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!

With the current real estate market conditions that we are finding here in Minneapolis, Minnesota, there still exists a very large number of short sales on the MLS for sale. Our team, The Minnesota Real Estate Team, has a number of agents who have been able to successfully close so many MN short sales throughout 2009.

As a buyer in today’s market, realize that more than ever, you need a top, top buyer’s agent to help you navigate through a short sale real estate transaction. We are finding timelines for these transactions vary. However, the general consensus is that if you need to be moved in by a certain timeline, offering on a short sale may not be your best option.

Moving into 2010, we have recently been seeing some of the larger national banks to have speeded up the approval process on short sales. However, this is not happening consistently across the board.

As a seller, if you are experiencing difficulties in making your mortgage payments, please realize that you do have options. Wherever your home may be located here in Minnesota or Wisconsin, we have an agent on our team who can help.

Short sales often times can be a frustrating real estate transaction for a buyer and buyer’s agent. However, often times a buyer is able to negotiate a discount on the property for sale.

Please don’t hesitate to contact our team if we can help with any of your short sale buying or selling needs here in MN. There is never any rush or obligation when working with our team.