I work for Weichert here in West Milford. We are handling a number of short sales ( homes selling for less than what is owed on the mortgage). As indicated by Valerie, these sales can get you a good deal but they take a long time because there is no motivation on the part of the seller or mortgage company to sell these properties. If you're not in any hurry to move out of your present location, I can show you a number of short sale homes in the area.

If a case is in bankruptcy the lender typically can not contact the owner because of the protection provided under bankruptcy. The bankruptcy trustee would determine if there is value and if so and the creditors want a piece of the value, they would get an real estate agent to market and sell the property. This assumes the owner filed a chapter 13. If the owner filed a chapter 7 nothing will happen and if the dept is discharged there should be no reason for the owner to sell the property because they have no interest in the mortgage at that point. You should contact a bankruptcy attonrey in your area to get a clarification in your state.


Keith Manson
First Weber Group
Certified Distressed Property Expert
Greenfield,Wisconsin

Good Morning:

I'm not sure where you live, so this will deternine the value of the market place. Certain areas of the US were affected harder than other areas.

In most areas, because of the market the past few years, there are unfortunately both an ampul supply of both Foreclosures and Short Sales. Where I reside in Oregon I have found that a Buyer can get a better deal on a Short Sale. A Short Sale means the home has not yet been foreclosed upon, and the lender has agreed to take less than what the home owner owes on their existing loan. The home owner then may, or may not be held responsible for the remaining deficient amount.

If you are interested in purchasing a Foreclosure or Short Sale I would recomend contacting an agent/broker that specializes in this type of sale, such as myself. There is A LOT involved in these transactions. I have found that many agents try to handle these transactions and end up doing a great miss-service to their clients because they do not know all of the ins-and-outs involved.

Good luck...e-mail me back if you have any other questions I can help you with!