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 … Read More…
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Ossining Short Sale: Undramatic
Categories: Short salesTags: Ossining short sales, Transferring sellers, Westchester short salesAs short sales become more prevalent in Westchester County, the anxiety around their newness tends to fade. With familiarity comes some confidence. We just closed on one such sale. The sellers were being transferred out of state after buying the house in 2006, right after the peak. They bought with a smaller downpayment, so when the market … Read More…
Stress: The Worst Part of a Short Sale
Categories: CommentaryTags: Dutchess short sale Realtor, New York short sale Realtor, stress, Westchester short sale RealtorI 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 … Read More…
Dutchess County Short Sale: Old School Guy from the Bronx
Categories: Short sales, Success StoriesTags: dutchess county short sales, Dutchess short sale Realtor, Westchester short sale RealtorEarlier this month we closed on a short sale that was another marathon. I listed it in April of 2009 and got an offer that August. It went under contract in early September and everything looked like a relatively smooth deal until about a month into the contract period we still did not have a negotiator assigned … Read More…
NY Times Discovers Short Sales 14 Months After They Arrived in New York City
Categories: Short salesTags: Manhattan short sales, New York short salesWith their article entitled The Roller Coaster Ride Called a Short Sale, the NY Times has examined the phenomenon’s arrival in Manhattan. Of course, I posted Short Sales Have Come to New York City in March of 2009. That is when I referred one of the first ever in Manhattan to my esteemed colleague, Eileen … Read More…
Strategic Defaults in Westchester County
Categories: Strategic DefaultsWikipedia defines the term Strategic Default as “the decision by a borrower to stop making payments (i.e. default) on a debt despite having the financial ability to make the payments.” (my emphasis added) Given the huge amount of attention given to the practice, I thought that I would offer my own observations on what I … Read More…
What Qualifies as Hardship in a Short Sale?
Categories: Short salesTags: hardship, New York short sale Realtor, Westchester short salesWhat 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 … Read More…
Dealing with Second Mortgages in a Short Sale
Categories: Short salesTags: 2nd mortgages, HAFA, New York short sale Realtor, New York short sales, Westchester short sale Realtor, Westchester short salesNew 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 … Read More…
The Wall Street Journal Agrees with Me on Short Sales
Categories: Short salesTags: HAFA, New York short sale Realtor, New York short sales, Wall St Journal, Westchester short sale Realtor, Westchester short salesAmy 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. … Read More…
What Makes a Short Sale Specialist?
Categories: Short salesTags: New York short sale Realtor, New York short sale specialist, Westchester short sale Realtor, Westchester short salesWhen 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 … Read More…