Is the Short Sales End in Sight?

Now is the time to build your short sale business more than ever. Why? Short Sales are NOT going anywhere for a long time to come. As agents, over 50% of your potential closings will likely include a short sale transaction. As investors, a short sale offers more control of the discount process than an REO buy. As investors and agents who have also optimized your business with added income streams through working with loss mitigation for real estate professionals, the next two years will be the catalyst for immense growth.

According to recent reports, there are nearly 2.4 million prime loan Borrowers across the U.S. that are seriously delinquent on their mortgages. According to the Center for Responsible Lending, there are 9 million homeowners predicted to go to foreclosure between the start of 2009 and the end of 2012. Realtytrac predicts 3 million foreclosure filings by the end of 2010 and over 1 million bank repossessions.

RealtyTrac just reported that residential foreclosures fell in the first half of 2010 by 5% from the last half of 2009, but only because the percentage of lender APPROVED short sales and loan modification applications went up during the same time period. Despite this perceived decrease in foreclosures, the total number of properties up for foreclosure for the first half of 2010 is 8% higher than the first half of 2009.

Last month, June 2010, was the 16^th straight month that foreclosure filings exceeded 300,000. Since the beginning of the year there have been over 1.9 million foreclosure filings.
The 10 states with the highest rates of housing units receiving at least one foreclosure filing in 12 months: Nevada at nearly 6% of housing units, Arizona at 3.36% of housing units, Florida at 3.15%, California at 2.54%, Utah at 1.91%, Georgia at 1.79%, Michigan at 1.73%, Idaho at 1.68%, Illinois at 1.61%, and Colorado at 1.4%.

With unemployment still hovering in a bad place and consumer and business confidence still on shaky legs, housing prices will not regain and more and more borrowers will remain with few options should they ‘must’ sell.

Borrowers who do not qualify for a loan modification or other repayment option when in default should always weigh the benefits of a short sale before allowing foreclosure.

As real estate professionals, it is our job and advantageous for our business to educate consumers in our area about their options. The more consumers deem you a credible authority the more homeowners will turn to you when they need to sell.

NOW IS THE TIME to work with a loss mitigation company and help more people. Short sales are a means to income for a long time coming!

To Your Success!
excerpts from Short Sale Daily News