This is a 3 minute video introduction on what a short sale is and who might be a good candidate for one. The transcript of the video is below.

Transcript

Hi, my name is Ryan Ward with Premier Atlanta Real Estate and Keller Williams. Thank you for your time with me today to learn about short sales. For too many reasons to go into today, the term short sale has become one of the most talked about types of transactions in the real estate market. So first, let’s make sure we get our definitions correct. A short sale happens when a lender agrees to accept a contract on a home when the sales price is less than the amount needed to pay off that mortgage. The bank is allowing the owner to sell the property “short” of the full payoff. So that’s…

According to RealtyTrac, foreclosure activity is up 6% in February of 2010 compared with the same time period in 2009. This represents the smallest increase in activity in 4 years. To me, that doesn't mean we are seeing improvement and there isn't anything to indicate that we are heading towards consistent year of year decreases in foreclosures so in my opinion, this is still more bad news for home values.

Locally, foreclosure sales in February of 2010 were 1245 compared with 1430 sales for the same time period in 2009. Interestingly, non-foreclosure sales in 2010 totaled 1598 meaning that foreclosure sales made for about 44% of sales in 2010 while in 2009 non-foreclosure sales were 1512 or 48.6% of sales. In 2008, non-foreclosure sales totaled 2182 with…

It's with great enjoyment for me to announce that I became a Certified Distressed Property Expert today. Since I began my career in real estate, my #1 goal has always been to help people. Like most real estate professionals today, I thought I could ignore this segment of the market - but recently I realized that this isn't a "segment" of the market, but is instead a segment of our society.

Instead of avoiding these homes and homeowners or casting blame upon them, I believe the best solution is to ensure that they are being represented in the best possible way to protect them from potentially fraudulent predators and to protect home values and neighborhoods by helping to keep these homes out of the foreclosure process and become REO properties.

In the…

Sold to the lady in the back for $435,000! What a deal! The screen says the previous value for this home was over $1,000,000. I've found it at last! Now I know exactly where to send every person who calls looking for that great deal. The auction!

If you're in the business and you get leads online, you definitely know the guy. Most others in the business know this guy now too. It's just a product of the current conditions. He acts like he knows more than you about real estate and before the phone call is over, he has made you feel like it's true. We get one almost daily, but the problem is, that guy doesn't have a clue about what he is talking about. If you are that guy, I suggest you re-read this paragraph.

I attended an auction this past Saturday with…

If you are in the market for a home or are trying to find a way to sell your home and feel you are upside down, you might think that the best option is a short sale or a foreclosure. In subsequent posts, I'll get into more detail about foreclosures and if you want to skip this, you can go straight to our Atlanta foreclosures page or our Atlanta MLS page to search for short sales more specifically.

I'd like to go over short sales first because there is definitely more confusion over them, more contract issues and more complications with getting them closed than foreclosures. In my experience, they are more difficult than most other transactions right now. With all of that said, they can also represent an excellent value - but not all the time and not for…