Real Estate Darwinism

I would like to talk a little about foreclosures and short sales today.

First of all - contrary to what the newspapers seem to want to you to believe, not every homeowner is in a financial crisis and not every home that is listed is being sold out of desperation!

Take a look at HAVE to Sell vs. WANT to Sell.

Are there foreclosures and short sales in Palm Beach Gardens?  Certainly - but its not the free-for-all that way too many people seem to expect.

Now that Im done with that, Ill cover the basics.

• You might own your real estate free and clear -GREAT!
• You could have a mortgage on the property - youre making the scheduled payments without a hitch.  Again, good for you.

The majority of people fall into those 2 categories.

Unfortunately, some homeowners arent (or are about to stop) making their mortgage payments.  The reason why does not matter - all the banks care about is: Are you or are you not making your scheduled payments?

This breaks down one of two ways:

1. Your house is worth more then what you actually owe on the home loan.  Youre not so bad off if thats the case because you can list it for sale and price it properly so that it actually DOES sell before you start missing payments.
2. You owe more on the mortgage loan then what the home can sell for.  Of course, this is the worst case.
   

Ill discuss how that could happen and what the next steps are tomorrow morning.