Overwhelmed Banks Making Poor Decisions On Short Sales

Short sales are not unique to Tallahassee, and the banks that must decide whether or not to approve existing contracts for purchase are simply too overwhelmed for this process to move along smoothly. Currently, as we can see just from the Tallahassee real estate market, short sales are growing in number in the inventory, but are not growing at the same pace on the closing side of our reports.

When we look at a graph of homes for sale in Tallahassee, broken down by seller situation, we can see that 30% of these are distressed home sales (I include relocation because ultimately these homes are going to be sold and the decision to be made will usually end up in the hands of a third-party). Nearly 1 in every 4 homes for sale in Tallahassee are short sales, and the potential for this to rise increases every days as property values decline.

Short Sales Closing Slow In Tallahassee

When we look at a similar type of graph, but for closed home sales in Tallahassee, we can see that short sales are only trending to just above 12% of all closings. That means that short sales are selling at a slower rate than the arms length home sales, and that just doesn't make sense.

In my opinion, most lenders are far too overwhelmed with distressed properties and do not have the appropriate staffing to make wise decisions right now on short sales. On top of that, most real estate agents are not trained to properly handle short sales, and thus these sellers are not really getting a fair shake with their banks.

Short Sale Answers For Home Sellers

Even if you do not think you would short sale your home, you should read the free e-book "Should I Short Sale My Home" to understand what your competition is doing and the whole array of options from which you can choose as a home seller in today's difficult housing market. Don't fall into the trap of being uninformed, because property values are declining and the majority of homes for sale in Tallahassee are not selling. Regardless of whether you will do a short sale or not, there are decisions to be made that will determine your ultimate success in selling your home.