Short sale update: APPROVED!!

[spdrun]

… At last fall’s asking price 😀

[carlsbadworker]

Congrats! That’s a long wait though.

[bearishgurl]

Good for YOU, spdrun! And at last fall’s price … that’s WONDERFUL! All due to your stoicism and “persistence,” no doubt (I don’t think I could play the SS-buyer game, lol).

Maybe you can “retire” there yourself someday :=D

[UCGal]

Congratulations – now to get the deal completed and renters in there.

[spdrun]

Or sit on it for the waiting period, then put it on the market. With the way the market rocketed up (and my local market hasn’t so far), this might be a decent option.

[SK in CV]

What waiting period?

[spdrun]

Don’t some banks have the right to put a 90-day anti-flip clause in the deed? (Not that I’ve seen anything like that in what I signed thus far.)

[SK in CV]

Never heard of it, though it may exist. Unlikely it would be in the deed. But if it’s not in any of the documents you agree to, it won’t apply.

[FlyerInHi]

Congrats.
So it’s in escrow already? Did they cash your earnest deposit?

I tried short sales but could never get one.

I bought a condo from FHA/HUD and it has some anti-flip thing on the grant deed itself.

I also bought Freddy Mac and a fanny mae properties. They make you sign something saying that you can flip within 90 days or something like that, else there is $10,000 penalty.

Those guys also make you sign something saying that you did not buy another property from them within a year. HUD requires social security number to initially submit offer online. I guess to make sure you’re not buying multiple properties.

Prices are rising fast so this year is not the time to sell. I think another bubble is forming when the economy strenghtens. So this year is a window of opportunity to buy. Then maybe rent out your properties for cash flow and sit out the market for a while after that.

[spdrun]

Earnest deposit has to be received (mailing it) since they only had a fax of a check before. Probably will be cashed on Mon or Tues, therefore. Regardless, I have a bank letter agreeing to the sale, close by mid-June, but I’ll attempt to do so by early May.

I’m not sure if I agree with your analysis of prices:
(a) inventory is very low. This situation may not remain as more sales come online, and also as banks “learn” to deal with the Homeowners’ Bill of Rights and move forward with foreclosures. This is a VERY unusual situation, and I doubt it will last for a long time. This isn’t a bubble. This is a Mexican standoff. The small amount of foreclosures and shorts are basically going by random bizarro lottery. Everything else is just being bid up by people in a frenzy, and it behooves me to exploit that.
(b) if the economy improves, prices in my area (NYC and NJ) will also spike. Right now, they’re close to bottom. I could just take a quick gain, pay tax, put what remains into a market that’s where SD was two years ago. No shame in that. And ultimately, I’m a die-hard New Yorker at heart. (*)
(c) I’m not convinced the economy will actually improve in the next year, beyond the level that it already has. Employment/participation numbers are nasty nationally. PMI is dropping. Hell, we may be in the paradoxical situation of a stock/specific RE market bubble while coming into a recession.
(d) Not sure if I want to hold a non-owner-occupied condo where I’m too far away to be on the board long-term. Too much risk of assessments, rises in common charges. Ultimately, the goal might be to do a few flips and end up with a mixed-use building in a very specific upper-middle-class town in NJ. Property taxes there are similar to San Diego (1.2-1.3% of assessment per annum) and are discouraged from rising by new laws. Cap rates are right bang at 8%.

(*) – always love coming into LaGuardia in evening — tour of the city from 10,000 ft never gets old. Last time I came back from SD, I came back to a rockin’ impromptu street party outside the 125th St. train station and an amazing jazzman playing. Totally random, and you don’t get that sort of randomness in SD. Maybe in SF or parts of LA — most people in SD would probably see this as “ghetto” though.

[CA renter]

Congratulations, spdrun!

Though I’m probably in the minority here, I totally agree with your last post. Each point has merit.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

[FlyerInHi]

I love NY but, yeah, it’s ghetto in many ways.

If you’re rich in NY, you live well. Otherwise it’s ghetto.

[spdrun]

How so?

Other than rent being about 2x psf that of San Diego(*) (I have that problem basically licked at this point), it’s not materially more expensive unless you SEEK OUT expensive activities. e.g. Want to get ripped off? Go to a famous nightclub with the rest of the tourists and bridge/tunnel crowd.

Plenty of free stuff to do as well, much more than 99% of other US cities.

(*) – you can rent a 450 sf 1-br in a nice part of NYC for $1800/mo, or you can rent an 900 sf 2-br in a nice part of San Diego for about the same price.

[earlyretirement]

Congrats spdrun! From reading your posts you have a LOT of patience. I never had the time or patience to deal with short sales but I really admire those that have the patience to wait it out like you did.

Kudos to you and congrats!

[FlyerInHi]

Congrats spdrun. Let us know went you close.
Are you financing or paying cash?

[Author]

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