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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: UncleBigs who wrote (63328)	6/11/2006 2:39:11 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

Housing "short sales" news10.net Home Owners Turn to Short Sales to Avoid Foreclosure Lenders are reporting more home owners are defaulting on their mortgages. But before those defaults turn into foreclosure, some sellers are turning to short sales -- if lenders agree. Home owner Gloria Romero is in that position now. She bought her three-bedroom home in North Sacramento last year but has to sell it. She has listed the home for $250,000 hoping to cover her mortgage balance. Thursday she received her first offer -- $219,000. That's some $30,000 less than her mortgage. So, Romero is turning to a short sale instead of letting the bank takeover the house. A short sale is when the lender accepts an offer that is less than the current balance. Not many lenders are accepting these negotiated transactions because it affirms the real estate market has settled from its accelerated growth that drove prices up in the first half of the decade. But for some home owners caught with having to sell their property and negative equity, it's a better alternative than having a foreclosure on their credit record. Scott L. Williams is a realtor with Re/Max Real Estate. He says his office has gone from no short sales in seven years to nine such transactions in the last few months. "Back in the '90s, I became the short sale guru in Sacramento and did several hundred of them," Williams said. The realtor says he's working with another home owner in Natomas who has to move and has received an offer of $399,000 for her home. That is about $60,000 less than what she owes on it. Like Romero, the home owner hopes the lender will agree to let the house sell for less than the mortgage balance or will make a counter offer. Even though a short sale will become part of these homeowners' financial history, Romero says it's better than a foreclosure. "I don't want my credit to be really ruined." As for actual numbers of mortgage defaults, there were 37 percent more statewide in the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to foreclosures.com. In Sacramento County, there were 1,140 defaults reported in the first quarter, 2006, and less than half as many -- 738 -- last year at the same time. denverpost.com ...A large number of homes at risk of foreclosure are being sold for less than the mortgages on them, adds Jalowsky, who was involved in one such "short sale" in Thornton on Tuesday. Of Colorado foreclosures in April, 2 percent were in the notification or preforeclosure stage, 80 percent involved properties headed to auction and 18 percent were properties owned by the lender or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to RealtyTrac. The large number of distressed properties is boosting the inventory of homes for sale in the metro area, making it even harder for sellers looking to get out of mortgage payments they can't afford. The number of homes for sale in the metro area hit a record of 29,045 last month, surpassing the previous high of 28,043 reached in June 2004. "We will see more inventory and more pressure on the low end," Jalowsky said. "I don't see any immediate relief in the near future." prweb.com Shearin is a real estate investment professional since 2001 and specializes in the Orange, Bridge City market. We have done 2 foreclosures and are in the process of a short sale in the past 4 years. We are very excited to have this experience and to have met Mrs. Jackie. We look forward to boosting our business and to buy much more houses.