Is the distressed property era over? In Portland, the answer appears to be, “yes” but keep reading as to why that’s not entirely true. “Distressed Properties” are those that are either short sales or bank owned (also know as REO- Real Estate Owned) In October 2011, I wrote that 20% of all active listings in… Continue reading Is the Distressed Property Era Over in Portland?
Our sales meeting topic yesterday was short sales. The meeting started something like this, “What is a short sale?” “It means that someone is taking it in the shorts.” Actually a very accurate response but there is more to it. RMLS and OREF, which produces the forms that are standardized for Oregon real estate, have… Continue reading Short Sales in Oregon
Short sales, foreclosures and bank owned properties may be the buzz words of today’s real estate market but an RMLS blog post shows us that short sales and bank owned properties make up less than 20% of the properties listed for sale.
Last week on our Facebook Page we ran a contest asking, “what percentage of listings in Portland are short sales?” The answer is 17.% (and was worth a $15 Starbucks card). New rules go into effect today that should help speed up the short sale process. The rules are effective today, February 1. It… Continue reading New HAFA Rules Effective Today to Speed Short Sales
The Helping Responsible Homeowners Act could allow for people to refinance Fannie Mae and Fredie Mac loans regardless of whether they have positive or negative equity. If you are current on payments and your property is worth less than it was when you bought it shows that you are meeting the obligation that you signed… Continue reading Helping Responsible Homeowners Act Could Stimulate Economy
In its simplest form purchasing a home can be broken into three parts: 1) find house; 2) buy house; 3) get keys to house. Generalizations pretty much end there. The three legs of the current real estate market are the traditional sale, the short sale and bank owned property (aka: Real Estate Owned (REO)). There… Continue reading Buying a Bank Owned Property Part 1
Wikipedia describes a short sale as: A short sale occurs when the proceeds of a real estate sale fall short of the balance owed on the property.[1] In a short sale, the bank or mortgage lender agrees to discount a loan balance due to an economic or financial hardship on the part of the mortgagor.… Continue reading Short Sales and First Time Buyers
June 30th, 2010 is 93 days away (8,035,200 seconds for fans of Rent). Lack of indicators, to the contrary, make us believe that you have until then to close any contract that allows you to take advantage of the federal home buyer tax credits. A short sale is unlikely to qualify in that time frame… Continue reading Short Sales and the Home Buyer Tax Credit