Colleen Kelleher, wtop.com

SOUTH BETHANY, Del. – One trend one Southern Delaware realtor says he’s seeing is unnecessary short sales.

“What’s actually more of a trend is people are going in to short sales without really having to,” says Long & Foster realtor Orvin Strickler, who specializes in sales in Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island.

“There’s conflict between the value of the property at today’s rate compared to what people paid for it, and people are just uneasy with that, and they’re actually just not making payments based on that. They think that their property is upside down, instead of waiting it out.”

Strickler doesn’t think what’s happening is a panic.

“It’s more of a trend. Everybody seems to be buying that pet rock, you know. Everybody is doing the same thing.”

Strickler handled his first short sale at the Sea Colony in Bethany Beach in 2005.

“Then you started to see this trend begin, and then there was a burst of them. Now it’s kind of leveled off here,” he says.

Unlike Ocean City, which is seeing an uptick in foreclosures, Southern Delaware’s beaches aren’t seeing as many, mainly because there are far fewer properties in Delaware.

Sellers, Strickler says, may not be looking at the long-term when it comes to their vacation home investment. In some cases, he says, owners are borrowing against the equity in their vacation homes to pay for weddings or college for their children.

“They’re looking at the here and now,” he says.

“You’ve really got to look for the long term. You have to hold on to your property.”

Intern Darrian D’Olio assisted with transcribing interviews.

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