Short Sales - FREE Foreclosure Lists

Short Sales and Foreclosures Offer Some Opportunities For Buyers In Broward, Dade and Palm Beach Counties:

How does a homebuyer, find a seller?
Sign up for our FREE List of Distressed and Foreclosed Properties @ http://www.arnowitzproperties.com/foreclosures.asp
Bradley E. Arnowitz, P.A. & Associates will send you a list of properties that match your criteria.

Nationally major banks and other lending institutions have recently written off billions of dollars to reflect the lower value of homes that they have repossessed. With these homes now priced more realistically, lenders are anxious to unload these non-performing assets and, locally, real estate brokers are being enlisted to market and move these properties.

This presents an excellent opportunity for first-time buyers to purchase homes in the Miami Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties at prices well below where they were two or three years ago. Local mortgage loan officers are targeting those families or individuals with recession-proof occupations such as teachers, nurses, firemen and law enforcement personnel. For those buyers with good credit scores, 30-year fixed mortgages are still available with interest rates under 7 percent with minimal or no down payment.

Not so lucky are other potential home buyers - particularly those with poor credit scores, high debt ratios, spotty employment histories, or lack of down payment funds, — who have been frozen out of the market by tightened lending standards as a result of the mortgage meltdown.

Presently a huge percent of the foreclosures have involved subprime mortgages that were given to unqualified buyers, such as the adjustable mortgage. This percentage may change, however, thousands of other homeowners are currently in default on their mortgages. In many cases, banks and other lending institutions are delaying foreclosure proceedings.

Surprisingly, the homeowner and the lending institution both have an interest in avoiding foreclosure which will adversely impact the homeowner's credit for years to come and, at the same time, add to the growing inventory of unsold homes in the lender's possession. With at least 5 percent of homeowners delinquent in their mortgages, a new opportunity has emerged known as a "short sale."

If a mortgage-qualified investor or home buyer can be found for a home whose mortgage is in default, a lending institution is often willing to decrease the amount of the mortgage by as much as 25 percent or more in order to reduce its inventory and avoid lengthy and costly foreclosure proceedings.

It is important to know that all parties to a "short sale" must be in full agreement. Sometimes there is a second mortgage on the home and, in the event of a foreclosure, the second mortgage would most likely be wiped out. Therefore, in a "short sale" the second mortgage holder must be amenable to accepting a token amount.

How does a homebuyer, find a seller?
Sign up for our FREE List of Distressed and Foreclosed Properties @ http://www.arnowitzproperties.com/foreclosures.asp
Bradley E. Arnowitz, P.A. & Associates will send you a list of properties that match your criteria.


There can be pitfalls to a "short sale." If the mortgage is substantially reduced, the IRS may consider the reduction as taxable income to the seller. However, if the seller is nearly insolvent, the IRS does not pursue the matter.

The benefit to a potential buyer in finding a homeowner, teetering on the verge of foreclosure, is that a price can often be negotiated with the lender that is substantially below market value. If the home has already been foreclosed, the lender usually wants to recapture the time and money spent in the foreclosure proceedings.

Usually a "short sale" buyer will be offered a new mortgage by the lender but it is always a good idea for the buyer to have an alternative lender lined up in order to make certain the terms are competitive.

While the buyer may have some sympathy for the homeowner who is losing a home, chances are that the buyer may actually be preserving the seller's credit from total destruction so that, in the future, the seller may re-enter the housing market a little wiser and better prepared financially.

On the opposite side of the spectrum are those who can purchase a property quicly, all cash. The opportunities to purchase at well below value in a short amount of time will always give you the advantage while purchasing a preforeclosure or foreclosed property.

Bradley E. Arnowitz, P.A. & Associates
(305) 776.6113
www.ArnowitzProperties.com
ClientCare@ArnowitzProperties.com

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