|
|
Press ReleasesBanks may be seeing the light on short sales Larry Murphy, president of SalesTraq, which follows foreclosures, says he expects bank repossessions this year to be about 25,000, matching those in 2008. Murphy believes banks are starting to realize it makes better financial sense to allow owners to sell homes through short sales rather than repossess them. Of the 35,742 closings through the first three quarters, 75% were foreclosures and only 10% were short sales, but Murphy expects this percentage to rise. Murphy says 21,576 homes are on the MLS and 52% of those have a contingent sale in place. Of those 11,249, 71% are short sales, and 21% are bank-owned properties. The median price of a home sold through foreclosure is $116,900 and homes sold through short sales have a median price of $150,000, Murphy says, which explains the growing interest for bank in going the short-sale route. http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/oct/30/banks-may-be-seeing-light-short-sales/ Freddie Mac instructs it servicers not to cut commissions on short sales. Freddie Mac has confirmed that servicers are not allowed to cut real estate agent commissions in short sale transactions. On Aug. 20, Freddie Mac issued guidance to servicers stating, “Unless a real estate broker’s sales commission exceeds 6 percent of the property price, servicers must not, as a condition of the servicer’s acceptance of the offer, renegotiate the real estate broker’s sales commission to an amount that is lower than the amount that was originally agreed upon between the broker and the borrower.” If the commission is higher, servicers are required to renegotiate the commission to limit it to 6 percent, according to Freddie Mac Bulletin 2009-22. The written policy follows similar guidance issued by Fannie Mae earlier this year. The National Association of REALTORS® has now asked Freddie Mac to establish an appeals process for cases where servicers refuse to comply with the policy. |
|
