Christine Donovan - Costa Mesa Real Estate

C,

I expect that your are looking for accceptable reasons to cancel the contract?

if so, that depends upon the contract, and I can only speak to California. The forms that are most often used in California for a residential purchase have many contingencies. In the usual format, the buyer has a 17 day inspection period in which to have a third party inspection, termite inspection, and any other type of inspection the buyer might want If during that inspection period, the buyer finds the property unacceptable, he can generally cancel the contract without adverse consequences.

Additionally, if he is unable to obtain financing or get the home appraised for the sales price, there are usually contingencies to allow the buyer to cancel. These are a few examples of reasons to cancel a contract. - Sat Nov 8 2008, 20:12

I think that depends upon your definition of fast. We had an answer on our last short sale within about 3 1/2 weeks of the bank actually receiving the package though it was sent several times via fax before that before they actually were able to find it. - Sat Nov 8 2008, 20:07

Maria,

As many people have mentioned before, the first thing to do is get pre-approved, preferrably a "desktop" approval from a direct lender (this can be obtained through a mortgage broker or a bank). It will be hard, if not impossible, to get a seller, especially a bank, to take your offer seriously without this.

You ask about foreclosure homes, and many people do not distinguish between the different areas of foreclosure ie. short sale, in foreclosure, bank owned, etc. This can make a difference in how you approach the purchase process.

I agree that the best priced properties are likely to have multiple offers as everyone is looking for a deal when they purchase a home, especially in this market. So, consider looking at the "normal" sales. These are people who also want to sell their home, but if they aren't as well priced as the foreclosure homes, they are not as likely to be receiving swarms of offers, and if they have equity, they may consider taking an offer that is less than their asking price. In addition, they are more likely to make repairs and offer credits than a short sale or bank owned/REO.

When making an offer on a short sale, keep in mind that the bank may take weeks up to 4 weeks or more to respond to your offer, so plan to be patient.

Also, with regards to a bank owned/REO or short sale purchase, you are unlikely to get any repairs or credits from the seller to fix any problems in the property and further, banks give limited if any disclosures about potential problems in the homes, so it is imperative that you have a home inspection done so that you will be able to make an informed decision about the condition of the property. - Wed Aug 20 2008, 11:29

The updated information shows that the average days on market for a home in Newport Beach is 102.6. This is down just slightly from the information you were provided in April.

As of yesterday, 298 homes have sold in Newport Beach this year. Homes sold between the beginning of the year and the end of July had an average sold price of $1,661,336. - Wed Aug 20 2008, 11:02

The assessed value often does not correspond with how much is owed on the property. Under Prop 13, the assessed value of the property can only be increased by 2% or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. Therefore, if a property was bought years ago it may have a very low assessed value, and the owner may have refinanced and increased the amount owed far past the assessed value. Additionally, if the property has been owned for many years, the loan may have been paid down or paid off while the assessed value continued to increase. - Thu Jul 31 2008, 23:41