Buyer Foreclosures and short sales

Hey folks. It's Jay Seier with Jolly Homes. I get calls all the time about foreclosures and short sales.

So, you've got short sales and you've got foreclosures, and you just want to know, “What are they?”

The short sale just simply means that the bank is taking less than what they're owed or what it's going to take to get the deal closed is going to be less than what the bank is owed. That's it.  Foreclosures are bank-owned properties meaning someone's stopped making their payment and they couldn't do a short sale, so the bank ended up having to buy back the property and take it into their, what they call, “real estated owned” and sell it on the open market. 

Foreclosures – all are listed on the MLS, okay?  There is no secret website. Do not go out and pay to get a list of foreclosures.  Every real estate agent out there can get you that list. I am a HUD approved broker as well so I can get those as well.

Short sales are the same way. The only way that someone can get a short sale if it's listed on the open market.  Banks are not going to allow somebody to do a short sale unless they are working with an agent. If they're listing with an agent, the buyer's agent can help you get it done and you need a pro to help you do that.

The other question that I get, or the other assumption that I get all the time is that, “Foreclosures and short sales are always great deals.”  That couldn't be farther from the truth. In our local market, I have run numbers that have shown that bank owned properties and short sales, actually bank owned properties especially, actually sell a dollar or more per square foot in some price ranges than the normal resales.

So, you need to get a pro that's working for you.  If we haven't got hooked up yet and you haven't been pre-qualified, get in touch with me now if you want to buy short sales and foreclosures.  Thanks.