Short sales are dominating South Florida’s market. From April to June of this year there were 5,940 short sales in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade County. That is an increase of 15% from the first quarter.
It should also come as no surprise that these short sales are coming at a significant discount. The discount is often times at least 30% lower than non-foreclosed properties.
However, the short sale process can often times be a maddening one that takes a lot of time. Indeed, it takes on average 501 days to complete a short sale in South Florida.
It is in large part due to that delay that South Florida was not listed on Realty Trac’s top 10 markets for buying short sales.
But banks are realizing the benefit of short sales. Consequently, many banks are launching programs to pay homeowners thousands of dollars to help with moving costs if they agree to sell for less than they owe on the property.
Bank of American just launched a pilot program in Florida that could pay homeowners up to $20,000 for short selling their homes instead of letting them fall into foreclosure. Chase and Wells Fargo have also announced a similar plan.
While banks often times hand homeowners a few thousand dollars if they leave the properties in good shape after foreclosure. That plan is called “cash for keys”. Additionally, homeowners are also entitled to $3,000 of government money if they complete short sales through the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA) program.
Banks are also now offering incentives above and beyond those. As such, the banks are offering money in an effort to push through short sales and avoid the lengthy and often times costly foreclosure process.
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