Are you in the market to buy a bank owned home, or short sale in El Dorado Hills or Folsom CA?

Below are comments from one of our clients who purchase a short sale property in El Dorado Hills in 2010.

Buying a Short Sale – a Customer Perspective.

In today's market selecting a Real Estate Agent is like selecting a doctor. You wouldn't choose a family doctor when you need heart surgery, you would choose a specialist. Same with short sales and foreclosures, you can't just use any Real Estate Agent, you have to choose a specialist. That's why I chose Callie Mirsky of RE/MAX Gold in El Dorado Hills. Ask anyone for advice on short sales and the response will be "Stay away and they take forever to close" and I would say the same unless your agent specializes in these transactions like Callie.

The short sale process is a journey, understanding the market dynamics and human nature is key. From a market perspective you have to find a home you love at a price you are willing to pay and from a human nature perspective, you have to come to terms with seeing properties which have been thrashed by their owners. Walking into homes that have been stripped of carpets, cabinets, appliances, toilets, light fixtures, and just about anything of value is a lesson in human nature. You also have to get past the destruction of property, kicked in doors/walls, garbage and waste throughout the property.

Why is it important to get past these human factors, because in many instances these are the same people you will be entering into a contract with for one of the most important purchases of your life. If you do make an offer and plunk down a deposit you want to have reasonable assurance that the home will close and the current owner will not treat you like they treated their home. Again this is why you need a professional team behind you who can weed out the undesirables and steer you away from situations destined to end in disappoint, frustration, or worse.

Then once you find that special property and you have a signed contract, then there's the loan and all the new regulations that are supposedly there to protect the consumer you have to deal with. All these regulations did was slow down the process and in some cases jeopardize the closing. Luckily I had Callie to bring sanity to the process through her understanding of short sales. I'm sure I would have walked away from the deal several times had it not been for her guidance.

Also in my case the Home Inspection included the fact that the property was in a short sale, it also mentioned the typical length of time a short sale takes to close in the immediate area. Callie actually closed my home 50% faster than the typical short sale in my development and this was with a first and second loan outstanding on the property. My property closed while other properties just sat with the status of short sale (pending) for what seemed like forever.

So I would give the same advice as many do about short sales, stay away from short sales and foreclosures, unless you have an experienced professional like Callie Mirsky and the Connie Barnes team working for you.

Robert B Goldsand