After years of near-absence, short sales and foreclosures are beginning to reappear in pockets across Florida. Jennifer Rountree, team lead and real estate agent at True Grove, brokered by eXp Realty, says the uptick is not yet at crisis levels, but it is concentrated enough to warrant attention from agents, investors, and homeowners who may be approaching financial distress without knowing their options. Rountree holds a short sale and foreclosure designation and has been actively closing distressed transactions in recent months.
The timing matters. During the pandemic years, forbearance programs, rapid equity appreciation, and strong demand effectively suppressed distressed inventory. As those tailwinds fade and some borrowers face affordability pressure from elevated insurance costs, higher property taxes, and adjustable-rate mortgage resets, the conditions for distressed activity to expand are in place, even if current numbers remain modest.
A Quiet Spike, Not a Wave
Rountree frames what she is seeing as a directional shift rather than a market-wide deterioration. “I wouldn’t say a rise, but I would say a spike, a little bit of a spike with short sales and with foreclosures,” she says. Her team recently closed a short sale in Port Charlotte and currently has two additional short sale listings active in neighboring counties.
The distinction between a spike and a wave matters. A spike suggests localized stress, specific price points, specific geographies, specific borrower profiles, rather than systemic collapse. But Rountree argues that even a modest increase in distressed activity deserves more attention than it is currently receiving, both from agents who may lack the skills to navigate these transactions and from homeowners who may not realize they have options before a situation becomes unmanageable.
Why Most Agents Are Unprepared
The operational demands of distressed transactions are fundamentally different from conventional sales. Short sales and foreclosures involve negotiations with the company managing the mortgage, extended timelines, the specific procedures banks use to manage and sell properties they’ve taken back through foreclosure, and documentation complexity that most agents who entered the business after 2015 have never encountered.
Rountree’s designation in this area has become increasingly relevant as distressed listings reappear. Her team helps homeowners understand lender timelines, navigate mortgage servicer negotiations, and avoid outcomes like a court order requiring the seller to pay the difference between what the home sold for and what they still owed on the mortgage, or missed deadlines. “We are just here for any homeowner that would want to use the team or use our expertise so that we can navigate that with them and so that they feel like they’re not alone,” she says.
The competency gap is a real structural issue. A generation of Florida agents built their practices entirely in a market defined by low inventory, multiple offers, and rapid appreciation. The skills required to counsel a homeowner through a short sale are not part of standard licensing education and are rarely developed without deliberate pursuit of additional training.
For homeowners approaching distress, working with an agent who lacks this background can result in missed deadlines, failed negotiations, and materially worse outcomes than what an experienced practitioner could achieve.
What is Distressed Inventory?
The return of short sales and foreclosures has consequences beyond the sellers involved. More below-market listings entering the pipeline could provide some relief in areas where conventional inventory remains expensive, giving buyers access to properties that would otherwise be out of reach. Rountree’s team recently closed a short sale in Port Charlotte, where the buyer acquired a second home at a favorable price while the seller exited a situation that had become unsustainable.
For investors, distressed properties can represent entry points in markets where conventional prices remain elevated. Rountree points to Clay County, Putnam County, and Keystone Heights, a rural area roughly midway between Jacksonville and Gainesville, as places where land and distressed residential properties may offer value for buyers willing to navigate the additional complexity.
Whether the current spike remains contained or develops into something more significant will depend on interest-rate trajectories, insurance-market conditions, and the pace of demand in Florida’s secondary markets. For now, the reappearance of distressed transactions signals that agents and homeowners alike may need to reacquaint themselves with a part of the market that has been largely dormant since the last cycle.
About the Expert: Jennifer Rountree is Team Lead at True Grove, brokered by eXp Realty, operating across approximately 27 counties in Northeast and Central Florida from a base in Green Cove Springs. She holds a short sale and foreclosure designation.
This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or investment advice. The views and opinions expressed herein reflect those of the individuals quoted and do not represent an endorsement of any company, product, or service mentioned. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and consult qualified professionals before making any investment decisions.