More on foreclosures & short sales

My last note I talked about opportunities for folks having a hard time making their payments. This message will deal with buyer's purchasing these properties.

Now if you think your going to get a great deal on a short sale, better think again. Lot's of times the buyer, and part time agents, will see what the property was listed for to begin with, usually this is a list price to try and get the seller out and maybe even make them some money, but on further examination, mainly a market evaluation of the neighborhood, realize the true value is much lower.

Be it know that the lender will also do a market analysis of the area and if they do agree to a short sale, their price that they accept won't be much off this "true value" or value based on comparable homes that have sold.

For example, the home was first listed for $149,900. Now the lender agrees to a short sale and a new market analysis is done. The "true value" comes in at $127,500, (I'm using this because this is a deal I did earlier in the year with these exact numbers).

A prospective purchaser sees the huge difference, and thinks they are getting the deal of a lifetime. They are not, but now lets look at the net net bottom line, if the buyer likes the home and neighborhood, schools, etc. then they are getting a fair deal, maybe even a little under market value, and a house they can make into a HOME! Isn't this what it is all about?

I'll cover foreclosures next.