About Short Sales

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.

A bank short sale is not the only choice we have to avoid foreclosure – but it is definitely better than some of the other possibilities. If a homeowner is already in this situation, they are already dealing with intense financial anxiety from every angle. If approved for a bank short sale, much of this stress will be alleviated because they’ll be in a great position to purchase another home.

It is extremely difficult for us as homeowners to accept the fact that our home may be lost, but if it’s going to happen, avoiding foreclosure is the highest priority. It’s important for us to understand clearly that a short sale is not the”only” way out, but it may be the “best” way out. If we foreclose, the lender can sue us, garnish our wages, put a lien on other property, and hound us for years. All this in addition to the destruction of our credit rating. With a bank short sale – if handled correctly, we’re making an agreement with our lenders beforehand to settle most of these issues now.

A bank short sale can cause high levels of stress and anxiety. It’s easy to feel overpowered by all of the accountants, tax issues, lawyers, forms, legal jargon, and phone calls. This is not even considering the financial difficulties we’re experiencing in other areas. It is in this situation that we must not forget that all parties involved in our short sale are trying to get as much money as they can. They may make surprise requests in the final weeks/days. Prepare yourself for this possibility – don’t be bullied.

These last second surprises can be avoided if we seek expert advice from the outset. We don’t want to attempt a bank short sale without expert assistance of some kind – and should not procrastinate in acquiring it. Throughout the process we’ll deal with complex issues of property taxes, our loan, and real estate. We’ll need an expert in each of these areas. If you look in your area you should be able to find services that provide you with the expert assistance of qualified accountants, lawyers, and real estate agents – who will be paid by your lender. As with any type of service you need to exercise discretion in order to get the best assistance available.

A bank is losing money with a short sale and are not necessarily enthusiastic about doing them. They avoid a foreclosure – yes, but their attitude is not to be considered enthusiastic. They can be difficult to deal with at times because they’re trying to get back as much money as they can. For this reason they might not always move as fast as we want – although we know they can. Patience is a valued virtue here – so practice it and keep cool. If you’ve ever had to work with the government you know exactly what dealing with these banks will be like.

The entire short sale process is strenuous and all parties may not agree on every issue – but if we can tough it out, we’ll be the winners in the end. We’ll be successful if we avoid foreclosure and bankruptcy, get our debt forgiven, and come out without any unpaid property taxes. This is why a bank short sale is such a sweet deal. It won’t be perfect, but at least we’ll be in a position to buy another home. Completing a short sale puts us in the best position for the future. No, a bank short sale may not be the only way out, but it is one of the better options!

Anthony Mauwer’s free advice has helped many distressed homeowners successfully complete a bank short sale. Be sure to check out his short sale blog for excellent tips and free advice on how the bank short sale can work for you.

Hawaii has always been known as a tropical island paradise, a dream vacation, with it’s perfect weather, white, sandy beaches and warm, loving people. But what about our real estate market? As those of us who live here know, the late 80′s were an interesting time. Suitcases of money, hand-delivered by Japanese business men, smelling deals.

All of a sudden, all that glitters was gold in Hawaii…..Homes were purchased as regularly as sipping water. Loans were made to anyone who could fog a mirror. Home owners were stripping the equity out of their homes just for the heck of it and spending it on fruitless items and activities.

Much like the waves that coming crashing on our shore, so did our real estate market. Now the tide is sucking back out to sea. Home owners are baffled on how to sell their property in this economy. People that actually want to buy Hawaii property can barely qualify to get a standard loan, if at all. Most Hawaii home owners owe more on their mortgage than their property is worth, or at least, have no equity left in their property in this market.

The real question is, what is the best way to sell our Hawaii house in the current market, with a Realtor right? The answer is usually NO. 99% of Hawaii Realtors lack the creativity to get the job done right. Most are one dimensional thinkers and are not interested in the home owners best interest. Most just list a property and continue to tell the home owner to keep dropping the price hoping it sells.

Several Hawaii home owners actually are over leveraged. This means, they owe more on their mortgage than the house is currently worth in our market. The only way to sell a property in this situation is to pay the mortgage company extra money just to sell the house to a new buyer at an already discounted price. Stupid, right?

In this economy, even the banks, as we have seen in the news, are feeling the effects of the recession. Since several Hawaii home owners are in difficult situations, they are asking the banks to accept a short sale. This is where the bank will take a payoff of less than what is currently owed on the mortgage.

If no offer comes in on their property and the home owner has only one loan in place, they may wish to consider a deed in lieu of foreclosure. Be warned that both of these exit strategies will affect their personal credit to a degree. Also, they will need to consult with a professional that has at least 7-10 years experience in this field rather than some wanna-be investor hoping to make a quick buck.

There is no better exit strategy for Hawaii home owners right now that to offer owner financing to new buyers. Again, you will want to consult a local Hawaii professional, that has experience with this, so that you do it right the first time and avoid legal issues down the road.

For example, a mortgage take over program might be an option. This is where a new buyer can come in and actually begin making the monthly mortgage payments. This would immediately alleviate the pressure from the home owner and slide a new buyer into the property at the same time, thus creating a win-win situation. Again, please consult a professional company like IBuyHousesHawaii.com before making any decisions.

All of America, including our Aloha State has been rocked by the current economy. If you need to sell your property and you do not want to wait 6-months to get it done by repeatedly dropping the sales price. In many situations using a Realtor is counter productive to actually selling the house and will get the home owner in more financial difficulty than before. This actually happened to me with a large national company with offices here in Hawaii. Never again.