Short Sales and Electronic Signatures

I was so excited to see electronic signatures become acceptable in Georgia. In the comfort of my home I can fill out contracts, email them to clients for signatures, and have them returned to me via email. NO MORE PAPER! Now lets talk short sales. I happily sent two separate banks two purchase and sale agreements. What lending institution would not be happy to receive an offer on their distressed property? In both cases the bank rejected the offers because of the purchase and sale agreements. They would not accept electronic signatures! If we wanted to use these contracts we would have to fill out additional paperwork that required regular signatures! I was back to paper! So much for a good idea.

It's Ground Hog Day

I was watching Ground Hog Day over the weekend with my son. This was the movie with Bill Murray where he went to Punxsutawney PA, as a newscaster, to report on Ground Hog Day. He ends up repeating the same day over and over in the town until eventually the cycle is broken. (I do not explain movies very well!) Ground Hog Day would be the perfect theme for a lot of clients I am dealing with in North Georgia. The Atlanta area had a good year last year. Reports of a 1 to 2% price increase, lower inventory, and new construction. That is great news for an area that went down approximately 30% after the market peaked in 2005! Unfortunately we have sellers who had bought their home at the peak of the market. They also put additional money into their home as upgrades. Our sellers are under the impression that the market has turned around to the point that they can receive a higher amount for their home. The reality is that when a market goes down 30% and has since gone up 2%, we have a long way to go. In other words it is Ground Hog Day: Bill Murray has woken up in bed to the same Atlanta housing market he saw last year. Bottom line: Yes our market is doing better but it is not back to the 2005 levels. Our sellers need to take this into account when they decide to sell their home.