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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
[ BY DAVID TINA ]
GLVAR TRYING TO GET
FANNIE MAE TO STOP STALLING
SHORT SALES
In the past few months, I’ve been hearing from
Members who say Fannie Mae is stalling short
sales all over town by rejecting seemingly fair
offers, requiring thousands of dollars over the
home’s appraised value.
Basically, this government-sponsored enterprise
that backs millions of mortgages across the
country seems to be holding back home sales
for some reason, rejecting offers from would-be
buyers who need a loan to buy the house at or
near the appraised value.
I’m hearing reports about Fannie Mae
responding to offers to buy a home at or near
its appraised value by asking upwards of
$40,000 more for the home than an appraiser
said it’s worth. And this is not just a local issue.
I’m hearing complaints from homeowners and
agents across the country.
In Arizona, where short sales make up a big
percentage of all local home sales like they
do here in Nevada, the Attorney General’s
office has reportedly been receiving numerous
complaints.
This situation may be inflating home prices. It
also seems to be discouraging traditional and
first-time home buyers – the very people I
thought Fannie Mae and similar governmentbacked
entity Freddie Mac are supposed to be
helping. For homeowners, this issue makes it
harder for them to purchase a property as part
of a short sale.
With short sales now accounting for nearly half
of all our local home sales, this is obviously
a concern to all of us. If not addressed, this
practice has the potential to hurt our local
economy and housing market.
I don’t have an immediate solution to this
problem, but I want to assure you that GLVAR’s
staff and Board are working on this issue. We
have been contacting Fannie Mae officials, NAR
staff and our state and federal government
leaders and urging them to convince Fannie
Mae to get back to accepting reasonable offers.
Some have suggested that this practice
may favor cash buyers and companies and
investment groups that are buying homes in
bulk to rent them or eventually sell them at a
profit as local home prices continue to increase.
I’m not sure why Fannie Mae is doing this, but
I think that we need to do whatever we can to
try to remedy this situation before it gets worse.
I’ll keep you posted on our progress.
As always, please contact me with any
comments or questions you may have. n
President David Tina can be reached by emailing
tinaelite@aol.com
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SOUTHERN NEVADA REALTOR ® FEBRUARY 2013 www.LasVegasRealtor.com