About Short Sales

When the value of your home is less than the amount that you owe on your loan, you should consider a short sale. For the sake of argument we’ll say that your home is worth 350,000 and you owe 360,000 then a short sale would be a good option to pursue. However, if you don’t have to immediately sell your home then you could always wait and see what happens in the real estate market.

If this is not the case then you have 3 options to choose from. One, is to bring money to the table. Say you sell your home for a $10,000 deficit, you would have to come up with that money immediately for the bank. The second choice is to let you property go into foreclosure. Your bank will foreclose on your home and evict you from the premises. They will sell your home to highest bidder at a foreclosure or Trustee’s auction. Your third choice is to pursue a short sale. A short sale involves contacting a specialist who will negotiate with the lender on your behalf. The specialist will explain your situation and ask the bank to take less than the value of your home for payment.

In a case where you have a buyer for 240,000 and your loan is for 250,000, you would then explain to the bank that there aren’t any buyers willing to pay a higher price. You can continue with a short sale when the lender agrees to the lower amount. Sometimes the lender will consider a short sale before you have a buyer and you can market your property and, if you find a buyer, take their offer to the lender for consideration.

One of the great things about a short sale is that they are not complicated, but there is some effort involved on behalf of you and your short sales specialist.

You have to find the exact value you property is worth in this market. Market analysis is key to finding out what your property is going to sell for. Your real estate agent, or short sale specialist will complete this on your behalf. You can also use the Internet to help you in this process, there are many real estate sites that you can compare listings to help you determine the value of your home. Keep in mind that the market is fluid, meaning that it constantly adjusts based on many factors. The price you can advertise for today may be different in a month for now.

You must also figure out how much it will cost to close. Items such as a title report, escrow, appraisal, attorney fees, agent commissions, unpaid property taxes etc. may add up to a substantial amount of money.

You will need to be aware of how much you have left to pay on your home, include all loans in this calculation.

Calculate your equity. In a normal case closing costs and loans will add up to less than the value of your home. When the opposite is true you can then pursue a short sale.

Your short sales specialist will be talking to someone in authority at your bank who is required to make these decisions. The loss mitigation department is usually who you will go through. Lenders do not have to accept your short sale, but most of the time they do because it is in their best interest. Some banks will not take a short sale unless you are behind on your monthly installments. You’ll need to know where your lender stands with regard to short sales so contact them as soon as possible.

Understand where you stand with taxes. Do not underestimate this! Many times there can be a substantial tax obligation after a short sale has occurred. Make sure you talk to your accountant or short sales specialist to calculate your tax before going with a short sale.

Creative Financing Option?

While Alan was a special guest on my “Investing with the Stars” I had to give you the heads up all about it. For more on my Series of Experts go to www.investingwiththestars.net/season3.

One strategy is Wholesaling houses and this has proven to be a quick money spinner for people in the real estate investing market. People all over the world are using creative financing to buy properties and then selling them quickly to make a large profit within the space of a couple of days. The great thing about creative financing is that you rarely need to put in a lot of your own money to buy a house, and you can quickly build up your income through wholesaling.

The best way to fund your deals is from private lenders, not the banks! Real estate investing has become a reality for thousands of people with little or no money. Imagine being able to buy a house for little or none of your own money and then selling it on to make a profit. This is exactly what having a private money lenders can do for you. This is a easier way to do real estate investing.

In order to find private lenders, all you need to do is a little bit of research to find people that are willing to lend you money and get a higher percentage than the bank’s will give to them.

You will have to put very little money down to purchase the home, and then you sell it on for a higher price and make an instant profit. Wholesaling houses has helped people to make money quickly and easily, and is a great way to start real estate investing. For more information on this go to: www.investingwiththestars.net/alan.htm

The short sale process is long and difficult. The homeowner is in a situation where their mortgage value is higher than that of their home – the short sale definition. Most of the time homeowners comes very close to foreclosing before admitting that the time has come to begin the short sale process.

There is no short sale without an agreement with the lender. It is an agreement between both the lender and the borrower and is a transaction that contains many complex factors and considerations. Most important for the borrower is that there will be no foreclosure awaiting them on the other side of the short sale process.

The two parties agree to the short sale, and then to all of its minute detail. They must agree to many things such as unpaid property taxes, the selling price of the home, the purchase agreement, the payment of the various legal fees, and the amount of the debt to be forgiven. It is extremely important to have professional assistance. Do NOT attempt the short sale process with professional help.

The homeowner will be required by the lender to complete a “hardship letter” which will document every aspect of the owner’s financial trouble. The facts given will be documented by bank statements, pay stubs, and investment documents. This is how the bank will verify the events leading up to the borrower’s inability to pay.

It is at the next stage that the lender appraises the value of the home through real estate professionals. The whole short sale process is used primarily by the lenders to undertake minimal losses. For this reason, it is vital that the lender appraise the home properly – so that the bank can get back as much of its money as possible.

If the home is sold in accordance with the agreement – then the money will be used to settle the debt. The bank is not obligated to wait any longer than they agreed to wait in the contract. They can legally proceed with foreclosure if it is not sold by the date agreed to in the contract. These issues will be clearly stated in the agreement.

If handled correctly – with professional assistance, your credit does not necessarily have to be damaged. There are many complex issues involved in the short sale process, and many people have missed deadlines dealing directly with issues relating to credit. For these reasons their credit rating was damaged. Some people have other areas of financial responsibility tangled up in their current problems and for this reason end up with damaged credit. The point is that damaged credit is not a foregone conclusion. If we follow the instruction of the experts advising us, our credit rating may well be saved..

Our goal is to pass through the short sale process and come out with the least amount of damage possible. If we do it correctly, we could come out with no property taxes, credit rating in tact, all of our fees paid, and neither bankruptcy nor foreclosure! This will be our reward – we may lose our home, but we’ll be in a great position to buy another.