Salvation at last for Greater Boston home sellers?
OK, salvation may be too strong. But if you are trying to unload your home in the worst market in decades, the seas are briefly parting before you.
Hundreds if not thousands of foreclosures across the Bay State have been thrown into question by last week's landmark decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
The court's ruling on the Ibanez case throws into question whether banks can push ahead with foreclosures if they can't definitely prove they hold the mortgages in question.
This is key, for it goes to the heart of a practice popular during the bubble years in which mortgages were bundled together and sold as securities on Wall Street.
It doesn't take much imagination to envision the mess ahead, with the threat of lawsuits by former homeowners who were booted through foreclosure clouding titles to properties across the state.
For smart sellers, here's a chance to aggressively challenge comps that include local foreclosures. For that matter, short sales haven't been going so swimmingly either. Sure, maybe you can get that Colonial for $200,000 - that is if you are willing to hang in there for months and risk the bank saying no at the last minute.
It's time for sellers to get tough and turn the tables when it comes to marketing their homes. If you have been paying your mortgage and you don't have to do a short sale, you have an advantage in the current market. Play it to the hilt.
Still, the waters won't stay parted forever. Banks are already starting to work through the robo-signing mess - some lenders are already ramping up the auctions and filings.
But the recent SJC ruling here in Massachusetts could further delay a return to business as usual. It might even help make buying a foreclosed home seem risky again.
Sellers, it's time to get tough and get moving.
