Armed with up-to-date statistics provided courtesy of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, today we’re taking a quick look at short sales in the Twin Cities from December 2009.

What is a short sale?

A special arrangement between the seller of a property and the lender on the mortgage of the property agree for the property to be sold for less than what the seller owes to the lender. Short sales allow borrowers to avoid the adverse consequences of a “foreclosure” on their credit report. Short sales are a better alternative for mortgage lenders because in lieu of foreclosure, there is less of a financial loss to the lending institution.

In December 2009, what were the short sale numbers for the Twin Cities?

There were 3,934 properties listed as short sales in the Twin Cities in December 2009. The number of short sales was double the amount of foreclosures (1,799) and nearly 30% of all “traditional properties” (i.e., properties not considered a foreclosure or short sale) listed in December. At nearly six months, the average number of days a short sale was listed in December 2009 was 177 days, two more months than it took a foreclosure or “traditional” property to sell. When a short sale did sell, the sellers only received 86.5% of their original list price, in comparison to “traditional” properties receiving 92.8% of the list price and foreclosures receiving 97.6%.

While the concept of a short sale is easy to understand, the process of purchasing a short sale property can be a long process that may become complicated when a seller accepts your offer, but the lender rejects it. Working with a real estate professional is a great idea, however, not all real estate agents are familiar with the intricacies of mn short sales and may even hurt your chances of a successful closing.

If you’re a minnesota first time homebuyer and you’re not in a rush to move-in today, a property listed as a short sale may be just the right home for you. With the know-how of one of our many experienced agents, you could find the home of your dreams at a great price and without all the headaches of attempting to purchase a short sale yourself!

On The Minnesota Real Estate Team we’ve got agents that have listed and closed short sale properties, helping buyers and sellers alike successfully move to the next adventure in their lives!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 9:39 am and is filed under Minneapolis Real Estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.