If you are in a financial bind and can no longer afford your mortgage payment, there is an alternative available to help protect your credit rating from a foreclosure proceeding. It’s called a short sale and it can be done when a mortgage lender agrees to take less money than the total amount owed them and releases their lien on the property to allow a sale to proceed. With a short sale you can sell you property even when you owe more to your lender than the property is worth in today’s market, and even if you are already behind on your payments. Most any type of property can be sold as a short sale. Principal residence, second or vacation homes, investment property, etc. are all possibilities.
Of course the trick is actually getting your mortgage holder to allow a short sale and to release you from any future liability for payment. Short sale negotiations can be extremely long and complicated. Large banks have historically been difficult and unreasonable to deal with regarding short sales, and this is why many real estate professionals have walked away from this type of transaction altogether. And worse, some homeowners have completed short sales only to find out later that the bank has not released them from liability and still expects payment on any remaining loan amount.
Most real estate agents do not have the experience, expertise, or legal know-how to fully protect a home seller in a short sale transaction, and I’m including myself in this group. This is why I sought out professional help for my short sale negotiations. I sell the house and let the pros deal with the banks. I’ve teamed up with a group that has successfully negotiated over 3000 short sales nationwide. My job is to find a buyer for your property and the negotiator’s job is to get the bank to agree to take less than they are owed, even after sales commission, taxes, and other sales expenses. The best part is, as a seller in a short sale transaction you do not pay a dime of sales commission or fees to the professional short sale negotiators.
Why do mortgage holders agree to take less? It’s because they’ve begun to realize they can make more money from a short sale than by pushing a property into foreclosure. Lower legal fees, properties with less damage, a quicker sale of the property, all of this benefits the bank. They can still be very difficult to deal with, but after numerous years of losing their shirts on foreclosures, banks are now more open to the short sale option.
A short sale can be a great option for homeowners in difficult financial circumstances, but it’s not a perfect solution and it’s not right for every homeowner in trouble.
My short sale partners have put together a homeowner information sheet which spells out the details of how our services work. I’m happy to e-mail a free copy of this report if you’d like to learn more about short sales. The report also covers alternatives to short sales, why lenders work with short sales, and the short sale process.
Just fill out the form below to receive your free report or you can always give me (Patrick) a call with any questions or to learn more.
