REOs, Short Sales…What does this mean please?

Buyers of South Lake Tahoe Real Estate are mostly comprised of  non-locals and come from all over California, and the U.S. Lately I have encountered  buyers from foreign counties such as England and Mexico. We are primarily a second home/vacation market here in South Lake Tahoe and so we attract buyers from all over the world to this beautiful area. They come to ski or gamble and instantly fall in love with the mountains, the clean air and water and the easy going lifestyle here at Lake Tahoe. Suddenly the thought strikes them that perhaps they should look into the South Tahoe housing market and perhaps buy a nice cabin that they could come back to every year. So it begins, the search for the perfect mountain home. Buyers find themselves in the midst of of trying to figure out the values of the Tahoe market, what bang they can get for the buck so to speak. The questions I hear the most from these buyers is “what does an REO mean? or “tell me what a short sale is”.  For my foreign and even some of my domestic buyers the term REO means “Real Estate Owned” which is property owned by a lender, usually a bank that has foreclosed on the property and failed to sell it at auction. There are some excellent deals to be had from REO listings as banks do not want to hold onto these properties for very long and are willing to negotiate. A Short Sale occurs when the  seller of  a property owes more on his/her loan than the property is actually worth. The seller may contact their lender for pre-approval of the short sale or may wait until they get an offer  from a buyer and then submit that offer for bank approval. It used to be that short sales took a very long time to process by the banks, sometimes nine months or longer, but lately it has become a more streamline process but still can take 90 days or more. These two scenarios are very much the case in the current South Lake Tahoe real estate market today. To purchase an REO or short sale home can take some effort on the part of your REALTOR® and you but an effort that can pay off in the form of huge savings. Below is a list of REOs and Short Sales available in South Lake Tahoe as of January 9, 2012

REO SINGLE FAMILY HOMES AVAILABLE (Jan 9, 2012)

SHORT SALE SINGLE FAMILY HOMES AVAILABLE (Jan 9, 2012)

Stan Freeman, Realtor®, Pinnacle Real Estatet Group, South Lake Tahoe, CA. (530) 416-1401