Gatlinburg Real Estate Blog

I have suffered through a number of short sale efforts and they have in the past often ended very badly. Sellers can (& do) get foreclosed upon during the short sale process or the Buyers lose patience with never ending requests for extensions by the seller on behalf of their lender. After these experiences, I became disinterested in pursuing short sale opportunities because it just wasn't worth it. Nobody came out of the process unscathed and, as a friend said years ago, "Jeff, I don't need any more practice - I need to get paid!". But the sale I closed today ( my 54th completed sale already in 2012 ) was definitely different! My friend who I go to church with approached me around the beginning of March and told me that, due to a number of unfortunate events, he needed to sell but owed considerably more than his house is now worth. This is not unusual in this era. In fact, a large percentage of all home owners are now "underwater" - Especially if they...

I have suffered through a number of short sale efforts and they have in the past often ended very badly. Sellers can (& do) get foreclosed upon during the short sale process or the Buyers lose patience with never ending requests for extensions by the seller on behalf of their lender. After these experiences, I became disinterested in pursuing short sale opportunities because it just wasn't worth it. Nobody came out of the process unscathed and, as a friend said years ago, "Jeff, I don't need any more practice - I need to get paid!". But the sale I closed today ( my 54th completed sale already in 2012 ) was definitely different! My friend who I go to church with approached me around the beginning of March and told me that, due to a number of unfortunate events, he needed to sell but owed considerably more than his house is now worth. This is not unusual in this era. In fact, a large percentage of all home owners are now "underwater" - Especially if th...

For several years, I have absolutely avoided the short sale process like the plague. For those who aren't clear, a short sale is a transaction in which the sale price is not sufficient to fully eliminate the seller's mortgage balance due. For this reason, the seller's lender must be willing to accept less than what they are owed (an amount short of the full mortgage balance). Traditionally, these sales require much more time and paperwork due to the circumstances. To add insult to injury, a different employee of the same bank (often in a different department, possibly even in a different state) is working on completing a foreclosure of the same property. Eligibility for the short sale process requires the seller to be late on their mortgage and to show financial distress. In fact, I have been involved in Gatlinburg short sale attempts that have failed after more than 6 months of hard work by my team only to have the property end up in foreclosure anyway. This is why we hav...

For several years, I have absolutely avoided the short sale process like the plague. For those who aren't clear, a short sale is a transaction in which the sale price is not sufficient to fully eliminate the seller's mortgage balance due. For this reason, the seller's lender must be willing to accept less than what they are owed (an amount short of the full mortgage balance). Traditionally, these sales require much more time and paperwork due to the circumstances. To add insult to injury, a different employee of the same bank (often in a different department, possibly even in a different state) is working on completing a foreclosure of the same property. Eligibility for the short sale process requires the seller to be late on their mortgage and to show financial distress. In fact, I have been involved in Gatlinburg short sale attempts that have failed after more than 6 months of hard work by my team only to have the property end up in foreclosure anyway. This is why we hav...

I have always avoided working short sales whenever possible but maybe this is something that I should consider doing in our Gatlinburg real estate market.  FYI: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 2:50PM From The Wall Street Journal: By NICK TIMIRAOS Fannie Mae is testing a new program to stave off foreclosures by preapproving "short sales" of homes, in which mortgage companies allow homeowners to sell houses for less than the value of existing loans, forgiving the difference. As the number of homeowners in default on their mortgages began to rise several years ago, real-estate agents started touting short sales as a way for troubled borrowers to sell their homes quickly to potential buyers looking for bargains. Real-estate agents reasoned that banks and mortgage companies would go along with short sales, because they tended to lose less money in the transactions than if a home fell into foreclosure. In reality, most short sales unraveled, because lenders, servicing firms and mort...

I have always avoided working short sales whenever possible but maybe this is something that I should consider doing in our Gatlinburg real estate market.  FYI: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 2:50PM From The Wall Street Journal: By NICK TIMIRAOS Fannie Mae is testing a new program to stave off foreclosures by preapproving "short sales" of homes, in which mortgage companies allow homeowners to sell houses for less than the value of existing loans, forgiving the difference. As the number of homeowners in default on their mortgages began to rise several years ago, real-estate agents started touting short sales as a way for troubled borrowers to sell their homes quickly to potential buyers looking for bargains. Real-estate agents reasoned that banks and mortgage companies would go along with short sales, because they tended to lose less money in the transactions than if a home fell into foreclosure. In reality, most short sales unraveled, because lenders, servicing ...