RISMEDIA, September 8, 2010--Real estate professionals know that a short sale transaction can take months for it to be approved and closed.
The reality is that short sales usually take three to four times as much as a regular sale to finally get to the closing. From the time the Realtor actually gets the property under contract to the time the lender approves, it could take anywhere from 30 days to six months, depending on how fast the borrower provides critical information for lender and Investor approval.
Even then, you still have one more variable to account for which is the buyer waiting for all this time to get the contract approved by the lender. For this, setting the expectations is a key factor in any short-sale transaction.
Buyers Expectations
Buyers who make an offer on a short-sale property need to know that lenders have to "reverse underwrite" a short-sale and make sure that they are allowing the sale to happen close to market value. I say "reverse underwrite" because instead of determining affordability, they will look for "un-affordability."
They will check the seller's financials to verify that they can't afford the house anymore and consequently, they will order a price opinion from a broker or certified appraiser, commonly known as BPO (Broker's Price Opinion) to make sure the house is being sold close to market value. If the offer is too low compared to what is owed, it will make more financial sense to the Lender to just foreclose the property and re-sell it as an REO (Bank-Owned Property). All this will happen while the buyer is still waiting for a response so it is very important to set the expectations correctly from the beginning to avoid losing the buyer close to the end of the process.
Seller's Expectations
On the other hand, it is important to also educate the Seller and set the expectations with them from the beginning. They need to understand that the Lender takes its time responding, but when they do, they usually give a 72-hour timeframe to respond or provide the missing documentation. If the documentation is not provided within the specified timeframe, it usually ends up in a closed file and countless work-hours lost. Another common situation that is happening very often is borrowers being served with foreclosure paperwork from either the lender or homeowner's association while the short-sale is being processed. It is crucial to let them know that this might happen so that they are prepared for it and receive the documents knowing that they are in the best hands. Foreclosure and short-sale are parallel processes and one does not cancel the other. Sometimes a short-sale might delay a final sale date, but it will definitely not stop the Lender from starting the foreclosure proceedings.
Closing the Short Sale
Short sale success comes from educating not only the seller but also the buyer and everybody else involved in the transaction. Setting the right expectations is the most crucial part of a short sale. There are many hours involved in processing a short sale and the last thing you want is a seller or buyer walking away because the expectations were not set correctly.
http://oreinternationalrealty.com
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Ivis Sardinas, Miami Realtor: "FLORIDA POPULATION GROWS AGAIN"
Ivis Sardinas, Miami Realtor: "FLORIDA POPULATION GROWS AGAIN": "GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After declining for the first time since the end of World War II, Florida’s population grew once again last year, a hope..."
"FLORIDA POPULATION GROWS AGAIN"
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After declining for the first time since the end of World War II, Florida’s population grew once again last year, a hopeful yet tentative sign that the worst of the recession may have passed, according to the latest preliminary population estimates from the University of Florida (UF).
Stan Smith, director of UF’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research, estimates that Florida added a modest 21,000 residents between 2009 and 2010, but that follows a population decline greater than 56,000 between 2008 and 2009.
“Even though the state turned it around, it still represents the smallest population increase since the 1940s and does not make up for last year’s loss,” Smith said. “Florida’s population growth continues to be very, very slow by historical standards.”
Florida grew by more than 125,000 residents in every year from 1950 to 2008. It’s estimated that Florida added 21,285 residents during the past year, with its total population increasing from 18,750,483 on April 1, 2009, to 18,771,768 on April 1, 2010, Smith says. The previous year it lost an estimated 56,736 residents.
“Two years ago, the economy was deteriorating rapidly, while over the past year there have been some signs that it is leveling off or even improving slightly,” he says. “I think that’s the reason we’re seeing a small increase in population. Although technically the recession has ended, the economy continues to be in bad shape, particularly in terms of its ability to create jobs. There have been some jobs added in the last few months, but unemployment is still very high and job growth is very weak.”
Slightly more counties lost rather than added population, but the split was fairly even. In percentage terms, both increases and decreases in counties’ populations were generally very small, with no dramatic changes.
“At the state level, foreign immigration continues to be relatively strong, and the state also continues to have substantially more births than deaths, which are really the drivers of Florida’s growth in the last year,” Smith says.
The largest population gains were in some of the biggest counties. Miami-Dade led by adding an estimated 8,253 residents, followed by Hillsborough, 6,353, and Broward, 5,834. “Because they’re the largest counties, they have fairly sizeable numbers of births,” Smith says. “They also receive a substantial number of foreign immigrants.”
The county with the biggest percentage increase was Lafayette, which grew by 5.2 percent, but that change was largely attributed to the addition of state prison inmates. There was no pattern to which counties lost population, which were spread throughout the state and include both large urban counties and small rural counties.
The largest population decline was in Seminole County, which lost 3,659 residents, followed by Pinellas, 3,119, and Volusia, 2,055. In percentage terms, the county with the biggest decline was Glades, followed by Jackson and Holmes.
With a quick economic turnaround unlikely at either the state or national level, Smith expects Florida’s population to continue to grow slowly during the next year or two. But within the next 10 to 20 years, the state’s annual population growth could be as high as 250,000.
“From 2003 to 2006, Florida’s population grew by more than 400,000 per year, and in the previous three decades increases averaged about 300,000 per year, although there were certainly ups and downs from year to year,” he says.
Last year’s population decline, a result of the economic slump, was the first since 1946, when military personnel left the state at the end of World War II.
“If the economy recovers sooner than people expect, we would expect faster growth,” Smith says. “If it recovers less rapidly or even slips back into recession, we would expect that growth will continue to be very slow and possibly even be negative again.”
Between 2000 and 2010, the counties that grew the most in absolute numbers were Miami-Dade, Orange and Hillsborough. Flagler had the highest growth rate, 90.4 percent, followed by Sumter, 82.6 percent, Osceola, 59.8 percent, St. Johns, 50.6 percent, and Wakulla, 41.7 percent.
The population figures are interim estimates that will be replaced by numbers from the 2010 census when they become available early next yea
© 2010 Florida Realtors®
http://www.oreinternationalrealty.com
Stan Smith, director of UF’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research, estimates that Florida added a modest 21,000 residents between 2009 and 2010, but that follows a population decline greater than 56,000 between 2008 and 2009.
“Even though the state turned it around, it still represents the smallest population increase since the 1940s and does not make up for last year’s loss,” Smith said. “Florida’s population growth continues to be very, very slow by historical standards.”
Florida grew by more than 125,000 residents in every year from 1950 to 2008. It’s estimated that Florida added 21,285 residents during the past year, with its total population increasing from 18,750,483 on April 1, 2009, to 18,771,768 on April 1, 2010, Smith says. The previous year it lost an estimated 56,736 residents.
“Two years ago, the economy was deteriorating rapidly, while over the past year there have been some signs that it is leveling off or even improving slightly,” he says. “I think that’s the reason we’re seeing a small increase in population. Although technically the recession has ended, the economy continues to be in bad shape, particularly in terms of its ability to create jobs. There have been some jobs added in the last few months, but unemployment is still very high and job growth is very weak.”
Slightly more counties lost rather than added population, but the split was fairly even. In percentage terms, both increases and decreases in counties’ populations were generally very small, with no dramatic changes.
“At the state level, foreign immigration continues to be relatively strong, and the state also continues to have substantially more births than deaths, which are really the drivers of Florida’s growth in the last year,” Smith says.
The largest population gains were in some of the biggest counties. Miami-Dade led by adding an estimated 8,253 residents, followed by Hillsborough, 6,353, and Broward, 5,834. “Because they’re the largest counties, they have fairly sizeable numbers of births,” Smith says. “They also receive a substantial number of foreign immigrants.”
The county with the biggest percentage increase was Lafayette, which grew by 5.2 percent, but that change was largely attributed to the addition of state prison inmates. There was no pattern to which counties lost population, which were spread throughout the state and include both large urban counties and small rural counties.
The largest population decline was in Seminole County, which lost 3,659 residents, followed by Pinellas, 3,119, and Volusia, 2,055. In percentage terms, the county with the biggest decline was Glades, followed by Jackson and Holmes.
With a quick economic turnaround unlikely at either the state or national level, Smith expects Florida’s population to continue to grow slowly during the next year or two. But within the next 10 to 20 years, the state’s annual population growth could be as high as 250,000.
“From 2003 to 2006, Florida’s population grew by more than 400,000 per year, and in the previous three decades increases averaged about 300,000 per year, although there were certainly ups and downs from year to year,” he says.
Last year’s population decline, a result of the economic slump, was the first since 1946, when military personnel left the state at the end of World War II.
“If the economy recovers sooner than people expect, we would expect faster growth,” Smith says. “If it recovers less rapidly or even slips back into recession, we would expect that growth will continue to be very slow and possibly even be negative again.”
Between 2000 and 2010, the counties that grew the most in absolute numbers were Miami-Dade, Orange and Hillsborough. Flagler had the highest growth rate, 90.4 percent, followed by Sumter, 82.6 percent, Osceola, 59.8 percent, St. Johns, 50.6 percent, and Wakulla, 41.7 percent.
The population figures are interim estimates that will be replaced by numbers from the 2010 census when they become available early next yea
© 2010 Florida Realtors®
http://www.oreinternationalrealty.com
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