The Miami Herald recently published an article that claims in April 2010, 83 Banks within Obama Administration's Home Affordable Modification Program will have to adhere to strict guidelines in regards to short sale approvals.
Right now our market is swamped with Short Sales and Bank Foreclosures. Since the start of the First Time Homebuyer Incentive, it has been the great relief to Realtors such as myself that the market has been seeing an upturn. Properties that are priced well are being shown often and typically receive multiple offers. Don't get me wrong, there is still much needed room for improvement but even small signs of improvement are big in my eyes.
Most Short Sales sit on the market for a period of at least 3 to 6 months if not longer. These new guidelines dictate that these 83 banks must have a Short Sale approval on all offers within 10 days. Of course we are not sure if this means 10 days after a negotiator is assigned to the file or 10 days after the offer is received. Either way, holding banks accountable to the time it takes to get pre-foreclosure homes off the market will spur a much needed "push" to get these homes off our inventory books faster.
So what about all the numerous other banks? According to this article it's true that not ALL banks will have to abide by these new rules. This could prove problematic to Sellers with notes held with these other banks. I'm also curious to see how these rules apply to properties with second mortgages. What if one bank is covered under the new guidelines and the other is not? It's probably safe to say no one, including myself, will have a clear answer until April rolls around.
Despite understandable scepticism from others in my field I still see this as a great opportunity to help more struggling homeowners and another step to the recovery of the real estate market.
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Until another time!
Kase C. Ellers
Assistant Manager/Realtor
RE/MAX Gold Partners
Email: KEllers@TheGoldPartners.com
Direct: 407-463-9315
