Real Estate

More short sale questions answered by resident short sale expert Fred Sed.

Working with real estate agents can be a challenge if the agent you've selected isn't aware of your needs in acquiring property.

Answers to common questions about short selling your house.

With all of the chaos in the mortgage industry, short sales have become the answer for many. Unfortunately, they are not the panacea for every problem. Even though short sales are increasing they are still fairly complex. First you must meet all of the criteria for a bank to even consider a short sale. Second you must convince the bank that the market value of the home is lower than what they are owed (remember, they don't like to take a loss on any loan).

Times are tough. Especially if you're trying to sell a property in this market. But there is good news. If you need to move, we've got the top five tips for selling your home in today’s market ...

Short sale Q and A with our resident expert Fred Sed. In this article Fred talks about investor offers and what to do with an inexperienced Realtor.

Q. My house is really nice, why is the short sale offer so low?

A. Sellers sometimes have an emotional attachment to their home and feel that a short sale offer is too low. It is important to remember that to qualify as a short sale, the seller can never receive any money in the transaction. The only real exception is when the seller has tax liability concerns. Otherwise, the price should not matter to the seller.

Q. My house is already listed for sale on the MLS but isn't selling; can I do a short sale?

A. Yes, a short sale in this scenario is relatively common. Some lenders even require that a house be listed for sale before approving a short sale in order to show that a discount is necessary.

Declining home prices and low interest rates have created a favorable buyer's market. Recent headlines have proclaimed that many real estate markets have reached the point that homeowners would be paying less per month for their home by owning it rather than renting it.

In the last two years I have had two buyers walk away from $1.5 million dollar properties that they loved because they found out that a sex offender was living a few houses away. These properties in Santa Clara County, CA were pristine. But the buyers, who were more than ready to buy, pulled out after we researched the offenders in question.

In today's real estate market buyers are in the driver's seat. Because there are so many choices out there for buyers, there's time to wade through the mounds of information available about an area and really research your choice before you sign.