Buying Short Sales

November 2011

In the current national economy many parts of the country are in the midst of a serious housing mess. Foreclosures, abandoned properties, and complex financial transactions are common.

Hilton Head Island and the surrounding areas are not severely impacted by this situation. We have highly desirable beach, golf, and waterfront homes and fewer foreclosures and short sale opportunities. Here’s the current list of short sale properties. [link to short sale list]

But there are some opportunities for the patient and determined homebuyer.

One of the approaches selling a soon-to-be foreclosed property is the short sale. Essentially you, the buyer, offer the owner, an amount that is less than the mortgage amount and the mortgage holder agrees to take a less-than-full payment to end the mortgage.

Here’s how it works:

• First, find properties that are listed for short sales.
• Next, take a hard look. A short sale has no contingencies. It’s “as-is.” A neglected property may appear to be a bargain, but there could be significant costs after you buy it.
• Make your offer.
• The holder of the mortgage will consider your offer. This can take a considerable amount of time, typically weeks and sometimes months. And offers are commonly rejected or sold to another party without you even having a chance to counter offer.
• If they accept your offer, you close.

If you’re lucky, you might get a great deal. But you could also wait weeks or months and you may miss out on buying your dream home on Hilton Head Island.

If you want to pursue it, we’d be happy to help. The Dunes Marketing Group has Realtors experienced in short sales and we’d be happy to help you try and land that amazing bargain. Learn more or make a requst here.