Short Sales & Foreclosure

Buying a home via a short sale or from a foreclosing lender is making lots of headlines in today’s news.

But there’s plenty of confusion about how short sales, foreclosure auctions and bank sales are conducted.

Read the posts below to get a better idea of how to take advantage of the home buying opportunities (and avoid some of the pitfalls) presented by distressed home sales!

If you have questions about short sales or REOs, please feel free to ask . . . . no charge, no obligation!

From the category archives:

Short Sales & Foreclosure

With the recent news that the Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) is failing to help the overwhelming majority of distressed homeowners in the country (see Money.com’s article “10 foreclosures for every home saved”), we may see more short sales and foreclosure auctions in coming months.
New short sale program designed to help
The new Home [...]

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Better economy makes lenders resist short sales?

by Warren Reynolds on October 13, 2009

Improving economic conditions across the US are creating new obstacles to short sales, according to an article in the current edition of BusinessWeek magazine.  The firmer economy reportedly is prompting more mortgage lenders to refuse to cooperate with short sales or seek extra money from short sellers at closing. 
Click the link to learn more about what [...]

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REO Home Sales In Limbo

by Warren Reynolds on June 11, 2009

Many REO home sales in Massachusetts have stalled recently, unable to close  due to a MA Land Court ruling back in March that invalidated two MA foreclosure sales.

As described in the current edition of Banker and Tradesman, home buyers and Realtors® are now reporting that many post-foreclosure sales of REO (Real Estate Owned) homes  in [...]

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Short Sale Success

by Warren Reynolds on May 24, 2009

As you may know, short sales abound in the current MA real estate market. With a short sale, the home being sold is worth less than the mortgage debt secured by the property.  The lender agrees to accept less at closing  than the outstanding mortgage loan balance.

One of my recent listings was a short sale [...]

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MA Foreclosures & Title 5: Something to Avoid?

by Warren Reynolds on April 21, 2009

It’s often ‘buyer beware’ with Massachusetts foreclosures.  This is especially the case for unwary buyers of MA foreclosed homes that lack public sewer service.  The Title 5 regulations can make buying foreclosed homes with private septic systems a tricky proposition.

As you probably know, the Title 5 regulations in Massachusetts mandate that all homes not on [...]

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Delays, Mistakes Common with REO & Short Sales

by Warren Reynolds on March 26, 2009

“After weeks of negotiating the purchase (of a bank-owned home) . . . it turned out the bank didn’t actually own the property, and had wrongfully foreclosed on the home.”
This amazing quote is from an irate employee of an affordable housing organization trying to buy a foreclosed home. 
The man wasted weeks of time and effort [...]

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New Incentives to Buy Foreclosed Homes

by Warren Reynolds on March 3, 2009

If you’re interested in buying a foreclosed home in Massachusetts and will live in the property as your principal residence, there is a new program that may help you.
Massachusetts recently announced modifications to the previously existing “SoftSecond” loan program which are aimed at encouraging low-and-moderate income buyers to purchase foreclosed homes in designated hard-hit areas [...]

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How to Inspect a Foreclosed Winterized Home

by Warren Reynolds on March 1, 2009

Buying a home from a bank after the foreclosure auction can be very lucrative.  And by buying a foreclosed property, you are performing an important function in helping stabilize the real estate market in general as well as the neighborhood in which the home is located.
But REO home sales carry a hidden problem for prospective [...]

Foreclosure Web Sites & Credit Cards Equal Trouble

by Warren Reynolds on February 22, 2009

Buying a home at foreclosure auction or from a lender post-foreclosure is a very hot topic these days.  And where there’s widespread popular interest in a complicated, poorly understood aspect of life involving lots of money, the scam artists are quick to set up shop.

It seems there are hundreds of web sites featuring photos of [...]

What Do “As Is” Home Sales Mean?

by Warren Reynolds on February 3, 2009

There’s seems to be some confusion about what the phrase “as is” means in practical terms in a real estate sale.

You’ll see “as is” with an increasing number of listings on the MLS as more and more homes are hitting the market either as short sales or as REO sales.
Here’s what an “as is” typically [...]

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