Last week came the big announcement that Bank of America, was halting foreclosures in all 50 States. With this recent news, it is expected that more lenders will follow the decision to temporarily freeze foreclosures.
Is this Good News for Sarasota, Florida? Currently in the Sarasota Real Estate market, it is estimated that approximately 17% of the mortgages on homes in our area are in default. As a result, Bank-Owned Properties and Short Sales are the majority of the market place and have been consistently driving property values down as a result of an oversupply of distressed properties for sale. As property values have continued to decline, the number of foreclosures in our area has also continued to increase, making the problem much worse.
The Foreclosure Freeze should temporarily help the imbalance of supply and demand of real estate in our market area, which should prevent further devaluation of property values. However, the Foreclosure Halt is just a temporary fix. Unless homeowners facing foreclosure and their lenders can come to a solution to prevent foreclosures, properties in foreclosure will need to be foreclosed.
Here is the Good News, if someone is facing foreclosure, this could be one of the best times possible to complete a Short Sale. Lenders have come a long way in working with homeowners to successfully complete a Short Sale and with the decision not to foreclosure at this time, this gives a homeowner more latitude to get their Short Sale completed. The best part about completing a Short Sale for a homeowner is that they could avoid a foreclosure, they can potentially eliminate their negative debt and may be able to secure financing to purchase another home in as little as 2 years. Also with the Foreclosure Freeze, we may experience Short Sales being approved quicker and selling faster. For more information on Short Sales, contact Troy Funk with Keller Williams Realty at 941-365-8769 or visit his site at www.TroyFunk.com.
Troy has been a licensed Real Estate agent in the Sarasota Area for the past 24 years and has sold over 100 bank-negotiated sales in his market area in less than and year. Troy leads the Troy Funk Team at their own Keller Williams Realty location in downtown Sarasota and is CDPE and SFR certified in handling Short Sales.
Comments (2)Subscribe to CommentsComment