Helocs are a huge obstacle in getting a Short Sale to the table. I know of several home sellers waiting almost a year and still hanging out for the second to get approved. Short Sales are uncertain to many potential buyers and they won't go near one. I would guess short sale account for 70% of the distressed sales in my area and are very slow to get offers and actually close. Bank Owned properties are hot items and sell sometimes in the same week and many times with multiple offers at or higher than the listing price. I listed a bank owned home 1/27/10 got 5 offers, 4 were cash, and 3 were over the listing price with the best offer being accepted yesterday 1/3/10 $10,100 over the listing price. The newest Short Sale laws say that lenders must give approval in 10 days BUT that is only for lenders that took TARP money and still owe it. The time element and uncertainty in dealing with a Short Sale especially if a HELOC is involved has certainly hurt resales in my market.
That's my $000,000.02 bg http://ValueSarasotaHomes/BANKOWNED
