REAL ESTATE
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Newport Beach’s FRE.com: for luxury homes that Must Sell
The online auction site, a subsidiary of LFC, debuts a new tool for selling million dollar-plus properties.
By Susan BelknappPublished: August 31, 2009 10:16 PM
The housing collapse has become a tale of two markets, each with a different storyline. Sales of moderately priced homes are increasing in many markets throughout the country, while the high-end residential market remains stagnant and over-saturated.
At the current selling pace, the inventory of unsold high-end homes is enough to last well over a year. And it is not improving. Defaults on jumbo mortgages are the fastest-rising category among all mortgage types, and many affluent homeowners find themselves in need of a short sale, a negotiated sale between the lender and the homeowner in which the former agrees to accept less than the unpaid loan amount as an alternative to foreclosure.
To facilitate this, the LFC Group of Companies created its Must Sell program for its residential auction Web site FRE.com. Must Sell is targeted at high-end homeowners who can no longer afford to wait for the stubborn market’s turnaround. The program combines short-sale expertise with an established online auction model in order to generate quick sales at maximum value.
“We developed the Must Sell program after months of market research and conversations with lending institutions and luxury brokerages,” says Joe Rybus, executive vice president, Residential Resales for LFC. “We understand the difficulties agents are facing. We are not a threat to real estate brokers. This program is a tool to get deals done.”
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6 O.C. ZIPs rank among Forbes' 100 most costly
Three O.C. properties named among Top 10 Coolest Beach Homes
O.C.'s median home price falls 7 percent from July '08
'OC METRO Minute,' Aug. 25: Home prices are not appreciating
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The housing collapse has become a tale of two markets, each with a different storyline. Sales of moderately priced homes are increasing in many markets throughout the country, while the high-end residential market remains stagnant and over-saturated. At the current selling pace, the inventory of unsold high-end homes is enough to last well over a year. And it is not improving. Defaults on jumbo mortgages are the fastest-rising category among all mortgage types, and many affluent homeowners find themselves in need of a short sale, a negotiated sale between the lender and the homeowner in which the former agrees to accept less than the unpaid loan amount as an alternative to foreclosure. To facilitate this, the LFC Group of Companies created its Must Sell program for its residential auction Web site FRE.com. Must Sell is targeted at high-end homeowners who can no longer afford to wait for the stubborn market’s turnaround. The program combines short-sale expertise with an established online auction model in order to generate quick sales at maximum value.“We developed the Must Sell program after months of market research and conversations with lending institutions and luxury brokerages,” says Joe Rybus, executive vice president, Residential Resales for LFC. “We understand the difficulties agents are facing. We are not a threat to real estate brokers. This program is a tool to get deals done.” NEXT PAGE >> Related headlines 6 O.C. ZIPs rank among Forbes' 100 most costly Three O.C. properties named among Top 10 Coolest Beach Homes O.C.'s median home price falls 7 percent from July '08 'OC METRO Minute,' Aug. 25: Home prices are not appreciating |
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