San Diego Real Estate Blog

Comparing San Diego Foreclosures and Short Sales

Comparing Foreclosures and Short Sales is sort of like comparing Apples to Oranges. Foreclosures in San Diego will sell fast and get multiple offers if they are priced correctly and in a desirable price range. It seems that the magic number or price range for a single family detached home is anything under $400,000. Most of the time there are aggressive offers and many offers in this price range which will also drive the price up on the REO. Not only is the price important to the asset managers who will ultimately decide which offer to take but also things like, how much money “non loan amount” is in the deal, is it an all cash offer, what has the mortgage holders lender determined the purchasers credit looks like, and others. Foreclosures are in many cases not in as good condition as short sales are because the previous owner in some cases might have removed essential items like lighting, stoves, water heaters, outlets etc …. Where on a short sale most of the time the seller or renter is still in the home maintaining it and will not usually do any destruction while in their possession.

Short Sales have the length of time issues unpopular to agents, sellers and buyers. Short sale packages are submitted to the bank by the listing agent and offers are taken and submitted to the bank. The process of the bank looking at offers and accepting one or countering the offer can take a long time. The factors include, which bank has the short sale, who the negotiator at the bank is, what the offers look like to name a few. Sometimes the short sales are unbelievably fast at 60 to 90 days and sometimes they can take over a year and in some cases get foreclosed on despite the efforts of everyone involved. When the bank is interested in selling the home as a short sale and not pursuing a foreclosure they will approve the short sale at a price and terms and this is when a buyer can pick up a home at a great price. Sometimes the prices are better than the foreclosures which can be bid up to more than what they should be selling for. Some people are under the false impression that just because it’s a foreclosure it’s the best deal on the market. The short sale is also in many cases in better condition.