Short Sales Are Here to Stay!

The number of short sale listings on the South Lake Tahoe mls has been on the rise, and many buyers are now giving short sale transactions a chance. Out of the 519 single family homes on the market in South Lake Tahoe, 75 are listed as short sales. Currently 32 of the 75 short sale listings in South Lake Tahoe are in escrow.

With so many homeowners in trouble or upside down on their mortgages, lenders are now realizing that short sales can be a better option than foreclosure. According to Sean O’Toole, founder and CEO of ForeclosureRadar“While many complain that lenders are foreclosing too aggressively, and others claim a wave of foreclosure sales is imminent, the data actually shows that lenders are doing everything possible to delay foreclosure. The reality is that we have very few homeowners being foreclosed on when viewed as a percentage of those scheduled to be foreclosed on, delinquent, or upside down on their mortgage.”

Although lenders are taking short sales seriously, the process is still far from seamless. The time that it takes to get an approval on a short sale is one of the biggest challenges that we are facing. It can take from as few as a couple of weeks to over 6 months to get an approval or to have a negotiator assigned to a short sale file. This time can be cut down by having a real estate agent with experience in short sales. It is extremely important to submit a 100% complete short sale package so that the lender will take your file seriously!

So far this year there have been 158 single family homes in South Lake Tahoe that have been reported as sold on the the mls. WIth only 13 out of the 158 homes (8%) sold as short sales, the number of short sale closings is still relatively low. Now that there are 32 short sales in escrow, it will be interesting to see how many of them close in the next few months.

With so many homeowners upside down in their mortgages, it will be essential for lenders to continue to streamline the short sale process. Now that buyers, sellers, and lenders are realizing the benefits of short sales, short sales are here to stay!

South Lake Tahoe Foreclosure and Short Sale Listings Search on my Website!!!

There is a new search option now available on my website that enables you to search for foreclosures and short sale listings on the South Lake Tahoe MLS! This new search tool will enable buyers to search only for foreclosures and short sales. If you would like to sign up for new listing notifications just click on the link and create a new user. The South Lake Tahoe Foreclosure listing search and the South Lake Tahoe short sale listing search option will look just like this:

Including the above criteria, only show me properties that:

are Short Sales

are REO / Bank Owned (Foreclosures)

 

 

Be aware that if you check the boxes for either foreclosure or short sale listings, you will only receive new foreclosure listings and short sale listings. If you would like to receive all listings including foreclosure and short sale listings, you can either leave the boxes un-checked, or you can set up two separate searches. If you are already signed up for new listing notification, you can still log into your account and create another home search for foreclosures and short sales only.

With 25 foreclosure listings on the South Lake Tahoe mls and all but 4 in escrow, buyers are finding in important to act quickly when a foreclosure comes onto the market. This new foreclosure and short sale listing search tool on my website will enable you to act quicker and get a good buy on a foreclosure or short sale listing.

If you have any trouble with the new short sale and foreclosure search tool please call Brent Johnson at (530) 416-2625. I hope that you take advantage of this great new feature on my website!

Short Sale Listing in South Lake Tahoe Just Sold!

It is possible to close escrow on short sale listings in South Lake Tahoe! Here is a recent example: My wife Jill and I just closed escrow on a short sale listing located at 1069 Carson Street. Jill and I represented the buyer on this short sale transaction.

1069 Carson Street is a 3 bedroom, 1.75 bathroom, 1254 square foot home with a garage. This house was remodeled, had a newer 50 year roof, and was in great condition. The asking price was $275,000. Our  offer was less than the asking price and was accepted by the seller. After only 3 days the bank gave us a counter offer of full list price, and our buyer agreed to the terms.

From the day that we submitted our offer to the day of closing escrow took 56 days. 56 days is a little longer than the average escrow period of around 45 days, but was rather quick for a short sale.

Here are some pictures of 1069 Carson from the South Lake Tahoe mls

There is currently a lot of competition between buyers looking for deals on foreclosures. In order to avoid getting into a bidding war on a bank owned foreclosure, take a look at some of the short sale listings that are available. Currently there are 36 available single family short sale listings on the South Lake Tahoe mls. There are 18 short sale listings that are currently in escrow in South Lake Tahoe.

So far this year there have been 8 short sales that were reported as sold on the South Lake Tahoe mls. The average sales price for the sold short sales was $451,912, the average price per square foot was $221, and the average days on the market was 143.

If you decide to make an offer on a short sale listing, be prepared that it may take some time for a response from the lender. There have been responses from lenders in as quick as a couple of days to as long as a many months. Some short sales can definitely be worth the wait!

If you would like to see a list of short sale listings in South Lake Tahoe, contact Brent and Jill and we will send you a list. Please let us know if you have any questions regarding Short Sales in South Lake Tahoe, South Lake Tahoe real estate, or homes on the South Lake Tahoe mls, call us today!