Portland’s Short Sales Likely To Move Faster
Ever since the Portland real estate market turned sour back in Oct 2007, short sales have been the bane of the industry; buyers, initially excited about what seemed like a great deal eventually grew weary of waiting for approval from the seller’s lender. Many a seller’s efforts were likewise thwarted as a result of the seemingly intractable conflict of interest inherent in short sales.
That conflict of interest is likely to remain, however, some of the tension has been taken out of the process as a result of the federal government’s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives, or HAFA, program. HAFA, which went into effect on Apr 5 and is expected to last through the end of the year, establishes streamlined short sale rules and incentivizes borrowers and lenders to work together to speed up the short sale process and avoid foreclosure.
Key Changes To The Short Sale Process
- Lenders now must offer a short sale in writing to the borrower within 30 days if the borrower does not qualify for or complete a loan modification. Borrowers then must respond within 14 days to the lender’s short sale agreement.
- Borrowers receive pre-approved short sale terms from the lender prior to putting the home on the market.
HAFA’s Impact On Portland’s Real Estate Market
Not all lenders are required to participate in the HAFA program. As a result, some areas will see a greater impact through HAFA than others. It’s probably still too early to confirm the impact HAFA has on Portland’s real estate market, however, closed short sales as a percentage of all transactions over the last three months are up from late last year, and although this is only anecdotal, my own experience with recent short sale deals would certainly seem to suggest things are moving along faster.
Current Short Sale Deals
Not every listing in Portland that is billed as a short sale, actually has a chance of closing under HAFA’s terms or any lender’s terms for that matter. It pays to have some insight into the lender’s practices when dealing with a short sale – as a buyer or seller. Here’s a shortlist of short sales (no pun intended) in the city of Portland that are priced and well and are on track to move along quickly:
Interested in more short sales? Drop me a note!
