A short sale occurs when a homeowner lists their home at a price less than the amount currently owed to their lender. The selling price is essentially “short” of repaying the loan balance even if the property were to sell at the full asking price.  It is also important to note that this price is not initially a price the lender will accept; it is only a price the seller is asking.  Many times Short Sales are listed lower than the lender will agree to, in order to generate offers. Lenders wait for an offer before reviewing possible property value.  Short sales require patience as they generally take much longer to negotiate and close, depending on if they have had offers presented previously or not. Sometimes it can take over six months just to get a response from a bank for a short sale.  The current average is about three months from initial offer.  This is because lenders treat these situations differently and large institutions move slowly. Ultimately lenders will be the ones suffering the monetary loss, so they have the authority to approve a short sale or choose to go to foreclosure.

$1,500,000.00 702 Castro Street Solana Beach, CA 92075 Beds: 0 Rooms: 0 Baths: 0 Sq. Ft.: 0 Garage: 0 Built: 0   This is a new listing that I thought you might be interested in. Visit this listing online to see more photos of the property, Google Earth satellite images, and much more.   If you have any questions about this property or require more information, please feel free to call. Brian Witkin Top Agent, Inc. 8583540565 www.topagentinc.com     Visit this listing at Here

$1,250,000.00 2424 Newport Avenue Cardiff, CA 92007 Beds: 3.0 Rooms: 3 Baths: 2.00 Sq. Ft.: 2145.00 Garage: 0 Built: 0   This is a new listing that I thought you might be interested in. Visit this listing online to see more photos of the property, Google Earth satellite images, and much more.   If you have any questions about this property or require more information, please feel free to call. Brian Witkin Top Agent, Inc. 858-354-0565 www.topagentinc.com     Visit this listing at Here

The president signed into law the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 aimed at brining stability to the current market by curbing the amount of outstanding foreclosures. The plan will be managed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) which will guarantee new loans for homeowners looking to refinance into 30 year fixed loans. These refinanced loans will not be allowed to be for more than 90% of a home’s current appraised value, so the lender would have to write off the difference in order to qualify for the new mortgage. However, if the home then goes up in value, the owner shares the gained equity with the FHA. FHA loan limit has also been raised to $625,500 which will help borrowers refinance larger loans with the FHA benefits. The program begins October first, and ends September 30^th 2011.

Prices are dropping !  This is great news for buyers/ investors and people who previously did not qualify!    How do you find that "Foreclosure" that those late night advertisers talk about that you need to go to their seminar for??  Well first of all Real Estate is very specific to different areas,  If the seminar is in Arizona, then laws/conditions/ and common practices will be different there, then in California.  Real Estate agents licenses are only good in the state they pass the exam in for a reason. Anyway, with all the trouble going on in the residential real estate market and prices dropping to rediculous amounts (for sellers anyway)  Roll back four years of price gains and in many cases you may be close, other areas are even rolled back further and a few areas actually have gone up.   In San Diego County the best "deals", many of which are bank owned after the foreclosure process are abundant in the areas where more first time home buyers purchased in the last few years and put very little down to purchase.  Oceanside if full of foreclosures and short sales because of this. Escondido and Vista also have a good share of them.     Banks list properties with real estate agents and are posted with other homes for sale in our co-operative listing service (Multiple Listing Service as it is often referred to).   Most homes after foreclosure (or in Pending foreclosure) show neglect and need work. The banks have stopped spending huge amounts to fix and sell these homes, so you actually get a better deal if you are willing to buy something that is less than perfect.  If the street is nice and the house is cute and priced well, there are still multiple offers on properties as we seen with several of our clients trying to purchase.  Once in a while the house won't need much work and your real estate can make the difference of you getting the home verses another offer being accepted.  Sometimes the bank will also let agents know that if you offer under the low, low price you are basically wasting everyone's time and may not respond at all.  But it is not all about purchase price, much of the terms make a difference to the loan holder, especially having a strong pre-approval with full conditions written and signed by a reputable locally known loan company. Each 'foreclosure'property will be slightly different so listen to your agent.   Most of all, feel comfortable you are buying where you want to be whether as a primary residence or as an income property. Get the facts and decide if it makes sense for your purposes.   We see so many properties we can help you decide what might work for you and your circumstances.