With short sales becoming ever more popular as an alternative to foreclosures, an alarming trend dampens the irrefutable success the process offers all parties.

Of course the short sale process requires the approval of the lender.  Large portion of the short sales have been severely hampered by lenders failing to respond timely to the short sale offers. On average the waiting time for a short sale is approximately 10 weeks, but often interested buyers who have gone to the trouble of making a genuine offer are left with no response for months. Clearly, these buyers are rarely to display such patience and so many short sales are not given the chance to flourish.

Less than 20% of short sales are successfully based upon various statistics published nationwide. While real estate agents can sometimes be tardy in providing the necessary documentation to lenders, 90% of agents suggest that it is the lender that is failing to provide timely response.

With the Eureka Short Sale Program borrowers, lenders and agents will enjoy an 80% success rate where title is cleared from delinquent payments using private funds.  Eureka has an equitable interest in the transaction and therefore has the necessary motivation to remain persistent with the lenders. Success that is over four times more than that of the traditional short sales is a tremendous advantage. The current market is desperate for liquidity, the demand for successful shorts sales have never been more urgent.  The Eureka Short Sale Program is perfectly situated to relieve homeowners and lenders of their tremendous burden in such trying times.

So the Eureka Short Sale Program not only facilitate a smooth short sale transaction for lender and borrower, it also to protect the personal details of a homeowner while obtaining clear title. This type of privacy is priceless to a significant portion of the sellers who are already undergoing stressful financial challenges.

Real estate agents working with the Eureka Short Sale Program they will be able to focus exclusively on marketing the property and save the fruitless hours spent in pursuing lenders in a bid to receive approval of potential short sale offers. With Eureka, clear title is obtained and the property can be offered to the market with confidence. Eureka’s superior short sale framework is able to exploit the fact that the property is no longer distressed in their hands. This poignant fact can be determinative when savvy buyers express interest in the property.

All categories of foreclosure, (freshly instituted foreclosures, foreclosures in progress, and completed foreclosures) experienced solid gains of almost 20% from Q4 in 2009. Clearly the legal system is being tested to the very boundaries of its capacity.

With fundamental assistance from the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) loan modifications have increased slightly by approximately 5%. The majority of these modifications of course reduce repayments of mortgagors, but sadly, this implementation has failed to provide a resolution for most mortgagors engaged in such schemes. Over 50% of modified mortgages revert to delinquency after 12 months.

Not only are the majority of loan modifications found in default 12 months after institution, but foreclosures require considerable capital to be dedicated by the mortgagee in pursuit of a legal remedy. The procedural matrix that legal representatives will navigate will also take months to endure. The legal cost incurred will be recoverable from a delinquent mortgagor, but rarely enforceable against an insolvent homeowner. The law of bankruptcy will also prove to be foe rather than friend when a mortgagee attempts to seek recompense through the legal system for legal fees incurred during foreclosure proceedings.

Short sales however, have increased 120% in the past year and almost 10% since Q4 2009. The short sales in significant portion of the transactions offer full release of the debt obligation of the seller and have significantly lower impact on their credit. From the lender’s the obvious benefit to the mortgagee arising from a lump sum being paid in satisfaction of the mortgage, albeit it less than the total amount owed. While the outstanding portion of the debt is written off as a bad debt, the funds paid are able to be reinvested in the lenders business of extending finance and so, generate income rather than the alternative that would see it ineffective in the hands of a struggling mortgagor of dubious property. The scenario just described is far more inviting than the alternative. A foreclosure or loan modification is more likely to cause further detriment to both parties to the mortgage.

We are a nationwide network of real estate, financing and legal professionals with a mission to improve the efficiency of short sales and create a win scenario for all parties involved. We are closely monitoring the laws and regulations and promoting anti-scam and anti-fraud communications from various government organizations.

The foreclosure trouble is continuing at the more or less same levels in lower and moderate priced neighborhood properties, but there is apparent increase in some of the affluent locations in the Bay Area. However the default notices served on delinquent borrowers are on a decline overall in the California State and Bay Area in particular.

During the quarter ended March, 81,504 notices of default got served in California State – less by 3,514 compared to quarter ended December 2009. Default Notices issued for delinquents in Bay Area numbered at 13,517 – a decrease of 30.5 percent when compared to first quarter of 2009 – when California State had a record level of default notices.

This trend is explained by experts as sign of the worst being over in the low priced neighborhoods and the problem is spreading to expensive neighborhoods. Another reason attributed is that lenders learnt from their past experience and have come forward to accommodate loan modifications and short sale options.

Another notable development is bank repossessions have also come down during the quarter in question. The bank repossession figure for California is less by 8,213 properties denoting a 16 percent decline from the previous quarter. As for Bay Area the repossession properties numbered 6,417 – about 1,000 properties down from the previous quarter.

The fourth most populous city of California, San Francisco, records a population figure of 808,976 as per 2008 Census. This is the cultural, financial and commercial and transportation center of the larger San Francisco Bay Area of California.

If you look at it as a housing property location for buying, you will be amazed with the variety of neighborhoods existing at San Francisco. The list is so long and here are few samples:

The northeast quadrant, bordered by Market Street, is the historic center of San Francisco; the nearby Financial District carries best shopping malls, restaurants and hotels; Nob Hill summit was once the place for luxurious bungalows of business tycoons; Fishermen’s Wharf – a tourist area; Russian Hill is a popular residential area, which contains Lombard Street, North Beach, the city’s Little Italy.

Then you have China Town; Japan Town; the working class-people-filled Mission District; “The Painted Ladies” – a row of resort like dwellings of Victorian homes; the Pacific Heights – consisting of lovely mansions for the business elite; and also The Marina to the North, Richmond and Sunset with predominant Asian population.

The foreclosure fiasco has not saved any of these neighborhoods from contributing foreclosure filings, mounting month after month. The inventory of distressed properties lying unsold under foreclosure is considerable. To be precise – there are 3,254 properties – including pre-foreclosure properties; scheduled Trustee Sale foreclosure auction and Bank owned repossessed properties.

The Short Sale option exercised by the troubled home owner-barrowers will make these properties from the best neighborhoods of San Francisco, mentioned above, within reach of many home buyers.

The median price of foreclosure properties of San Francisco is recorded as $541,846. Assuming these properties are sold through Short Sales, the buyers are in with a chance of a bargain price, lesser than this. The reasons are – there is urgency on the part of lenders to dispose them off by the quicker route of Short Sales; motivation for the home owners to avoid foreclosure and its heavy impacts; and the Government is granting subsidies for easing up Short Sales.