Banks are paying out masses of money for homeowners completing short sales. It sure beats losing everything and still owing on the mortgage for sellers and is making cutting incredible deals even easier for real estate investors but how long will it last?
It began with $2,000 in relocation assistance for homeowners who qualified for government programs, then grew to banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America offering as much as $20,000 to get homeowners out and stop the foreclosure process. Now borrowers with loans with Chase have been reporting receiving offers for as much as $35,000 to do short sales and wipe the slate clean.
Clearly is doesn’t take $35,000 for most homeowners to relocate, which is on top of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in mortgage debt forgiveness. For those opting for short sales this means a chance for a fresh start. Not just back at zero but with enough cash to move into somewhere else nice, perhaps even scoop up some new furniture and have a couple months for of living expenses saved up in the bank. The alternative and not taking an offer like this is just insanity. If nothing else think of the peace of mind and shedding of the stress that this can provide.
For real estate investors short sales offer access to sweet deals with huge discounts. Coupled with the banks pitching in to help with relocation costs there shouldn’t be a single borrower who can say no to your offers.
How long will it last? Banks have finally realized that it is much less expensive for them to compensate homeowners for doing short sales than to foreclose. However, they are also already working on a variety of new strategies for unloading properties and circumventing the traditional foreclosure process. Once this is in full swing they will clearly be far less eager to hand over big checks to those who already owe them tens of thousands. So seller, home buyer or real estate investor, now is the time to hop on and get short sales approved before they go away…
