Mike Giles

How is the Beverly Market doing? This is a question that I hear often. Here are the numbers over the last 3 months. http://pdf.mlspin.com/results/2009100313052268285850.pdf This information is directly from the MLS and is the most current. If you have specific questions about the data, please contact me and I will help in any way that I can.

If you would like to know what is selling and not selling in your immediate neighborhood you can get a market snapshot with this link.

I hope you find this information to be helpful!

Everyone that needs to sell in order to buy wants to have their next house picked out before they put theirs on the market. Unfortunately, even in this market it is nearly impossible to get a seller to take an offer with a sale contingency. While it may give you a comfort level to have your next dream home chosen, the odds of being disappointed are high.

The best way to approach this is to meet with a few local Realtors and choose one that you have confidence in. Set up a meeting at their office initially to go over the entire process. Have all questions ready and bring anyone along that is going to have influence in the decision making (spouse, mom, dad, rich uncle louie!) This will insure that everyone is on the same page before the process starts.

Have the Realtor set up a time to view the property that you want to list. This will give them a better idea of how your home compares to comparable homes that have sold recently. Having the correct listing price should get you an offer quickly which will allow you to know at what price point you should be looking at for your upgrade or downsize.

You will be looking at potential homes and may have a short list of desirable properties but it is best to have a pre-planned living arrangement in the event of a quick sale. If this can't be arranged you need to make sure that your offer is contingent upon you finding suitable housing. Most buyers want to get in quickly but you can try to push the closing date off a week or two in order to get you more time to find the right home.

I try to encourage my buyers not to have the closings on the same day. ideally you want to close on your sale on one day and your purchase the next. This allows any last minute problems to be taken care of and will make for a less stressful transaction.

While the whole industry seems to be focused on the first time home buyers, there are many of you out there that are ready to downsize or have outgrown you first time purchase and want to take advantage of the lower market prices on an upgrade. Obviously a lot depends on when you bought and how much equity you have in your current home. If you can swing it, now is a great time to be purchasing a home!

There is less competition in the short sale market.

With the deadline fast approaching (Nov.30th) to take advantage of the Federal Tax Credit, first time home buyers are not paying attention to the short sale market. This creates a great opportunity to make a deal for those who are not pressured to buy.

The short sale market was booming with multiple offers in on many properties earlier in the year. This is because, although Banks will not give them away, you do tend to lower than market value sale price. The fact that they can take 3+ months to get done has taken many of the first timers out of this target market.

Short sale properties generally are in better condition than the bank owned properties, because the sellers are still living in them and understand that they need to keep them up in order to get a deal done and save their credit.

You can never be assured that a Bank/Investor will approve a short sale, but if you do your homework and make a reasonable offer, your odds will increase. Here are a few other tips for buyers looking to have a short sale transaction.

Being aware of the elements that make a short sale transaction go smoother can help you determine which properties have a better chance of not only closing, but getting done quicker than others. Here are two terms to look for.

1. Approved Short Sale: Most Banks won't even look at the file until there is an offer in on the property. Normally and approved short sale means that there was an offer in that the Bank/Investor approved and for some reason the Buyer backed out. It means that if you offer full price you will not have to go through the months of approval. If you try to go in lower than the approved sale price the process can start all over.
2. Professional Negotiator Hired: This means that the Seller has hired a third party negotiator to work with the Listing Agent and the Bank on getting the process completed more efficently. This can be an Attorney that specializes in this field or there are many companies that have the staff and systems in place to help get an accepted offer approved.

Get your offer accepted, have the home inspection, and sign the purchase and sales agreement as if it were a normal transaction: "Why would I pay for an inspection before the bank approves the sale?"-- For a couple of reasons. First of all, Why would you want to be off of the market for 3+ months and then find out their is deal breaking problem with the property? Secondarily, once the Bank approves the final HUD1 Statement it can not be changed at all! By addressing any inspection concerns prior to this stage, price reductions for necessary work still have a chance of being approved. It will be an easier decision for the Bank/Investor to make a decision knowing that the inspection is done and will not effect the outcome of the transaction.

Get a buyer's agent familiar with short sale transactions: In Massachusetts, we have a Contract to Purchase prior to the P&S. Using the proper language and addendums with these contracts will protect your interests in the event that the approval is not attained. Having access to the most recent sold comps will help you make a ligitimate offer that has a better chance of being approved than a low ball offer.

If the Tax Credit gets an extension or once the deadline has passed, these will again become the focus of many first timers looking to get more for their money. Now is the time to make your best deal without having to compete in a multiple offer situation.