West Palm Beach Housing Market Update

There's no better time to buy than now! The June local Market Report is in for West Palm Beach and it's quite a change from a year ago! In a nut shell, the inventory is down 42.3% from this time last year. Once inventory goes down, prices will stabilize or in some communities, prices could go up due to lack of inventory.

Happy house hunting!

Bank of America now letting a backup offer replace a buyer that walks on a short sale

This is great news and a long time coming. One of the most frustrating aspects of a short sale is when a buyer walks. Fortunately I have learned the hard way and now take backup offers on all my short sale listings just because of this problem.

Approximately 50% of buyers walk on a short sale which leaves the seller, listing agent and Attorney negotiating the short sale back at square one. I then have to put the property back on the market and the lender closes the file. When you get a new offer, you would then submit it to the lender and start at the beginning with a new bank negotiator.

Bank of America has implemented a new system in which you have 14 days to submit a new offer, along with a few other tasks:

When a Backup Offer Is Ready

You should send a message to your short sale specialist via Equator when the original buyer is no longer interested in the property. Your short sale specialist will then respond to you within two business days and ask if you have a backup offer ready to submit. If you have another buyer prepared to make an offer, the short sale can proceed without having to repeat the short sale initiation steps. The short sale status in Equator will change to "Marketing," and you will be directed to complete the following tasks within 14 business days:
· Complete the "Listing Data" task.
· Provide the marketing description.
· Review the marketing plan.
· Upload the offer. (To do this in Equator, locate "My Properties," then "Offers" and select "Place New Offer.")

If the "Listing Data" task is not completed and the new offer is not uploaded within 14 business days, the file will be closed.

This is a big step forward in the short sale game and hopefully the other lenders will follow suit.

Looking for a short sale expert in West Palm Beach or South Florida? Contact me to find out if you are a short sale candidate and to know your options!

Happy selling!

You can find me on my website: www.traciesellsflorida.com