Starting June 15, 2012 as per the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both agencies must give short-sale buyers a final decision within 60 days. (In a short sale, a lender agrees to accept less than the balance on a mortgage.)
The new guidelines also will require the mortgage giants to respond to initial short-sale requests within 30 days of receiving an offer from a potential buyer.
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This is a huge improvement as short sales used take several months and even up to one year to be approved – often the answer was NOT APPROVED. Statistically only about 20%-25% of short sales are approved as the SELLER must QUALIFY for the short sale, short sale homes must be sold on the OPEN MARKET, and the Seller and the Purchaser cannot be related to each other.
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Because home buyers and sellers often had to wait many months before they received a decision from a lender on an offer for a short sale, some short sale deals fell apart just from the long wait alone as buyers lost the interest and moved on to other properties.
Short sales have been increasing in recent months, as many lenders find them more appealing than foreclosures, which can be much more costly and take longer to remove from their books.
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SOURCE: The New York Times; REALTOR Magazine
Vivianne Rutkowski Short Sales Agent REALTOR CDPE SFR in Northern Virginia, Fairfax County VA, Loudoun County VA, Prince William County VA
