The real estate market peak, summer 2005 was a great time to be selling a house. All you had to do was post a For Sale sign in the front yard and you could expect multiple offers within days. Many times you would receive offers from individuals searching for homes FSBO and also offers from home buyers who had representation by a real estate agent.
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Well summer 2008 is just around the corner and the real estate market is very different from three years ago. If you take an afternoon walk in any major subdivision you will see real estate for sale signs lining the front yards of houses like mail boxes. In cities like Las Vegas, Nevada, Stockton, California and Detroit, Michigan you will be lucky if you find a house with out a for sale sign. These are the cities that have the largest declines since the market peaked in 2005.
So how long will it take for the real estate market to rebound? Real estate economists estimate that home building and prices of existing homes will not stabilize and start to increase until the middle of 2009. This corresponds to the history of real estate cycles. If you research real estate cycles you will find that they typically last 3 to 5 years. That is 3 to 5 years for the real estate market to go down and hit market bottom, and 3 to 5 years for the real estate market to rebound and hit a new peak.
If you own a home and can not afford to hold out for another the real estate cycle then you may be wondering, how can I sell my house now? Well, you are not alone in this predicament. With home buyers waiting on the side lines for home prices to bottom out you will have a hard time selling your home now. There is one way to sell your house if you are very motivated to sell.
You can sell your house to a local we buy houses company. They are basically local entrepreneurs who make a living by owning real estate. They are very knowledgeable in real estate and solving complicated home selling issues. If you are going through a divorce, need to stop a foreclosure, sell your house before your bank takes your property, or if you home is 100 percent financed and you have no equity, they have a home selling solution.
What you need to know about short sale house transactions mostly involves realizing that you may need to sell your house for less than you owe. After that, there are a number of steps that need to be taken before the transaction can take place. But first and foremost, be clear-eyed and non-emotional about the tough initial step (short sale) that will need to be taken.
Times are tough these days, and as cash for house las vegas far as home mortgages go they promise to get a bit tougher in the near future. Current studies say that upwards of 60 percent of all homes may be "underwater" (their owners will owe more than the home is worth) by the year 2011. Much of this looming crisis can be laid at the feet of the once-loved adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) that allowed buyers to purchase a lot of home for a relatively small amount of up-front money and house payment.
Unfortunately, many of those home mortgage interest rates are set to readjust over the next 24 months, leaving more than a few homeowners with new and much-higher house payments that they will struggle to pay. One way of dealing with that issue without allowing a home to go into foreclosure (one of the least recommended methods for dealing with an underwater mortgage) is the classic short sale.
In this method, a homeowner will work with the mortgage holder (bank, S&L, credit union etc.) to secure permission to sell the house for less than is owed (sometimes much less) in order to facilitate a fast, or "short, " sale. Always remember that the bank has the option of refusing such an offer from the homeowner though many are jumping at the idea lately, in order not to take another property into its inventory.
Most people who wish to short sale their home will work with a real estate professional, who agrees to try to move the home for a commission. That commission varies from state to state and region to region in a state, but many are struggling for business, too, so negotiate for a reduced rate, if possible. That commission (or sometimes even a flat fee) will come off the final sale price of the house.
Additionally, it will be necessary to have a new, updated appraisal conducted by an appraiser professional. Check with the bank to see if it has a certain appraiser or if it will accept a report from one selected by the homeowner or real estate salesperson. With a new appraisal in hand - and it generally will reflect a price anywhere from 10 to 40 percent less than what the home was once worth, begin the process of marketing the home for sale.
There is a pent-up demand for home sales, currently, and certain economic indicators seem to hold promise of the end of the recession many areas of the country are undergoing, so there's hope that a quick sale will result, especially if the price is right. This is just as true in an "up" market as it is in the current "down" market in many parts of the country. Las Vegas has been particularly hard hit, by the way.
Once an offer has been made and accepted by the owner and the bank, it'll be time for the actual short sale house transaction. Generally, closing costs are split according to certain formulas, with state sales tax and other incidentals paid for by the seller, including that commission. A short sale can be a method to avoid actual foreclosure and the huge hit to a credit history it tends to create, but always remember to walk into such a transaction with a clear understanding of what's going to happen.