Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
Two of the nation’s biggest lenders are giving away cash rewards to struggling Florida homeowners who agree to stave off foreclosure by doing a short sale instead, according to reports in the Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase offer short sale incentives to homeowners. Courtesy of Foreclosure News
Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase haven’t made any official announcements about the initiative, but indebted homeowners have reported that the two companies have offered them cash incentives of anything between $10,000 and $20,000 to sway them into opting for a short sale.
As part of plans to assist homeowners who want to avoid a foreclosure, the banks are already operating what has been termed a “cash for keys” program, whereby homeowners can get money in return for agreeing to give up their homes. However, the reported short sale incentives would appear to be something new, say industry observers. Previously, short sale transactions have always been seen as the bank doing a favor to the struggling homeowner, according to the experts.
Cash incentives range from $10k to as much as $20k, say homeowners. Courtesy of Foreclosure Blog
Intriguingly though, not all homeowners have been offered short sale incentives, and banks won’t let on why certain people are being excluded – they reveal no criteria, other than to say that such incentives are determined on a case-by-case basis.
Experts say that the new short sale incentives are the most practical method for both banks and homeowners to get out of a sticky situation – the homeowners avoid foreclosure, while the banks get to write off bad loans, avoiding the need to foreclose, which can be a lengthy process, averaging 619 days according to the latest figures from RealtyTrac Inc.
According to Wells Fargo, the short sale incentives have been offered in states “Where the process of foreclosure appears to be lengthening,” says their spokesperson Tom Goyda.
Hi Donna,
From the source article here http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/housekeys/blog/2011/06/chase_borrowers_getting_cash_t_1.html from what I can gather there is no official program as such, they just do it as a little bonus to certain 'select' customers.
I guess if you are in a similar situation though, there is no harm in asking!
Thanks,
Mike
What are the names of these programs that Chase and Wells Fargo offer?
The key for cash/short sale strategy will help facilitate short sales and in the long term it will help stabilize the market and neighborhoods. Of course, the short sale process needs to be enhanced and well staff to help bring buyers to the table,as well.