Popeye’s pal Wimpy used to say, ”I’d gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”

The difference between foreclosure and short sale is like the difference between actually eating a hamburger today or just ordering one from the menu. Which would you rather do?

Foreclosure means the bank has taken back ownership of the house from someone who couldn’t make the payments. The bank owns it and will sell it for the listed price. Foreclosures are synonymous with bank owned, corporate owned, and lender owned.

Short sale listings (also known as pre-foreclosure), on the other hand, are not owned by the bank … yet. The listed price is what the agent hopes to convince the bank to take in lieu of foreclosing on the property. And he’s using your offer to do it!

Short sales are a game of chicken. The listing agent will lower the price until he gets an offer. Then he will try to convince the bank to accept the low price. About 25% of the listings in Moreno Valley are short sales; but only 5% of the closings are short sales.

Bank owned foreclosure listings are the way to go. The price is known, the banks are ready to sell, and we can usually close in a matter of weeks, not months.

WARNING: You should never buy a bank owned listing from the listing agent. His fiduciary obligation is to the bank, not you. You’ll here things like, “The bank will NEVER accept THAT price.” Or worse, he’ll never show you what’s going on in the ACTIVE market. Beware: closed comps mean nothing in a Buyer’s market.