St. Louis Real Estate Solutions – Your Guide to Buying and Selling Luxury and Foreclosed Homes
Buyers, beware of the pitfalls of Short Sales!
Buyers, understand the pitfalls of Short Sales!
The numbers keep changing depending what report you listen to, even in conservative st Louis, home values in most of the area have decreased slightly, with areas in St Charles and pockets that were overbuilt more substantially If you are in the market for a new home, a short sale may be attractive to you.
First let’s understand what a short sale is. A short sale is where a seller agrees to sell their home to a new buyer for an amount below the seller’s current loan value. The second part of the agreement is that the bank or banks that have the loan on the property must also agree to the sale, as they will need to write off or take a loss on part of the loan amount in order to approve and close the transaction.
Few things to think about if you are in the market for a short sale in st Louis.
- Short sale transactions typically take 4-6 months to close from the time you have a contract with the seller
- Short sale transactions quite often do not get completed due to a variety of reasons including:
- The lender not approving the seller financially for the sale
- The value of the contract being too low and the lender not willing to sell for a loss
- Length of time it takes to complete, as often buyers get frustrated and walk away, or sellers simply let their home fall into foreclosure.
If you are looking to buy a new home or investment property in St Louis, consider all your options wisely. Whether it is a short sale, foreclosure, or straight sale. Talk to your agent about what is available in the market, and what will meet your individual needs.