Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Food for Thought


A Cape Cod real estate company has resouces and FAQ's about short sales on their home page. If the very first page you see when you go to their website includes this information, it must be very prevelant in the region. A short sale is when the bank is accepting less than the total amount due on the mortgage. I realize there are tax implications for the buyer in these transactions and i believe it can be considered income if the sale is below market value. But does it make sense for Towns to scoop up some of these short sales using federal and local funding and rent or sell them to moderate-income households? In Massachusetts, where most of the 352 towns have not hit their magic 10% affordability number, they are seeking alternative ways to reach that 10% threshold while not relying on Chatper 40B developments. I wonder if this deserves some additional thought.

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