About Short Sales

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Posts Tagged ‘selling your home’

How Qualified Is Your Real Estate Agent?

Thursday, December 24th, 2009

Having a good real estate agent can make sure that you are getting the most out of your property experience. Unfortunately, not all real estate agents out there have the qualifications that you might need or may be seeking. to find the best and right real estate agent which will suit your requirements in the property market, you may take some factors into consideration before you choose a real estate that would represent you.

Before anything else, you should generally remember that a real estate agent is the same as a salesman in a way that he is making an attempt to sell someone a house. The agent may be working for either a buyer or a seller, dependent on what purpose she was hired for. Nonetheless, their main mission is still to sell. It is critical that you look for real estate agents that have the capability to sell any real estate property. This can help put you at ease knowing the real estate agent that you have chosen can do their job well, thereby increasing the quantity of confidence and trust that you have for her or him.

It also helps if you can determine what the real estate agent?s area of experience is. Since some real estate agents are far more specialized and have more knowledge about certain areas, you must ensure that the real estate agent that you are choosing is knowledgeable and talented enough in the particular area that you might need her or him for. If an agent has been living in the area that where your real estate is found, then it can seriously help in how he or she markets and sells the property to other potential buyers since he or she is acquainted with the area, and knows a little something about it.

A good real estate agent is also very accessible and should always be freely available to his or her customer. In this way, the agent can ensure that she or he is able to address any queries or Problems the client might have regarding the real estate properties that he or she is planning on selling or buying. There’s nothing worse than a real estate agent that is very inaccessible. Any good real estate agent should be there for his or her customer, just so she can ensure that the customer gets the best result from the whole real estate experience.

Any good real estate agent should additionally be experienced, but also should be educated. This will help make sure that your real estate agent is able to handle your account without issues and with high competence. You would rather have your account be handled by someone who has a college degree and has plenty of experience in the entire real estate process, versus a high school drop out who has little to no sales yet. You need your real estate agent to take control of the whole process, which is why he or she should be very competent and talented in the problem to make sure that your best interest is not overlooked.

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The Secret Short Sales Letter

Friday, September 25th, 2009

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.

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