Bank Owned Homes vs. Short Sale Homes

Popular Northeast Valley Neighborhoods

Subdivision/Area Type
Troon REO Short Sale
Troon North REO Short Sale
Anthem REO Short Sale
Desert Mountain REO Short Sale
Eagle Mountain REO Short Sale
Firerock  REO Short Sale
Corte Bella  REO Short Sale
North Scottsdale REO  
Carefree REO  

Bank Owned Home Process

REO Homes, Bank Owned Homes, Lender Owned Homes and Foreclosed Homes are all terms describing properties that have become owned by the bank. In the case of these REO homes, buyers submit their offer to the bank through the bank's property management liason. In this scenario, the offer is recieved by the bank and is usually responded to within a few days. This type of transaction resembles the purchase process of a standard transaction with the addition of a bank addendum(s) such as an As-Is addendum, waivers of the SPDS or CLUE Report, etc. The buyer is still entitled to the Home Inspection for his protection.

The Traditional Short Sale Program

Short Sale Homes are distressed properties that are still owned by the homeowner. Buyers submit their offers to the homeowner. The homeowner (seller) then accepts the offer and then forwards the offer to their bank(s) for analysis. This begins the Short Sale Process. This process is comprised of three phases.
  • Verification of the Sellers' situation and the incoming offer to accept this home as a Short Sale
  • Determination of the property value. Bank will send Appraisers and/or BPOs to determine the fair value. Now the bank accepts, rejects or counters the buyers' offer
  • Final clearance of the transaction through the bank and the bank's ultimate investors
This is why the Short Sale Homes can take so long to complete as each phase has a two month (rule of thumb) completion. Once these steps are completed, the Buyer is notified and can only then proceed with the normal escrow period. Short Sale Properties are usually best for buyers who have time to wait out the process. The buyer is still entitled to the Home Inspection for his protection.

The HAFA Short Sale Program

The Home Afordable Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA Program) is the new program implemented on April 5th, 2010. This process was developed to reduce the complications and long waiting periods that were plaguing the old Short Sale Program. To simplify and speed up the process, this new way has the following steps:
  • Verification of the Seller's situation and is approved for the HAFA Program.
  • Determination of the property value is performed in this next step BEFORE the property is listed on the market.  The bank will determine the fair value and employ a REALTOR to list the property at this determined value.
  • The Homeowner receives an offer on the property. He then accepts the offer and forwards that offer to the lender.  If all paperwork is in order, the bank will respond to the offer in approximately 10 days.
In this case, the analization of the homeowners qualifications and the valuation of the property is done 'offline' or before the property is listed. Now the buyer, upon finding an HAFA short sale property that he would like to make an offer on, only needs to wait 10 days for his response from the bank. For the buyer, his offer could be accepted in 10 days and then start the usual escrow period.