I never thought I would say this, but I just had a relatively easy short sale closing.
I've done quite a few in the past year, and every one was headache, shortest before now was 5 months, the longest 8 months. Most that time spent making sure they had the complete package. For those who haven't had the pleasure of these deals, one has to put together the package, which has the listing contract, sales contract, distress letter, financial papers of the seller and whatever that particular lender thinks it needs. Many times, stacks 2 inches thick, then you must put the loan number on each page and fax it to them. I remember naively asking the first time if I could overnight it, NO it must be faxed to the processing center, where they promptly lost parts. Weeks would go by and when you finally got a hold of someone, they would tell you what they didn't have and you would start again. Of course every time you would call you would get a different person, who didn't know anything. I finally could tell after awhile, when they answered the phone if they would or could help, if they sounded like a idiot I would just hang up and call again to get a person who might help me. After the third or forth person, I would get a person who cared. I asked over and over why don't you let us overnight it, why can't one of those dozens of phone people or fax processors be assigned to take the overnights, make sure its complete and walk it to the next level.
Well guess what, the short sale that closed today was 8 weeks! I called the lender, Bank United, they asked my address and within 2 days I had a letter with what they wanted. I overnighted it to them, they called and said it was complete they assigned one person to oversee it, gave me her email and direct number. I almost fainted. She worked very hard to get in front of the committee, when they asked for something she got on the phone and called me.
I'm praying if I get any more, that the lender will be that bank, great job guys. Now I hope all the lenders will take note.
Debi Varelis
Sato Real Estate
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Interesting articles coming out now, my favorite is "The Freefall is over". To call what we have been though as a nation a recession is putting it mildly, but that we are beginning a recovery is likely. I remember in school, (not going into how long ago that way), simple economic indicators would tell economists how the country was fairing. Well folks the little needle has moved a little to the left! The "freefall" of equity loss has stabilized; I found it interesting that the doomsayers have reported of $4 Trillion loss of equity. Actually how much of that 4 trillion was inflated? Is your home worth as much as it was before the bubble? I know my own home is up in value, not by much but still up from 2004. If I had sold it during the bubble I might have made a bundle, but you know what, I love my house. I would also have bought at an inflated price and might be in serious trouble now. There is a great web site out there www.zillow.com that you can type in the address of your home and it will give you the statistics. A great chart will show values for 1 year, 5 years or 10 years, in dollar amounts or percentages. I don't believe zillow is right about estimate of value, there are too many intangibles that software can't compensate for. Anna Maria Island has been spared, at Sato Real Estate we felt the freefall, and we winced when we heard of a foreclosure or another property going short sale. We advised our clients to take their properties off the market if they didn't have to sell. We were blunt and honest about pricing homes, telling many what they didn't want to hear. Revamping our style to include talks of owner financing, preapproval letters and 20% down. Our rental department has flourished as folks have turned to rental income to help offset the costs of a second home. We will be the first to recover; our beautiful white sandy beaches and the gorgeous warm waters of the Gulf will always be the destination of many. Tourists, retiree's or second home buyers are out there and they are looking! Debi Varelis Sato Real Estate |
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The esteemed New York Times has put Anna Maria Island on the map. We got raves for our sandy white beaches, our laid back community and the best restaurants around. Old Florida never looked so good, as the writer captured our ambiance in word and photographs. I think I'll go sip a Mojito on the deck at The Sandbar tonight and try to guess what time the sun will set! Check it out:
Debi Varelis Sato Real Estate
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A lot of discussion lately about the economy. Have we hit bottom, are we turning around, are the home prices stable, is it time to jump in and see how the market fares? I read a lot blogs, financial columns and of course the newsletters from our Multiple Listing service. All are contradicting each other, its hard sometimes to ferret out the truth. Sometimes we have to rely on what we see with our own two eyes.
According to our own MLS:
Single Family Homes listed Active-211
Under contract-21
Sold in last 3 months-23
Condos Listed-254
Under contract-29
Sold in last 3 months-29
What does this mean to us? The biggest thing that pops out at me is inventory is down from almost 800 homes 3 years ago. This is a very good thing. The amount of pending and closings are in a normal range, not the bubble range, that is what got us into this mess. For someone who is not familiar with Anna Maria Island, its 7 miles long and at the widest 10 blocks.
What I know is in the last few weeks we have had more showings that we have had in a long time. We are getting calls everyday, and it's interest from people who want to live in a house rather than investors.
Anna Maria Island does have short sales going on, we do have foreclosures, but luckily we have not been hit as hard as the rest of Manatee County. We are in a special place that people will always want, our beaches, our atmosphere, our community. Its hard to feel lucky when so many are suffering, but I do!
Debi Varelis
Sato Real Estate
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