Inland Empire

[tiffanyirene84]

Our Realtor has been steering us away from any short sale we see posted on Redfin or Zillow saying that they are listed that low just to get people to come in, see it, make an offer and then they will counter at the "real" price they are willing to take for it. Is this true? We see so many properties that we'd love to see that would be in our budget but are short sales so that's a no go?  

[chkirla]

last year i put in an offer on a sfr listed at 166900. it was accepted by the seller,  the banks counter-offer came back at 239000. it was finally purchased 6 months later for 203000, but not by me. still looking.....

[tiffanyirene84]

What did you offer and did you counter back?

[Dag44]

Your realtor is right to steer you away from short sales unless you're willing to take the many risks and accept the many problems that are inherent with short sales - and you understand that the advertised price is just as your realtor is describing it, a teaser. Short sales are a nightmare to deal with and most fail and continue on to foreclosure anyway and in the meantime you've just wasted 6-12 months of your life waiting only to end up with nothing in the end.

[Nanomug]

Short sales are iffy at best.  less than 50% close and those that close are rarely the offer that was first submitted witth the short sale package.

Some agents have experience in closing shorts and others don't.  If the agent is against dealing with shorts then it would be odds against the buyer to pursue the short.  

Many buyers place offers on short sales and then continue their househunt.  Sometimes they find another home.  

My advice is to find a buyers agents with lots of buyer short sale experience to continue your search for a home.  Your current agent doesn't have the experience and/or the inclination to deal with a short sale.  

[soopercommuter]

Many short sales are offered at prices far below what they have any chance of selling at. Who knows why. Probably they just need an offer to fend of a looming foreclosure. Short sales are a pain but many do succeed.  They may be worth going after but don't think for a second you have much of a chance at getting one far under market value. Regardless of the listing price the bank is going to want to sell it for as close to market value as possible. As long as you know that going in you will have a better chance of success. You can always try for the "loss leader" price but expect the bank to counter at or above market value.  One thing to avoid is short sales where there are multiple lenders involved. Those rarely pan out.

[scottca]

I recently purchased this house as a short sale for $135,000:

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Hemet/382-Montero-Ct-92545/home/6673898

As a Short Sale this house was not the norm.  The house was fully upgraded throughout and very well maintained and beautiful landscape and stamped concrete patio outside.  Move in ready.

The developer just built 3 new houses behind my house.  One is the same model as mine:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/383-Old-Warren-Rd-Hemet-CA-92545/69295712_zpid/

It sold for $175,000 15 days after I closed without any of the upgrades.

If you have the patience, a short sale can work out great.  Mine took about 148 days to complete.

Scott

[Dag44]

Ouch on those taxes though, Scott.

[Toristar]

I never understood why it was legal to list properties with an intentionally fake price. Shouldn't there be some law with regard to false advertising or misleading ad statements that would come into play? I mean if a company like Best Buy or Walmart put out a flyer showing a product like a TV with a really low price and when the buyer shows up at the store with that amount of money in hand, can you imagine if the store said "We aren't acually selling it for that much, but we will take 20% more that that price? Lawsuits would be rampant. Why not in Real Estate?

[scottca]

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Dag44 wrote:

Ouch on those taxes though, Scott.

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Yeah I know the taxes are a little pricey but I justified it by not having any HOA fees.  I love the neighborhood and I'm happy.

Scott