Buying a Daytona Beach Short Sale

Short sales are making up a larger percentage of distressed home listings and total sales in real estate closings in the Daytona Beach area and Volusia County as a whole. While it's Buyer Beware, and a buyer can't be in a hurry for closing, the banks aren't helping speed the process.

Here are some reflections on my experience with short sales, so you will know what you may expect if your offer is accepted.

Often, mass confusion and exhaustive delays are the norm at a bank’s loss-mitigation department. It is not unusual for the transaction to fall apart because of the extremely long period of time it takes to get any meaningful response from the financial institutions, or they decide to change the agreed-upon terms at the last minute. The buyers by then have found another home or don't want to change (or can't qualify) to meet the new requirements.

Because short sales are more frequent and represent a growing percentage of real estate sales, servicers, who are set up to receive and process mortgage payments, are faced with managing and approving home sales. Short sales are complicated and take time. It’s not like submitting a bid to a private owner. The servicer has to do its due diligence, both for its own purposes and on behalf of the investor or the entity that actually owns the mortgage on the property. Each offer must be evaluated individually, which clogs the pipeline and slows the process.

On the buyer's side, presenting a very low offer makes the process longer as well. Just because it's a short sale and the bank doesn't want to own the property, the bank is not going to sell the home far below what it has determined is the true market value of the property.

Buying a short sale is not for those who want to close quickly or get a bargain price. I'm a CDPE, or Certified Distressed Property Expert, and have handled many short sales for both buyers and sellers. I know how to present the package properly to the lender to expedite approval.

And I definitely know the Daytona Beach area real estate market - which asking and offer prices are fair and reasonable. Contact me with your questions on short sales.

Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
386-679-3191
sherry@sherryarmstrong.com
www.sherryarmstrong.com