我谈short sale

我自己的几个投资房中, 有两个是通过short sale买的. 都是two mortgages with the same lender. 一个lender是JPMorgan Chase,  另外一个是Bank of America的. JPMorgan Chase的很快, 从报上去到最后批下来一个月加一星期, BofA的3个月零一星期. 我也take了不少给realtor提供的webnar training, 想和大家分享一下.

What is a short sale (quoted)?

A short sale occurs when the net proceeds from the sale of a home are not enough to cover the sellers’ mortgage obligations and closing costs, such as property taxes, transfer taxes, and the real estate practitioner’s commission. The seller is unwilling or unable to cover the difference.
Some — although by no means all — short sellers may also be in default on their mortgage loans and be headed for foreclosure. However, home owners who bought at the top of the market or who took out large amounts of equity with a refinance and who now need to sell because of divorce or job transfer may also find themselves upside down, owing more than the home is currently worth when closing costs are factored in.

如今市场上的regular sale的inventory少而又少, 银行屋从去年开始就大大缩水, 今年看到的更少,而另一方面, federal has extended the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act for one year, 同时, 加州正在等候SB30 senate bill 的通过, 得到mortgage debt relief的seller就不用付欠银行差额那部分的州税和联邦税, 大大facilitate和鼓励了short sale. Projection是2013年仍然是short sale贯穿的一年. 如果你在looking for a good deal, 并不急着搬家, 可以考虑short sale, short sale的价位通常还是会低5%-7%左右, 1-3年前曾经可以低到10%以上.

买short sale, 要考虑一下几点 -

1) short sale是"as is" sale, 意味着被银行批准后如果你在home inspection中发现问题, 银行不负责修, 当然你如果是fundation和structural的问题, 你还是可以在17天的contingency的条例下walk out.

2) 个别银行要buyer出short sale中negotiator的钱($500-$1000不等, 一旦short sale的approval package被递上取, 银行会指定一个negotiator来handle case), 不过这个在MLS就会写明, 如果没有特意指出, 就没有这个费用.

3) 很多银行不付和HOA相关的费用, 包括HOA document preparation fee和HOA transfer fee which 在regular sale中是seller付的(大约在$300-$500之间), 也包括seller目前欠HOA的钱, 所以我总会从对方的经济那里了解seller目前有没有欠HOA的钱和接下来一直到approved会不会欠. 不过这个也是各家银行有所不同, 比如我的JPMorgan Chase的short sale什么都付了, 但BofA却不付和HOA相关的费用. 也有一些银行不负责termite inspection和termite clearance.

4) 买short sale, 如果只有一个lender, 或者two mortgages with the same lender, 那会快和smooth得多, 通常1-3个月, 但如果是两个不同的lender, 就take longer, 也是depend on lender, 2-5个月不等. 今年应该有更多的lender streamline 他们的process. 联邦一直在制订条例和措施要各家银行方便short sale.

5) Qualify agent. 好的有经验的agent在listing之前都做比较数据, 他有把握这个标价是可以批过的,他们甚至已经把termite inspection都做好了, 因为批过以后如果发现有termite银行又不负责clear的话, boom!这$3000clearance谁来出? 重新negotiate和重批对short sale是最头疼的, 很多东西又要重新来. 有些没有经验或不负责任的agent故意把价标的很低, 你只要做一下homework, 就知道是不可能被批过的, 银行也不至于傻到那种地步, 要么你根本拿不到这个价, 要么你就等着几个月之后这个listing 又从pending到 relist with different price吧.

6) short sale不同于regular sale, seller不和你negotiate (不会counter offer你),  你只能offer highest and best.

7) owner 会拿走冰箱和洗衣干衣机, 这个不是big deal, 知道一下就好, 不要被stainless appliances迷惑.

8) last but not the least, short sale中对方agent最担心的是buyer中途跑开, 这样一来所有的文件又要重新submit, 所有的process也重新一遍. 时间上耽搁不说, lender有trustee sale date, 如果在一定的时间内sale不成, 银行就要做foreclosure sale. 所以我的客户如果要定一个property, 我有特殊的strategy锁定, 和其他offer compete胜出. 但这个属于商业机密, 恕不分享. :-)