La Pine Short Sales and Bank Owned Properties

Many buyers are looking for the “deal”  many of the homes currently on the market that attract the most attention are known as short sales.  A short sale occurs when a seller owes more than the home the market will support.  One of the most common misunderstandings is that the home is worth less than what is owed.  That is not always the case, many times the seller must sell quicker than the current average days on market would bring an offer.  At that point the seller will opt to try and sell for less than what is owed to try and generate an offer by being an exceptional buy.

Tonight there are 39 homes under $400,000 that are short sales or bank owned properties.  At the end of this article you can click on the price range that interests you for a complete list of the homes in this classification.  Of the 39 homes 27 of these are under $200,000, 5 are listed between $200,000 and $299,999 and 2 are listed between $300,000 and $400,000.

A short sale is not a sure thing.  The buyer can agree to the price, but the bank must also.  Many of these homes have a first and second mortgage on them.  This requires negotiation with both banks, and most short sales the buyers require that the bank forgive the difference of the agreed to price and the amount owed.  By law the bank can and sometimes will call the amount they loose income to the seller and provide them a 1099 at the end of the year.  This alone can sometimes cause a transaction to fail.

Short sales are not quick sales, and often times you will wait for weeks or months for an answer from the bank.  As a buyer during this period you can generally withdraw your offer, but your agent should know the process well before you write on a short sale property.

Updated on 6/4/2011

removed links to old pdf files and added live links showing the current homes on the market

La Pine and North Klamath County Short Sales