Every Realtor’s Nightmare…The Short Sale
December 5th, 2008 categories: Coconut Grove Real Estate
Why you ask? First, short sales can take many many months to close (and in my experience, even up to 12 months). Second, there are way too many “unknowns” involved in the deal. And finally, (and very important to me) there is no guarantee that the realtor will get paid.
2008: Only 3 Closed Short Sales In Coconut Grove Office
In my EWM Coconut Grove office, there have only been 3 closed short sales in 2008. The first, our office represented the buyer and there was a “Short Sale Specialist” (an attorney) involved. It was an all cash deal and it closed in 4.5 months. The second, we represented the buyer again but this time there was no third party involvement. This deal closed in 5.5 months. On the day of the closing, the 2nd mortgagee demanded $10,000 more. The buyer agreed to pay the amount and the deal closed a week later. And the last, our office was representing the seller. On this deal, there were 20 offers made on the property and it took 12 months to close.
As of today, our EWM Coconut Grove office has 9 pending short sale properties. Many of these deals have been pending for well over 6 months. Can you imagine waiting 6 months to know whether you will be moving into a new house?
This Week: 3 Short Sales Approved in Coconut Grove Office
On an interesting note, the banks approved 3 of our short sale properties this week. I was speaking with my manager Claudia Riva about this, and she wondered whether the banks were trying to push them through before the end of the year. If so, that is good news for the other 9 pending sales.
In short (no pun intended), if my client wants to buy or sell a short sale I will handle the deal for them. However, the decision does not come without much trepidation.
Read the defintion of a short sale here on Wikipedia.
You are so right – in that Short Sales are a completely different animal from the standard home purchase or sale.
A good real estate agent is worth their weight in gold!
I’m glad you’re there in the cases where buyers in the Coconut Grove area are either interested in… or are forced to go through a short sale.