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Yesterday we got news: "No news today. Will check again tomorrow."
Yesterday we should have closed on our new house. Anyone who knows me will tell you that patience is not a virtue of mine. The first thing a realtor will tell you is that if you pursue a short sale then you need a lot of patience.
This is our second attempt in purchasing a home through a short sale. Believe me, if I had a choice I wouldn't be doing this right now, but in the Phoenix area most homes on the market are either short sales or foreclosures. We started looking at the beginning of July. Our offer was finally accepted by the bank 10 weeks later, the day I lost my job, forcing us to withdraw the offer.
We started this sale in mid-November. We thought it was approved fairly quickly considering the Holidays that came and went. Inspections went well, a closing date was set. The only thing that could have derailed the close was the appraisal. Enter the low appraisal less than two weeks before close. I know it may be hard for some people who live in areas that haven't been hit so hard by the housing crisis to understand how quickly home values are falling here, and every foreclosure and short sale pulls the comps down. It's nearly impossible to look at one home and figure out what it is worth. What you offer in November may be too much by February when the appraisal is finally done. This is what happened to us. We offered $20,000 under the listing price, and it still ended up being too high. Yes, we could just pay the extra $5500 (if we had an extra $5500), but why should we in a market that isn't expected to rebound until 2012?
One thing I would tell you if you decide to pursue a home via short sale is that even though you may feel like you have all the leverage in a buyer's market you are at the mercy of a bank who is in no hurry and may even refuse to sell you the house even though you are approved and ready to sign.
So, today is another day of waiting for the phone to ring with either good or bad news. Patience, Tracy. Patience.
Yesterday we should have closed on our new house. Anyone who knows me will tell you that patience is not a virtue of mine. The first thing a realtor will tell you is that if you pursue a short sale then you need a lot of patience.
This is our second attempt in purchasing a home through a short sale. Believe me, if I had a choice I wouldn't be doing this right now, but in the Phoenix area most homes on the market are either short sales or foreclosures. We started looking at the beginning of July. Our offer was finally accepted by the bank 10 weeks later, the day I lost my job, forcing us to withdraw the offer.
We started this sale in mid-November. We thought it was approved fairly quickly considering the Holidays that came and went. Inspections went well, a closing date was set. The only thing that could have derailed the close was the appraisal. Enter the low appraisal less than two weeks before close. I know it may be hard for some people who live in areas that haven't been hit so hard by the housing crisis to understand how quickly home values are falling here, and every foreclosure and short sale pulls the comps down. It's nearly impossible to look at one home and figure out what it is worth. What you offer in November may be too much by February when the appraisal is finally done. This is what happened to us. We offered $20,000 under the listing price, and it still ended up being too high. Yes, we could just pay the extra $5500 (if we had an extra $5500), but why should we in a market that isn't expected to rebound until 2012?
One thing I would tell you if you decide to pursue a home via short sale is that even though you may feel like you have all the leverage in a buyer's market you are at the mercy of a bank who is in no hurry and may even refuse to sell you the house even though you are approved and ready to sign.
So, today is another day of waiting for the phone to ring with either good or bad news. Patience, Tracy. Patience.
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