My house is really nice, why is the short sale offer so low?
Sellers often have an emotional attachment to their home and often feel a short sale offer is too low. It is important to remember a few things. First, the seller in a short sale can never receive any money in the transaction, therefore it should be of very little concern at what price the short sale is done. The only real exception is when the seller has tax liability concerns. Otherwise, the price should not matter to the seller.
The important factor in a short sale is whether the lender will accept the price. Lenders OFTEN accept prices for short sales that normal homeowners or Realtors are surprised at. Discounts of 30% are no longer uncommon. This happens for several reasons:
Sellers are often in denial about how bad the market really is for housing and therefore how far the value has declined.
Lenders don't like the foreclosure process any more than homeowners do (especially in Southern California). Lenders incur substantial costs during a foreclosure process that can last more than 12 months. They have attorney fees, filing fees, publication fees, lost interest on the money that is tied up, property taxes, insurance, maintenance costs as well as the potential for vandalism of the vacant home. This is all BEFORE having to try to sell the home as a bank owned REO and pay commissions to do that. A short sale is a way to avoid some or all of these costs. If a lender calculates his cost of eviction at $50,000 for a house, they will often take a $40,000 loss on a short sale instead and they will be better off.
Lenders are emotionless businesses. They simply look at the numbers and make a decision. If the numbers favor a short sale, they will accept even if it means taking a large loss. They do not want to wait, they want the deal done NOW. These numbers and factors are what a short sale investor is focused on.
In a poor housing market, most of these numbers have very little to do with how nice a home is. The ultimate goal is to sell this home and help the seller satisfy there commitment to the bank and avoid foreclosure.
My house is really nice, why is the short sale offer so low?
Sellers often have an emotional attachment to their home and often feel a short sale offer is too low. It is important to remember a few things. First, the seller in a short sale can never receive any money in the transaction, therefore it should be of very little concern at what price the short sale is done. The only real exception is when the seller has tax liability concerns. Otherwise, the price should not matter to the seller.
The important factor in a short sale is whether the lender will accept the price. Lenders OFTEN accept prices for short sales that normal homeowners or Realtors are surprised at. Discounts of 30% are no longer uncommon. This happens for several reasons:
Sellers are often in denial about how bad the market really is for housing and therefore how far the value has declined.
Lenders don't like the foreclosure process any more than homeowners do (especially in Southern California). Lenders incur substantial costs during a foreclosure process that can last more than 12 months. They have attorney fees, filing fees, publication fees, lost interest on the money that is tied up, property taxes, insurance, maintenance costs as well as the potential for vandalism of the vacant home. This is all BEFORE having to try to sell the home as a bank owned REO and pay commissions to do that. A short sale is a way to avoid some or all of these costs. If a lender calculates his cost of eviction at $50,000 for a house, they will often take a $40,000 loss on a short sale instead and they will be better off.
Lenders are emotionless businesses. They simply look at the numbers and make a decision. If the numbers favor a short sale, they will accept even if it means taking a large loss. They do not want to wait, they want the deal done NOW. These numbers and factors are what a short sale investor is focused on.
In a poor housing market, most of these numbers have very little to do with how nice a home is. The ultimate goal is to sell this home and help the seller satisfy there commitment to the bank and avoid foreclosure.
