Is now a good time to buy a short sale in Denver? In the past few years, the term short sale has become very popular in the Real Estate world. Some love the term and have been able to get some terrific deals buying and selling via short sales. And others curse the term after spending months working on getting a short sale sold to no avail. But after looking at the number of Short Sales that have sold to date in the Denver Metro area, perhaps it is time to take a closer look.
In a terrific blog out today by John Rebchook with insiderealestatenews.com, click here,it appears that short sales in the metro area rose by 48 percent in the first seven months of 2010, compared with the same period in 2009.
According to Rebchook, the vast majority of the short sales were for single-family, detached homes. A short sale is when a lender accepts less than the mortgage amount. There were 2,270 completed single-family home short sales in the first seven months of this year, almost a 42 percent increase from the 1,610 during the same period last year, according to Metrolist data. And the number of condo short sales skyrocketed a whopping 88 percent, although the actual numbers were much smaller 476 in January through July this year, compared with 253 in the first seven months of last year.
What this tells me is that banks are making short sales easier and less time consuming for buyers and agents. The goals of the most recent laws passed were to make it so banks had to respond to short sale offers in fifteen days or less. While this isn't quite being met, or enforced, there has been a noticeable difference. I have been involved with short sales lately that were approved in less than a week, so it is possible.
If you are going to go the short sale route, be prepared for what it involves and plan on being patient. It can be a terrific way to get a great deal on a home you never thought possible. But it isn't for the faint of heart and if you want a stress free transaction, I would not recommend it. Definitely speak with your agent about what a short sale entails and if you had crossed them off your list, perhaps it is time to reconsider.
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