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Short Sales …are they worth looking at?

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Real Estate Agent with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Florida Network Realty
I have been successful in closing 100% of my short sales, and yes, I have closed more than just one.  Condos are a bit trickier....when there are monthly assessments that have not been paid for a long time adding up to a very large sum of money.  With persistence, a lot of phone calls, and lots of e-mailing of documents and re-e-mailing of the same documents because they get lost in the big black hole of the banking world, short sales usually can get pushed through.  Sometimes you have to inform negotiators of State laws, such as seller will still be responsible to pay associations for back payments of assessments (so why avoid the inevitable and let it go to foreclosure with an even higher total due), and e-mailing the law to the negotiator to provide the “Investors” whom make the final decision saved one of my short sales.  If it Ii an investment property banks want the seller to come to the closing with money usually.  I had one seller that lost his job and clearly did not have any money to bring to the table proof was in his income and bank statements but they were still adamant.   He then got a bill from the IRS for 2008 taxes in the amount of $14,000 and had to pay funeral costs on his credit card for his father-in-law’s funeral.  E-mailing proof of these new and current issues got the bank to agree that the seller did not need to bring funds to the table and we successfully closed.
So, confident as I was having successfully closed these short sales (plus quite a few more) that would not have closed unless a bit of creativity was brought into the picture, imagine my surprise with a bank’s decision on my latest sale.  I have a beautiful lakefront condo built in 2006 with an attached garage that has been under contract 3 times over the last year and three months.  For various reasons each of the buyers walked away (one for time – waiting over 6 months for an answer, one got cold feet, the last one would not budge from their original offer price).   For each time we received an offer, the bank had a BPO done (Broker’s Price Opinion).  Please keep in mind that in this condo complex, no first floor units (which this one is) have sold for well over a year, and there are currently 6 of 20 on the market.  Additionally, the first offer was for $260,000, the second for $235,000 and the third one for $220,000 (clearly showing a decline in what buyers feel the property is worth and isn’t true, that a property is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it?)  In September 2010 the first BPO came in at $225,000, the second one in November came in at $235,000 and the last one in February 2011 came in at $248,000.  The bank has determined that the condo market is going up in value and hence firm on the $248,000 BPO price.  They did not care that there are no sales for over a year.  They did not care that there is an abundance of inventory currently on the market. And lastly, they did not care that the real estate agent whom did the BPO, at least the last one, was not from our county, was not a member of our MLS and therefore did not have accurate information to complete the BPO appropriately.  So, more than likely this property is off to foreclosure which will cost the bank an arm and a leg to get through, the market will continue to decline as there are no condo markets appreciating, and they will have maintenance and property taxes to contend with while waiting for another offer, assuredly less than $220,000 the price of the last offer.  All makes sense to me, right???!!!!

I take great pride in assisting home buyers and home sellers with their real estate in St. Augustine. If you are looking for property in St. Augustine Beach, World Golf Village, Marsh Creek, Palencia or Royal St. Augustine, I can help you achieve your St. Augustine real estate goals. I specialize in St. Augustine waterfront properties, St. Augustine historic properties and St. Augustine golf course communities. Please contact me today if I can be of service or click here to search the MLS like an Agent.

Stefanie Bernstein, Broker / Associate
Phone: (904) 669-5134
Watson Realty Corp.
3175-1 A1A South
St. Augustine, Fl. 32080
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