by Calculated Risk on 3/14/2007 12:59:00 PM

I spoke with one of the top agents in San Diego last night. The housing market there is "tough". Short sales and REOs are becoming more common.

My friend told me one story of some clients that had recently moved out of state and needed to sell their condo. The clients had purchased the condo two years ago, and were able to sell for not too much less than their purchase price. Unfortunately the loan amount owed was more than the sale price.

Since the seller had a good income, solid credit, and was making the payments, the bank wouldn't agree to a short sale. So it really hurt when the escrow company (for real estate transactions in California, the money is handled by an escrow company) called and said "Bring money to the closing". The seller had to write a check for $20K.

That was two months ago. Since then no more units have sold in that complex, and some sellers are now listing comparable units for another $20K less than her client's sale price. Today her clients would have to bring $40K or more to closing, if they were lucky enough to find a buyer.