner, GRI is a Realtor in Tigard. I will help you save money when you buy or sell a home. My phone number is 503-891-0795 and my email is waynepruner@oregonfirst.com
Update 11/14/2010: Foreclosures and Bank owned properties represent 24% of all home sales during October 2010.
Please see: Tigard Real Estate Market Report for October 2010
[...] 51 Tigard homes sold this month, up 20% from this month last year. Included in these sales were 6 short sales and 7 bank owned properties (a 23% [...]