'Cash is king' in market for foreclosed homes [View All]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

As an aspiring first-time home buyer, Jay Nielsen hoped to find a cheap, bank-held foreclosure in Vallejo that he could finance with a Federal Housing Administration mortgage. What he didn't expect was having to compete with buyers willing to pay in all cash.

"Since January, I've put in 10 bids (on foreclosed homes); some were up to $80,000 over asking price and were still turned down," said Nielsen, 41, a medical assistant. Each time, the banks selected offers from investors with all-cash offers - even when those offers were lower than his, Nielsen said.

"Cash is king right now," said Glen Bell of Keller Williams Realty in Berkeley. For foreclosed homes, "a cash offer that hits the target price will many times trump a higher-priced offer with a loan. The ability to close has become just as important to banks as price. The prospect of a property being tied up longer, still on their books and then falling out is costly."

Cash offers close escrow quickly and easily, while offers with a mortgage now often take 45 days or longer to close and can fall through if the financing hits any snags.

The result is that average consumers say they are being shut out because they can't compete against deep-pocketed investors snapping up homes to rent out or flip. The situation could have long-term repercussions as neighborhoods shift toward more heavily rental, and it has frustrated many who hoped that low interest rates and increased affordability would let them gain a toehold in the market.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/22/MNTO197NHM.DTL