How Do You Price a Short Sale?

After two similar discussions the past week, it would be wise to address how a short sale should be priced. After all, if the offer submitted to the lender is subject to approval and therefore not a certainty, all the more that the asking price is also a hypothesis.

It is. But, as educated guesses go, a good short sale broker’s list price is pretty educated. It takes into account comparable sales, competing listings, and, sometimes, the gut sense of a seasoned professional. You have to skate a nuanced line in some cases between what will get the phone to ring and what the lender will sign off on.

I have blogged before on the stress that a short sale can put on a home seller. They are typically in default, getting collection calls and letters from the bank, facing the steps up to a foreclosure, and often overwhelmed with distress. When one is under stress, it is natural to instinctively move to eliminate the source of the stress, so often sellers want to lower the price to get moving, and dramatically so. The problem is that if you lower the price to be the lowest asking price the neighborhood has seen in 5 years, you can foster too much skepticism from the lender and  the offers you get might not be enough for the bank accept.

For example, if comparable sales put your homes estimated value at $400,000, it is irresponsible to whack the price to $320,000 just to get an offer and be done with it. You have to balance between what the buying public will respond to and what the lender will accept. And few homes sell in 10 or 20 days. It takes some time. Not all short sales tale a long time to find a buyer,  but some can, and too many reductions too soon can sabotage your efforts.

The best (and really only) approach is to price the home aggressively based on comparable sales, and then review and reduce every 30 days unless market activity indicates something faster. But it is market activity, and not nerves or stress, that should source the price strategy.

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Yonkers Short Sale: Do You Need an Attorney? YES

Here’s one from the other side of the closing table, where I represented buyers on a 5-month odyssey to purchase a short sale in Yonkers. It made me appreciate the waiting game that buyers must endure, and how valuable status updates are to home purchasers of a short sale in order to stay engaged and committed to the purchase. Buyers need to be updated to, among other things, time their mortgage application, appraisal, and rate lock.

Note that I did not say anything about ordering title work. Title work in a short sale MUST be ordered by the seller’s attorney in the beginning to ensure there are no 3rd party liens that might scuttle the sale later on. 3rd party judgments and liens are common in default properties because when there is financial hardship, there are other bills than the mortgage that go unpaid.

The home my clients sought to purchase was perfect for them- a recent build on a dead end street with a good location for their commute to work. Things on the seller’s side were not organized from what I could see, until I made substantive contact with the seller’s attorney, who entered negotiations later in the game when a private 3rd party hired to negotiate the short sale was sacked mid-process. I can’t judge their circumstances, only the scenery from our point of view. From contract signing in May until August, everything seemed to be in limbo.

In early August, the seller’s attorney spearheaded negotiations. The short sale was approved in late September with terms the seller could live with. We closed September 29, which was a nice anniversary gift. His communication with me was crucial to my buyer clients’ management of their mortgage financing. When they were ready, we were ready. No delays, no snafus, minimal drama.

This was a unique file in that I had a direct line of communication with the seller’s attorney, which brokers seldom have. Typically, I would deal with a listing agent, but that agent would be the conduit to their attorney. But the bottom line here is that the attorney’s involvement was indispensable, and the communication with our side affected a successful outcome. New York is different from many states where an attorney is not part of the process. But in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, it is clear to me through experience that without an attorney closely involved in the short sale, the closing may not succeed.

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Peekskill Short Sale: Lessons to Learn

We recently closed on the short sale in Peekskill, NY and it was rather unique. For one, the seller, a licensed professional, had to come up with some money at the closing due to being lighter in the hardship department. We warned the client of this possibility, but the way the bank went about it is indicative of why we have the problems we have in this economy. In addition to that, the buyer almost couldn’t close because of a discrepancy on the taxes.

The seller had relocated out of state and was renting the home. He moved to an area of the country with a lower salary scale, and was now teaching in his field rather than in practice. He therefore could not write a check for 6 figures to make the lender whole. There was some acrimony with the lender as to the value of the home; as  is often the case, the lender broker price opinion was done by an out of area licensee with no clue on the local market, and their “value” came in at a  price point where we once were, and could not get anyone to even come look. Bad BPOs are a problem that could easily be solved by using local brokers and appraisers. Why lenders do not grasp this is beyond me.

Meanwhile, the buyer’s purchase appraisal came in too low! Their bank was reticent to loan that much on the home, and there was another problem with a re assessment raising our published tax figure. Evidently, both my and the buyer agent’s verification of taxes came prior to the bill going up. Their appraiser caught the discrepancy. This temporarily put the kabosh on the buyer’s mortgage.

As with many short sales, it was our job to go to the mat with the lender to get the deal done, which we did. The seller had to write a small percentage of the shortfall at closing to avoid any long term deficiency, which he had and did.

Lessons learned:

• Re-verify taxes when homes are listed on or near reassessment dates.
• For the banks: stop using out of market brokers for price opinions. The same goes for out of market appraisers.

I give credit to our proactive seller for helping himself and remaining in strong communication. I am more leery than ever as to the wisdom of those people at the lenders, whose myopia about local knowledge for BPOs contributes to muddying up the short sale process and causing more stress and angst. I am sure this is part of the issue with recent moratoriums on foreclosures– the banks are getting unforgivably sloppy.

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Stress: The Worst Part of a Short Sale

I have listed two new short sale homes this weekend. One is just shy of $1 million, the other is around $200,000. One is in lower Westchester County, the other is in central Dutchess County. One is almost 3000 square feet, the other is closer to 1300 square feet. Although it doesn’t sound likely, the two clients have a great deal in common.

• Both are responsible and hard working
• Both are frugal and fiscally conservative in their management of money
• Both are college educated professionals
• Neither fits the profile of an irresponsible foreclosure candidate
• Both are mortified at their situation, feel alone, and under considerable stress.

What is different about many short sales in the current market is that due to job loss, loss of income, or something else completely not related to their responsible behavior, otherwise good and accountable people are finding themselves needing to sell and not having the equity to cover their costs. These were not sub prime borrowers. They are stable. One had his business fail due to the recession, and the other has lost income. This is unfamiliar territory for both, because they have always watched their Ps and Qs and never overextended their credit.

In both cases, I have let them know that they are not alone, and that they are actually smart for getting proactive and contacting me. In both cases, I will get them out from under their upside down mortgage and get their short sale approved. They will not owe the lender anything after they close. They will get a fresh start. I will keep a roof over their head and help them repair their credit over time. In 2 years after they sell, if they want, I’ll help them buy another house.

The money is not the worst part of a short sale. No one starves or has no clothes. The worst part is the stress. Address the stress or find someone to help, and you’ll be lucid enough to help yourself. That goes for Scarsdale. And Chappaqua. And Yonkers. And New Rochelle. Everywhere.

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What Qualifies as Hardship in a Short Sale?

What qualifies as hardship in a short sale? I get this question fairly often, and it should be addressed. First, I’ll tell you what does not qualify as hardship, and that is simply being underwater. If you owe more than you are worth, being upside down alone is not adequate hardship to get a short sale approved. That is only half the equation. There has to be a financial hardship.

In every case of hardship I have ever seen, a loss of income has been involved. It could be unemployment, divorce, being laid off, the failure of a business, or any of a hundred other things, but a loss or decrease of income is absolutely hardship. When your expenses remain the same and your income goes down or disappears, you have a case for hardship. You could be a ditch digger paying a $500 per month mortgage or a brain surgeon paying $10,000 per month. If you lose income, hardship is not hard to prove. In rare cases, income has remained the same but the payment has adjusted up, but the mathematical outcome, namely a deficit, is the same.

That is as basic a yardstick as I can find. I’d be surprised to find a more common or less complicated theme.

Loss of income is almost always a case for hardship.

Originally posted at Westchester Real Estate Blog

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Dealing with Second Mortgages in a Short Sale

New HAFA rules are forcing home sellers to negotiate directly with subordinate liens, or, in common terms, second mortgages, on their own, according to Bankrate.com. The way the rules are written, there is a financial incentive for the 2nd mortgage  to settle and release the lien, but the onus of getting assurances that the bank will settle rests on the borrower, which seems incongruous with the intent of the law. If the law is that the bank gets $3,000 from the government to settle, then it is the government who should be getting written assurances that they will indeed settle, not the borrower. The article points out that distressed sellers are already bleaguered and beaten up and in no condition to play hardball with another bank.

I agree. Distressed home sellers ought not do this on their own. They need an advocate, and a 3rd party with experience is very likely going to get a better result than a beaten up home owner. This is what we do, but rather than make this post a commercial I’ll also add that here in New York, the attorney should be on the front lines dealing with the 2nd mortgage as well as the first. The attorneys that we have on our team are excellent; the sellers can rest assured that the arrangements they help negotiate are the very best that can be agreed to. They also read the “fine print” with a fine tooth comb. The devil is in the details in these things, especially in New York.

All short sale agreements from lenders should be in writing, and all short sale agreements from lender should specify that they will not go after the borrower for the difference after closing. Anyone can get a short sale with no assurances of financial security after the closing. It takes a professional to ensure that the seller’s obligations in a short sale end at closing with no residual debt. That is our job, and that is how we do our short sales.

Doing a short sale on your own invites peril. We have done dozens, and that puts you in good hands compared to the guy in the mirror.

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The Wall Street Journal Agrees with Me on Short Sales

Amy Hoak’s timely article on HAFA and short sales in yesterday’s Journal concludes with timely advice that I wrote myself the very same day. The article focuses on the many pitfalls of short sales, as well as the new HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) regulations which are set to go into effect on April 5, 2010.

Here is what I wrote yesterday:

Yet people still do not ask their prospective agents how many short sales they have closed. You simply cannot be a specialist with no experience; I’m sorry. I don’t care if you have a PhD or a photo shaking the Pope’s hand. What they taught you in class simply isn’t all it takes to handle the loss mitigation department of a lender. Sellers need to understand that if they hire an inexperienced agent to do their short sale, they do so at their own peril. I’d never want a surgeon cutting their teeth on my gall bladder, a lawyer apprenticing at the expense of my freedom, or an agent getting their feet wet at the expense of my finances.

Simply ask : “How many short sales have you successfully closed?” prior to listing your home. That will guide you far better than a patch on their arm.

Sellers at the conclusion of the Journal article are advised much the same thing: to ask their prospective agent how many short sales they have successfully completed, and how many were lost to foreclosure.

Obviously, the word is getting out. Experience trumps marketing when your financial life is at stake.

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What Makes a Short Sale Specialist?

When I closed my first short sale in 1998 I had no idea that 10 years later I’d be doing them with any regularity. At that time, short sales were uncommon; they remained uncommon through 2006. Even in 2007, other agents needed to be educated about what a short sale was, how long it took to close, and what process the negotiation would entail.

Having closed dozens of short sales in the period since 2007 in Westchester and the surrounding counties, I now see a larger number of agents who are familiar with short sales. I also see a higher number of agents who bills themselves as “short sale specialists.” In some cases, they have earned a designation. I applaud any agent who furthers their knowledge. However, designations can be misleading and may not help the client.

There is only one problem with an agent who calls them self a specialist these days, and that is this: they may not really be specialists. Designations mean nothing if you cannot successfully negotiate and close a workout. In Westchester, there are enormous numbers involved, and if a home seller cannot close on their short sale because their agent, well, stunk, they could be stuck with a lingering debt, or, worse, a deficiency judgment for tens of thousands of dollars. What’s worse, if these sellers really knew how many short sales their “specialist” agent actually closed (often, between zero and one) they would be mortified.

The code of ethics strictly prohibits misleading clients as to the agent’s scope of expertise. A special designation might circumvent an outright violation. But it doesn’t protect a Westchester homeowner from huge problems if their agent can’t get the job done. In many cases, the homeowner never asked the agent how many short sales they have actually closed. This is madness. I would never have eye surgery with a rookie doctor. Our obstetricians had decades of experience. The same goes for the guy that installed our pool table, water heater, and appliances. The reasons are obvious.

Yet people still do not ask their prospective agents how many short sales they have closed. You simply cannot be a specialist with no experience; I’m sorry. I don’t care if you have a PhD or a photo shaking the Pope’s hand. What they taught you in class simply isn’t all it takes to handle the loss mitigation department of a lender. Sellers need to understand that if they hire an inexperienced agent to do their short sale, they do so at their own peril. I’d never want a surgeon cutting their teeth on my gall bladder, a lawyer apprenticing at the expense of my freedom, or an agent getting their feet wet at the expense of my finances.

Simply ask : “How many short sales have you successfully closed?” prior to listing your home. That will guide you far better than a patch on their arm. And if you are an agent who wants to get into short sales, work for someone who does them with regularity. I have often said that any agent can make money in short sales. However, 99% of them should be via a referral to a true specialist.

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New Federal Short Sale Program Starts April 5

The NY Times is reporting on a new Obama initiative to create a financial incentive for banks and home sellers alike to do short sales. A few highlights from the article:

Program starts April 5, 2010

Lenders will be “compelled” to accept short sales. We’ll see about that.

The administration wants to streamline the process. We’ll see about that too.

Financial incentives are $1,500 to the home seller, $1,000 to the lender, and $1,000 to a subordinate lender.

Agents will be used to valuate the properties, but lenders will not be forced to accept offers beneath the agent valuation.

Continued at Westchester Real Estate Blog.

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Short Sale Fraud: By Banks!

CNBC is reporting that some banks are being accused of, of all things, bank fraud in short sales. Those of us who sell short sales know that the hardest cases are often the ones with subordinate financing, or in layman’s terms, a second mortgage. If you owe $500,000 on a house with a $425,000 1st loan and a $75,000 second mortgage, then a short sale for $400,000 cleans the 2nd loan out completely. If they are lucky, they will get $3000 from the first lender. They have little choice- if the house goes to foreclosure, they get nothing.

ON some files, the 2nd mortgage will try and negotiate an unsecured amount to be paid back by the borrower after the closing in exchange for release of the lien. That is their prerogative. It is, after all, money they are owed.

The fraud part comes when the 2nd lien wants cash paid to them that is not disclosed to the first mortgage holder. In other words, a “side deal” cash payment delivered at closing that is undocumented and not disclosed on the HUD-1 settlement statement.

So instead of Tony Soprano conspiring to defraud the first bank, it is the second bank. Has it happened? I’d say yes. Is it widespread? Hard to tell, probably not, but once is too many times. Does this surprise me? No. These are the institutions that screwed everything up to begin with. Nothing they do surprises me.

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Will Banks Finally Speed Up Short Sales?

There is some debate. I don’t think they will, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that they probably fear that if they make them easier, more people will try for one. Since the other side of the deterrent is foreclosure, and since loan modifications aren’t exactly saving the economy, status quo has at least enabled them to repay their TARP money, so why should they change now?

Bottom line: If you need to do a short sale, you still need an expert with experience, and not some guy who attended a seminar once.

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Bad Blood Toward Bank of America

Russell Shaw passes on a powerful email being sent to agents on how to deal with Bank of America’s difficulty with short sales- don’t send them any new mortgage business.

More thoughts here.

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Monroe, NY Short Sale: First Time Buyers

An old wrestling teammate from high school referred me to his younger brother, who is also newly married and looking for his first home (Thank you Facebook!). Michael and Stephanie had been out looking for a while, and a prior agent had written an offer for them which didn’t work out. They didn’t have a good experience with this agent. It mattered to them that I was not a random agent, but a referral from a trusted relative.

They are a very earnest couple, and once we found the right place, it turned out to be a short sale. Now, when I represent the buyer I can’t negotiate the short sale. The listing agent did it herself, the seller’s attorney was no help (useless, actually. wouldn’t answer our lawyers calls for days, if that), and it took over 4 months. There were two mortgages, which complicated matters terribly, and the 2nd released the lien but the sellers had to repay some of the loan. This happens sometimes.

Luckily, when the approval came through they had their act together, and were able to close a day ahead of the lender’s deadline. The closing itself was not without drama, as the seller’s attorney was never on point and our lawyer had to do some fast work that morning to make everything come together. The closing lasted 3 1/2 hours. But close it did.

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New York Short Sales- Now They Are Common

I recall listing my first short sale since the 90’s in 2006. The reaction from both the public and most agents to the term “short sale” was typically one of curiosity and confusion. What is a short sale? How does it work? How long will it take? Is it for real?

Now short sales are so common as to become as normal to real estate vernacular as “appraisal” or “kitchen.” Everyone seems to hear the term, and the explanation now takes 30 seconds instead of 15 minutes. I am currently representing buyers on 1 short sale purchase, have other buyers with a bid on one, and I am brokering almost a dozen on the selling end, which is actually a low number for me. The most expensive is over $700,000; the lowest price is a little over $150,000. Most range between $200,000 and $400,000.

The one thing they all do have in common is financial hardship and an upside down mortgage. Values are falling below mortgage balances and jobs are being lost in this economy. Values will continue to fall as short sales and bank-owned REO foreclosures dominate the sales statistics. If you have a $500,000 house, how can you compete with a $350,000 REO foreclosure down the street? It will be a happy day for this country when short sales become far less common.

For now, however, short sales are as common in New York Real Estate as they have ever been.

J. Philip Faranda is Westchester & the Hudson Valleys’s Premier Short Sale REALTOR. He has listed and sold successful short sales in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Orange County, as well as the boroughs of New York City. Find out more at www.NYShortSaleTeam.com

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First Time in a Long Time

May, 2009 will be the first month in recent memory that we did not close on a short sale. Three regular sales closed (interestingly, all were in Putnam County), but no workouts were among them.  Is this a good sign for the economy? Unfortunately, it is an anomaly. One short sale I referred to a colleague in New York City will go under contract this week; 4 short sale listings went on the market in the month of May; and two short sale listings have received strong offers.

The skip of a month is a random event in the cycle. June will have at least one short sale closing, and many more are on the horizon. I have short sale listings in Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Queens and Suffolk as of this writing, and a prospective new associate may import 3 more. We are nowhere near being out of the woods.

J. Philip Faranda is Westchester & the Hudson Valleys’s Premier Short Sale REALTOR. He has listed and sold successful short sales in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Orange County, as well as the boroughs of New York City. Find out more at www.NYShortSaleTeam.com

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The Fast Closing: Putnam Valley Short Sale

128 days ago, I sat at a dining room table in Putnam Valley, New York, just north of the Westchester County border with a young couple who were listed 4 times previously with 3 different brokerages in unsuccessful attempts to sell their home. Along the way, they got behind on their payments due to loss of income and had all but lost hope that they could avoid a foreclosure. 

One of my agents, Tom Ricapito, had found these nice people quite by accident, and told them to talk to me before giving up. This was the first time they had ever heard of a short sale. I told them I had closed dozens, and they listed with my company with Tom as their agent. He later told me that our meeting gave them new hope. It is funny how these people found us quite by random chance, and not through our regular marketing. When you specialize in New York short sales, they sometimes find you.

Continued here.

J. Philip Faranda is Westchester & the Hudson Valleys’s Premier Short Sale REALTOR. He has listed and sold successful short sales in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Orange County, as well as the boroughs of New York City. Find out more at www.NYShortSaleTeam.com

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Why Armadillos Don’t Own Real Estate

I have blogged previously that lizards who are smart enough to move survive and those that sit still are quickly eaten by any colonies. Both sitting still and moving are survival mechanisms, but depending on the circumstances one can kill you and the other can save your life. In a New York short sale, curling up in a ball might work fine for an armadillo to survive, but it doesn’t help a homeowner avoid a foreclosure. I have often stated that proactive sellers, who help themselves, have far better results. It’s just that simple.

Yesterday, I met with one of my agents and a client who had bought a home with her about 4 years ago. We have known for months that they were having difficulties, and for some reason they delayed meeting with us. In fairness, they were trying to refinance and then for a loan modification, but when that failed they went to an outfit that promised to solve all their problems for a fee. The money for the fee disappeared, but their problems did not.

Continue blog posting  here.

J. Philip Faranda is Westchester & the Hudson Valleys’s Premier Short Sale REALTOR. He has listed and sold successful short sales in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Orange County, as well as the boroughs of New York City. Find out more at www.NYShortSaleTeam.com

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Fannie Mae to Banks: You Can’t Cut Broker Commission

Fannie Mae’s recent edict forbidding the cutting down of the broker commission as part of the short sale negotiation is very good for distressed sellers and buyers, not just the agents. I’ll explain.

Naturally, brokers and agents are relieved because it ensures that the considerable time and effort that goes into selling a short sale property will not end with their compensation being raided by the lender in what has always amounted to 11th-hour extortion. In a market like mine in Westchester County, where the typical transaction is 45-60 days, the time to sell a short sale is easily triple that time in some cases.  Sometimes the bank has accepted short sales with the caveat that the brokers get paid less, often with the rationale that something is better than nothing.

This decision is made by an out of state negotiator whose obtuse agenda is to minimnize the loss to the lender, but the consequences are far more damaging than a little pinch, because many brokers and agents are now refusing to show short sales to their buyers. While it may not amount to a blatant boycott, the agents will discourage their buyers with a variety of reasons, such as the long wait, the uncertain nature of the time invested, and the condition of the house. The real reason, however, is that they want to get paid. In this economic climate, that rationale is understandable.

I don’t agree with it, but it is understandable.

The ecology of the agent’s unwillingness to sell short sales is disastrous. Fewer showings mean fewer sales, and that hurts not only the sellers in the short term, it hurts everyone.

• More unsold short sales mean the market will take longer to adjust.
• Toxic assets remain on the books longer. Non-performing loans do no one any good.
• Tax bills are not paid, hurting municipalities.
• Buyers may be discouraged from buying what may be the perfect home for them.
• Brokers who take longer to sell a buyer the right home may eventually lose that buyer to another broker, a for sale by owner, or inertia.
• People who might otherwise benefot from selling their home in a short sale face foreclosure.
• More foreclosures are the last thing this economy needs.

While Fannie Mae does not hold all loans, it holds enough to influence other entities. My local market of Westchester County has lots of Fannie Mae borrowers who are in negative equity. If brokers have confidence that they will get paid in full for selling a short sale, it will expedite the wringing out of bad loans, helping sellers and lenders alike, and speed an economic recovery.

J. Philip Faranda is Westchester & the Hudson Valleys’s Premier Short Sale REALTOR. He has listed and sold successful short sales in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Orange County, as well as the boroughs of New York City. Find out more at www.NYShortSaleTeam.com

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The Divorce: Dutchess County Short Sale

This short sale closed at the end of this past year. The clients were divorced, and the home they had built while married was incomplete and upside down. The house was listed this past summer.

Divorce cases are in and of themselves difficult. I have to give both clients credit in their dealings with me- they kept it to the transaction. It still was more difficult than with a happily married client, and there were the dicey moments one might expect, but in context we did well in spite of the circumstances.

There were numerous offers on the property, but getting consensus on which one to submit to the lender complicated matters. No offer separated from the pack- price was an issue with one (rather crucial in a short sale), another was an acquaintance of the husband, which the ex wife was reticent to accept, and we were unsure of how to go forward for a time.

Not long after, what appeared to be a tie-breaking offer came in. Price, terms and details did give it a distinct advantage, that is, until the incomplete state of the home came into play. Without a final certificate of occupancy, they reduced the offer by $20,000. A decision had to be made, and with time running short the acquaintances were chosen.

It took another 90 days to get approved. Unfortunately, the buyers then asked for an extension! Given the rigid guideline of the approval we could only grant one brief extension. When another was requested, we had to deny it. We began to get concerned that the buyers might no longer qualify, but the file was cleared to close the day after their extension was denied. They might have been jockeying for a better loan; it might have been a stroke of luck. Because the closing was scheduled in haste for a morning I was already booked, I was unable to be present for the closing.

I later found out that the buyer voiced a complaint about me at the closing. I have never dealt with this person (just his agent), nor was I the source of any of the difficulty on our side. The combination of a short sale and divorce would make any transaction difficult, and perhaps the buyer transferred his frustration to me. I have no way of knowing. I do know that the seller’s attorney advised him that he was mistaken and that I was a good guy. You know you are living right when an attorney sticks out their neck for you and you don’t get a bill!

J. Philip Faranda is Westchester & the Hudson Valleys’s Premier Short Sale REALTOR. Find out more at www.NYShortSaleTeam.com

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Westchester Short Sales- March Mumbers

Unless otherwise indicated, all data in this post is from the Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service.

There are 3,454 single family homes actively for sale in Westchester County. Of those, 148 are disclosing either a short sale or foreclosure proceeding in process. This is about 4.3% of the available single family home inventory.

The actual number is probably far higher than that. That is because on many homes the listing agent has not disclosed, either knowingly or unknowingly, that the house is upside down or delinquent. Also, there are hundreds of overpriced listings which would be short sales if the price were lowered to market value. In other words, there are lots of $450,000 homes listed for $550,000 because the mortgage balance is $500,000.  Continue reading here

J. Philip Faranda is Westchester’s Premier Short Sale REALTOR. Find out more at www.NYShortSaleTeam.com

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