A 22-year-old Florida mechanical engineer was able to buy her first home in the city of Cocoa in May after looking at a foreclosure list and a short sale list presented to her.
At first, Kristin Heminger was intent on choosing her first home from a foreclosure list because of bargain prices that can be found among foreclosure list properties. Being an engineer, she could also manage some repairs or renovations on a foreclosure home.
Heminger said she was bent on buying her first home at a time of reduced prices. She added she has always been a very practical person and deciding to buy a home included in a foreclosure list was easy for her.
As Heminger was searching for her first home, she chanced upon a home in Cocoa which is being sold in a short sale. The owner wanted to avoid foreclosure so he is selling the house for less than the amount she owes the bank.
At first, Heminger said, she thought the house was beyond her affordability level, so she hesitated in making an offer for the Cocoa home.
Aside from the affordability issue, Heminger has also heard stories of short sale purchases that have gone badly wrong. Some cases even describe stories of families forced to spend money in hotels while short sale problems are being worked out by the banks.
Heminger was also bent on beating the November 30 deadline of the federal tax incentive given to first-time homebuyers. She needed to complete home purchase transactions by that time and she did not want to take chances.
Heminger knew that the short sale has not been well-defined and can take different turns and reroutes. Short sales must also be endorsed by mortgage lenders.
Nevertheless, Heminger took a chance and wrote a bid for the Cocoa home. The home was being sold at $150,000, but she tried making a lowball offer of $100,000. Fortunately, the seller was not insulted by the lowball offer and instead reduced the price to $138,000, which Heminger accepted.
From her experience of buying her first home, Heminger has some advice to share with other first-time homebuyers. She said potential home buyers should search all types of lists including the ubiquitous foreclosure list and should not be hesitant in making an offer. They should make a written offer so sellers would realize their homes are being considered seriously by the potential buyer.
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- Repo Homes Listings Grow with Delays in Short Sales
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