VENTURA COUNTY, CA - -Stating that some 50 percent of the housing market today involves distressed properties – increasingly short sales -- and that the condition will persist for two more years, Troop Real Estate, Inc. announces that another 80 of its agents recently completed the Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) course to help meet this demand.
Brian Troop, president of Troop Real Estate, Ventura County’s largest independent brokerage, reports that the newly certified agents, who completed a two-day course in Westlake Village, join the growing ranks of the company’s agents expert is short sales.
“Because of the ongoing dominance of distressed properties in the marketplace, achieving the CDPE designation is critical to providing the kind of focused counsel our clients need today, particularly in the short sale sector, as well as REOs. Underlining this is that most major lenders have recently shifted their focus and staff from their REO divisions to their short sale divisions. This means lenders have determined that their losses on short sales are far less than they are in foreclosures,” Troop said.
He added that lenders have become more aggressive in getting short sales approved quickly. “This is welcome news for consumers,” Troop said.
Bolstering this, he added, is Fannie Mae’s recent change in their rules requiring lenders to afford sellers speedier responses to their short sale requests. He noted that based on the Fannie Mae requirement, lenders have to give sellers a yes or no answer, or a counter offer within 60 days.
“Additionally, many lenders have initiated a new program whereby they are actually contacting homeowners who are behind in their payments and advising them of a short sale opportunity. Many are even offering sellers $2500 to $30,000 as a ‘cash for keys’ incentive at the completion of a short sale. These initiatives should help clean out these distressed properties much quicker,” Troop said.
He reported that the 80 new CDPE agents for Troop received intense instruction on the subject of short sales during the Westlake Village course as presented by Aaron Lewis, a certified CDPE instructor. “A large percentage of our company’s agents are now strategically positioned with specific short sale knowledge to satisfy today’s market conditions,” Troop said.
Short sales involve properties where the house is worth less than the amount remaining on the mortgage, and where the lender is accepting less than the total amount due.
About Troop Real Estate, Inc.
Established in 1987, Troop Real Estate, Inc. is reportedly Ventura County’s largest brokerage and has perennially been a leader in the county’s residential market for the number and dollar volume of listings sold. The company, with approximately 650 seasoned sales professionals, provides the full range of residential, property management, REO, commercial, financial, new homes, escrow, estate homes and relocation services.
Troop offices are located in Simi Valley, Simi/Wood Ranch, Simi (Commercial), Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Moorpark, Camarillo, Channel Islands, Ventura, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Ojai, San Diego and Santa Clarita.