Contingent short sale? What is it?

So we know a short sale is when the seller owes more then the house is worth….. So the third party the lender needs to approve or even renegotiate the deal….. We have all seen this…..

 

So the short sale listing gets an offer the buyers and the sellers come to terms….. Now the package is sent to the bank… If the buyer and seller are lucky the bank has given the listing agent an idea where the house should be listed…. More likely they told the agent they wouldn’t talk until the agent had an offer….

At this stage the sale is marked as a contingent short sale… The sale is contingent on the bank agreeing to the terms or renegotiating the contract.  The bank can take as long as they want….They never seem to care what the timeframe of the offer is…. The classic question of the buyer is when can we move in?  The answer is 30 days to never.   All rules of ethics seems to go out in a short sale situation.  Unless the listing agent sets rules position doesn’t matter very much…If more offers are sent to the bank they just reject the lower offer no matter when it comes in…   The sale is still active in the multiple listing service (CSS) but venders like Zillow don’t seem to have this information… Also some buyers are insistant on seeing them… Once in while you get the news that they welcome backup offers because the buyer is about to walk…Or the offer is to low….

I ask my buyer why would you want to look at a contingent short sale?  It’s mostly like a pending without bank approval… During the time the a property is a contingent short sale everyone waits…. No money is spent and all timelines are suspended while bank approval is sought..  The bank will either say yes, no or renegotiate…. Often the bank will let the home go to foreclosure (especially if the offer is low)…

Many times a buyer walks (they actually do want to buy something) and the agents lists the home as active and seeks another buyer to slip into the spot.  These are better for the new buyer because the process is started…

If you need to settle a deal quickly it important to stay away from most short sales and contingent short sales…Once in a while the buyer walked as the bank came back… Those are the safe short sales to buy in a timely manner…Your real estate agent knows the lingo to indicate that a short sale can settle quickly.

After the bank comes to terms with the buyer and the seller the listing status changes from contingent short sale to pending…. I hope this helps…

  Debbie Holmes

Gold Key Real Estate    

(208)761-2551 Email: d5holmes@msn.com

To search Boise Homes visit my website

Should I take my home off the market for Christmas?

Wondering about the wisdom of taking a home off for the market for Christmas

As Christmas approaches there are less homes on the market…. Who wants people going into your home while you are getting ready for the holiday?  Your family is coming…. You have presents to wrap…. Parties to go to and make….  The holiday is a lot of work!  The holiday is also a lot of fun!  Who wants to show or buy houses now?

 

I have sold homes….One on Christmas eve…. I have a listing at 105 E. Bridgewater Ct., Boise, ID 83706 …. Since I have exactly one listing left and I cannot put up directional signs in the neighborhood, I have been opening it up for 3 weeks running….In preparation of the open house I prepared a list of homes in the area for sale… On Dec. 4 there were 12 homes in the subdivision for sale… On Dec. 11 there were 10 homes for sale in the subdivision… On Dec. 18 there were 7 homes for sale in the subdivision…. Some went pending other listings were cancelled…. So what does it mean to the seller?

There are less houses to choose from!  You might just get the best Christmas present of all… A good offer on your home…. I just had an offer on Saturday on Bridgewater!  We are now $1500 apart… I think we will settle…. If I had pulled the listing because we were getting close to Christmas I wouldn’t have the offer… My seller would still be wondering…  

 Remember the movie “ Miracle on 34^th ST”?  What is a better present to give your family than a home to celebrate the holidays in… Some people are still looking…. If you can bear the intrusion on your holiday keep your home on the market!

 

 

 

 

  Debbie Holmes

Gold Key Real Estate    

(208)761-2551 Email: d5holmes@msn.com

To search Boise Homes visit my website

Working together to get the job done!

Working together to get the job done!

105 E. Bridgewater Ct., Boise, ID 83706  is a beautiful home where I helped the investor on the renovations….

I listed it in September ….  Nothing happened….. After Thanksgiving we reduce the price….  Nothing happened….. I was becoming nervous…. When my other listing at 722 Pearl St., Boise, Idaho 83705 went pending I took more action…. My buyer was settled and I started spending my Sunday afternoons at the home….  I had good traffic….  But still no offers…..  Worse yet my fellow agents didn’t seem to notice my price change…. Gulp….$10,000 off and no change in showings….

My seller and I had a long discussion….I told him even though the comps are there we need to lower the price…  I didn’t want to lower the price a lot before the New Year….So this is what we did….

On Friday we reduced the price by $1000… At the same time I had him sign for a $25 price reduction every 3 days until the New Year…In our MLS 3 days is critical because that seems to be how long the change appears on the status change button….  I had 4 showings in 24 hours…. I also had a low ball offer… Something that we can work with but not accept…..I am delighted for the offer….On Sunday morning I find out my seller didn’t receive my email….Something went wrong with his email and he felt it was too late to call….We already had a 7 AM  telephone appointment.  I emailed it to another address….This was a busy but good day for my seller….He had another early appointment and his Mom’s 94 th birthday party….  This sounded like it could get tight for our 2 PM deadline to respond to the offer… I emailed the other agent to give him a heads up…  He emailed back, thanks…

By 10 AM I decided to go to my office… I hadn’t heard from the client after the early morning phone call… He is real estate savvy and knows that time is of the essence…. The party starts at 11 AM my time and I am sitting in the open house from 1-4 PM…. We spend time preparing the counter offer… Idaho does their counter offers differently then New York so I had to teach a bit…. We don’t rush but it is already past time for Mom’s birthday party…. He does not email scan so I am sitting by the fax machine at the office… After 10 minutes it spits out 3 of 8 pages…. At least the counter offer is on top!…. He tries again… No dice…I don’t know whether it is his machine or mine…. I really have stopped faxing…. I love email scan….  He is in the car 1 hour late to the party….

I email the other other agent what I have and explain about the fax problems….I tell him that my client has signed all the documents…. I have the counter but not the completely signed contract because of the fax problems…I let him know that I gave the client his fax number (in case it was my machine)…  He emails back that he needs a phone call from my client so that he can turn on his fax…He has also forwarded the contract to his buyer…. I call my seller and leave a message…  I get a call that I can’t take from my seller….At 4 PM I get a copy of the signed contract from the other agent….  Not how we usually do things…. 2 hours past the deadline…. But done….

Now my seller and I wait on the buyer… We hope they take the counter offer…. Of course they may counter….or worse let the contract go… We are $7000 apart… We will see…  Another day in the life of Debbie Holmes, Real Estate agent Extraordinaire!

(208)761-2551 Email: d5holmes@msn.com

To search Boise Homes visit my website