The inventory of homes for sale has increased in recent months, causing some buyers to hesitate before making an offer on a home for fear a better home at a more favorable price will become available.
KEEP THIS IN MIND
• Although real estate agents are showing more homes to clients, people still are buying homes, especially first-time buyers. According to the latest figures from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR), first-time buyers now account for 50 percent of all home sales.

• Some agents claim that today’s buyers are having a problem staying committed to the home search. During the height of the market, home buyers were more apt to make housing hunting a priority and to move on a good deal. Real estate experts advise today’s home buyers do the same to be successful in their home search.

• Making a list of “musts” and “wants” for home features will help home buyers narrow down the search. Identifying key features, such as the number of bedrooms or bathrooms, will help buyers avoid being overwhelmed by the number of homes available.
• Buyers are best advised to work with a REALTOR® who is familiar with the area.

Media reports that home prices will decline further may be true for some areas, but not necessarily in all areas. All real estate is local, so finding out what’s happening in a specific neighborhood is most helpful.

Read the full story:
http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-lew-20101219,0,7137667.story
From LA Times

Tuesday, December 21st 2010 Lenders are opting to “delay and deny” in more and more short sale cases as the real estate market continues to be uncertain[1]. While many homeowners, real estate agents and housing advocates continue to argue that a short sale deal, which sells the home at a loss to the lender but removes the existing, delinquent homeowner from the property and places a paying homeowner in it, is in the best interest of most lenders, the banks themselves are not so sure and, in an increasing number of cases, are opting out of short sales to repossess and sell the home themselves. JPMorgan Chase, whose official stance on short sales is that “the company generally prefers short sales over foreclosures because they cost less and benefit the community,” has recently been citing its responsibility to investors to “get a fair price for the property,” pointing out that this may mean “seeking more than the short sale price – even if it puts the sale in jeopardy.”

Not surprisingly, this angers all sorts of people from homeowners to Hope Now advocates, who believe that “the short sale process is hampered by lenders’ concerns about fraud, difficulties in determining property values and the confusing lineup of players typically involved in a real estate deal.” One lawyer who represents sellers and lenders in short sales said simply, “The irrationality in which these applications can be dealt with is absurd.”

However, points out Frank McKenna, vice president of fraud strategy at CoreLogic, lenders are losing about $310 million each year in short sale fraud, with 1 in every 53 sales “plagued by problems” including flopping (short sale flipping), and a failure to get “the right valuation” on a property thanks to “shady investors.”

By: BEREL News Team