Tampa Bay Foreclosures Present Discounted House Buying Opportunities
With the recent fall in the housing market many homebuyers and investors have found that they can save a great deal of money by looking at both foreclosed and short sale properties. However, before considering either of these options you will want to consult with a Tampa realtor to help guide you through these two exceptional purchasing opportunities.
In theory, foreclosures and short sales are basically the same thing, but they are in different stages of the same process. Foreclosure is a word that describes the legal process involved with the lender taking legal title away from the current owner and defaulted borrower. Short sales are a lender-negotiated transaction that takes place prior to the foreclosure court proceedings, in an effort to save costs and hedge against additional losses. Once the bank has foreclosed on a home, it becomes known as an “REO” property, which stands for “real estate owned”.
Being a homebuyer you might find it surprising that Tampa short sales are a very large percent of the home sales currently taking place; this is because housing value in Tampa has decreased greatly over the past few years. Even amateur investors have gotten involved in buying Tampa foreclosures. However, the fact remains that the greater majority of purchasers do not have the ability needed to negotiate short sale and foreclosure transactions by on their own, without the advice from someone in the real estate field.
Short sale transactions can take months to complete, as there is quite a backlog that the lenders have to review. This is why the purchase of a bank owned home in Tampa is a lot more attractive with some sales closed in as little as 30 days.
Recent statistics indicate that 35% of the active homes for sale are distressed sales. While 29% were the result of short sales and only 6% are owned by the banks. You can see that there are still a lot of foreclosures in the market, even though negotiations can take a long time compared to conventional transactions.
There are a lot of discounted homes available in the Tampa area, even conventional home sales with many properties being offered at below market prices. But the foreclosed market is booming and the short sale market offer the deepest discounts especially if you are prepared to take on a property that has more risks, as they may need some major renovation or repair.
Although half or the properties in the Tampa market are distressed short sale or foreclosure situations, there is not really any improvement in how the banks are handling the abundance of short sale or foreclosed homes with the average short sale taking 60 to 90 days. However, keep in mind that some banks may be a little quicker and others are a lot longer.
Since lenders are working through the backlog and finally, starting to catch up on processing these files, you may expect shorter turnaround times. There are fewer distressed sellers listing their home, which may indicate the Tampa housing market is starting to see a positive trend and fewer bank-owned properties in the pipeline. As a home-buyer, you can take advantage of these discounted home-buying opportunities, but patience is definitely a virtue, when it comes to completing the transaction.
About the author: Lance Mohr is an authority on the Tampa real estate market with more than 18 years of experience as a Realtor and mortgage banker. For more information on Tampa luxury homes or Tampa new homes go to Tampa2Enjoy.com.
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