Ro Troia

What You Need To Know About A Short Sale

What is it when a seller’s lender agrees to accept a lower amount for a property than is owed? 

Yes…a short sale. 

This is big real estate news in Boulder Colorado and throughout the country.  If the owner of a home has an outstanding loan/lien that is greater than the value of the home and they are in financial distress (late on mortgage payments), then a short sale is an option other than foreclosure.  Click here to read all about  it.

What you should know…

Finding a Realtor, like the Troia Team, who specializes in the short sale process is crucial.    A short sale is not the best option for everyone.  Also, there is a stack of required documentation and forms, such as the financial hardship letter and financial statement, from the lender.  Realtors should be certified in listing short sales (as we are) because it can be complex as well as emotional.

Getting an answer from the bank can take awhile depending on who the lender is and how far along they are in the process.  Sometimes they will hold several offers for months, then say no (this would be a worse case scenario).  Usually, you’ll get an answer between 2 weeks to 3 months.  The bailout may help this as the government tries to help homes from going to foreclosure.  It will help accommodate the short sale process and time-lines will be faster.

Short sale homes are usually sold as is.  The home may be partially remodelled, then left incomplete due to the financial nature of the situation.  Inspection items are usually not addressed by the bank and many fees like title insurance are paid by the buyer.

Do you meet any qualifications for a short sale?  These include:

1.  Can’t get your home sold in the current market because the mortgage balance is greater than the market value of your home.

2. You are behind on your mortgage payment and facing default or foreclosure.  You know that you can’t afford your mortgage any longer.

3. Facing financial hardship such as job loss, death or illness in the family, need to relocate, divorce, and/or inquiring more bills.

4. Are you depleting your savings to pay your mortgage?

5. Is selling your home an absolute necessity?!?!

Most of the time, a lender would rather short sale than go to foreclosure and the government is now on board.  Call us today to get the support you need and the expertise of short sale listing agents.  We can help.

Tags: Tags: bailout, financial hardship, government, lien, market, owner, real estate, real estate news, realtor, seller, short sale

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 11:36 am and is filed under Buyer's Corner, Market Conditions, REO and HUD Talk, Selling Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Email (will not be published) (required)

Website