subject: Short Sales in Sacramento [print this page] Short Sales in Sacramento Short Sales in Sacramento
Right now there seems to be a lot of confusion about what's happening in the Sacramento housing market. Is it up? Is it down? Is it sideways? What does the future hold? At our recent golfing fundraiser that seemed to be the conversation of choice while waiting on deck for the next tee shot.
Since I'm not a professional fortune teller, I try to avoid predicting the future. But as a real estate professional, however, I can tell you what's working and what's not working right now. And if I've learned anything from my years in this business, having seen all the ups and downs, is that there are always and I mean ALWAYS great opportunities if you know where to look.
The housing market is a little bit like the stock market in some ways. Regardless of which way the market is going, there's always someone making a profit based on the direction it moves. And like the stock market, people can make money selling long and they can make money selling short which leads me to my topic.
If anyone were to ask me right now, what's the best opportunity for buyers (and sellers) in today's real estate environment, I would have to say the "short sale". There has absolutely never been a time like for people who are looking for a bargain on home and want to create some instant equity for themselves. There's also never been a time like this for sellers who are upside down in their mortgage and looking for a way out of the situation.
Banks are normally not in the habit of just forgiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to their borrowers, but, as the saying goes, "Drastic times call for drastic measures". For them, it really comes down to the idea of the lesser of two evils; one being foreclosure, the other being a short sale. Either way, they're going to be writing off losses, the only question is how much do they want to lose?
The short sale has turned out to be the Win/Win for just about everyone involved. The buyer wins by usually getting a deeply discounted price for a new home. The seller wins by avoiding foreclosure, getting out of an upside down mortgage and suffering much less damage to their credit than what would've resulted from being foreclosed on, and they can get on with their lives. The bank wins by cutting their losses and the real estate businesses win by having a wonderful new opportunity to offer. Let's not forget to mention how the communities and neighborhoods benefit by all the economic activity that is generated by a housing market that's moving.
If you happen to be one of those people who are upside down in your home and suffering a financial hardship, the short sale could be a very viable alternative to foreclosure. And if you're a buyer, you need to get while the getting's good. For Sacramento real estate market, that's the long and the, uh, short of it!
Look for my next blog on How to Qualify for Short Sale.
