Thinking about a short sale?

With sales up and standing inventory down, there seem to be a lot less short sale and foreclosure houses out there these days (thank goodness!), but I still hear some people say they just want to find "a great deal on a short sale." I've heard enough horror stories to know that finding a quality home and getting a good deal are two things that don't necessarily go along with finding a short sale. If you are considering putting yourself through this, please read through this letter we received from Dan Eerkes, a local Realtor. The letter is long, but the lesson is a good one if you're out looking for a new home.

In September of 2008, I took my clients, second time home buyers, out into a market saturated by short sales.  The clients were looking forward to taking advantage of many distressed properties on the market in Southern Salt Lake County and Northern Utah County.  The clients, after reading countless articles and ads about buying shorts, were looking to buy a lot of house for a big discount. As a Realtor of 5-years, I knew that making offers on short sales and actually having one accepted are two different things.  However, my clients were certain that given the amount of properties available, at least one of them would work out. 

We viewed over 40-properties in September alone.  Most were an immediate disappointment to the buyers, as they were in typical pre-foreclosure condition...basically trashed.   The looks on my buyer's faces told the story as we walked into home after home with dirty carpets, gaping holes in the drywall, broken cabinet doors, and all in need of updating.  Its very hard for a client to envision themselves living in someone else's abandoned and run-down property.

We continued into October of 2008, finding just enough homes that would work, to write several offers a week.  For an agent, it was the typical drill; Call the list agent, ask about the status of the short, possibly get a call back, write offer, submit offer, and get no response unless you bugged the listing agent over and over.  Usually you were routed to a processor who told you nothing of value.  This resulted in some pretty low spirits for my buyers.  They just couldn't see ever getting a home, especially one listed on a short. Unfortunately, the homes in their sub-$250k price range were mainly all listed as shorts.  During 2-months of looking, we wrote offers on 12 homes, and received one call back from an agent who instructed us to bring our highest and best offer in November.

Fortunately, I had seen a listing on the MLS for new builds in T.G. Meadows.  While waiting for a build job to be completed was not my client's first option, the continual letdowns and endless waiting for responses to offers opened the door of thought for them to consider building a home.  On the first visit to the McArthur model home, just the standard finishes and amenities in the home, immediately caught the eye of my clients. The thought of building a new home in their price range, in the area  they needed to live in was something I don't think they thought was possible!  Even better, the home would be theirs from the start, not someone else's failed attempt at home ownership.  It took only one more visit to look at the new subdivision and well-planned homes for my clients to lock in a lot, and write an offer to have McArthur build them a home.

The McArthur sales team made the process smooth, quick, and efficient. My clients went into the building phase, happy, and confident they were getting everything they wanted when they initially started on the home search.  I just wish we had walked into the McArthur model home before the short sale march of depression we endured for two months!!!

Best Regards,

Dan Eerkes

KE Capital Services

801-548-6116

Click here if you are interested in more information on the new McArthur homes mentioned in the letter.