First Time Homebuyers: A piece of advice.

There are lots of first time home buyers in the market. With the availability of an $8000 tax credit, low interest rates and reasonably priced homes, buyers are looking for the deal of a lifetime. Up until now, I have not been that excited about buyers making offers on short sales, but now it is time to make you folks aware of some of the pitfalls as time is running short on qualifying for the $8000 tax credit.

The main issue is the lack of a quick response. If you put in an offer sometime in September, you could still be waiting for a response in early November, not leaving enough time for everyone to do their job and close the deal before the tax credit expires.

Here is a few of the things I have seen happen with short sales in the last year:

1. Out of state buyer tries for months to buy a short sale. He needs to be down here for a work transfer on a set date. He backed off the short sale route and bought a house, closing in 17 days. A little sticky.

2. A military officer living in Guam is scheduled to move to Arizona. In July, he made an offer on a short sale in Tucson, hoping to have a home when he got here at the beginning of September. It is the 5th of September and we still have not received a response. I hear base housing gets the job done.

3. We get a contract on a short sale in Dove Mountain after a long wait. The seller had not made a payment in over 6 months. After a consultation with an attorney, the seller backs out of the deal in order to see if the bailout will help the cause.

4. Buyer puts in an offer on a short sale. 6 weeks later, no response and the buyer gets transferred by his employer, Caterpillar, to Illinois. This was about a year ago. He has since relocated on a permanent basis. Not that I would want someone to buy a house and then have to turn around and sell it, but the point is that this deal could have been closed way before he ever got word about the transfer.

I think you get the picture. If you have all of the time in the world to buy, short sales can be a great way to purchase a home below market value. If you need to relocate or have a strict timeline (think :Tax Credit Expires!) maybe you should avoid this route.

Happy House Hunting!

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Patrick Randles

Sunstreet Mortgage, LLC

Tucson, AZ 85718

(520)850-7485