Over the past year and a half, the Short Sale has begun to dominate real estate markets across the nation.
A homeowner is upside down in their mortgage, can’t sell the home to cover what they owe the bank (or banks in many cases), loses a job, goes through a divorce, an interest rate adjusts, etc., and voila, the homeowner starts missing payments.
What now?
Loan Modification? Sorry folks, loan mods have become quite the sham…just ask your local Department of Real Estate how many companies, claiming to be loan modification specialists, they’ve shut down due to erroneous success rates. And then ask the thousands of homeowners, who paid those companies thousands of dollars upfront to accomplish the task, what they received in return, and then ask them if they got their money back.
Nope.
Why don’t lenders want to grant Loan Modifications? Because statistics show, of the Loan Modifications that actually were granted way back when our economy began to crumble, the homeowner ended up back in default within 6 months, and the bank ended up foreclosing anyway.
So, what now?
Most people turn to the Short Sale, requesting their lender(s) to approve the sale of their property for less than what they owe, and before the bank forecloses. In today’s market, this practice has evolved into a much more successful process. Most lenders have dedicated teams, and systems, to assist in the Short Sale process, and some have even become fairly proficient at approving them.
In the past, the Short Sale process could take 6 months, and beyond. Most, these days, take less than 6 months, and some lenders are turning them out in less than 2 months. A big change from the Short Sale process of 2009.
All this success sounds great, right? A Short Sale should be a slam dunk, yes?…Well, no, not really. In almost every case, a homeowner has to show the lender that continuing to pay the mortgage(s), is an undue financial hardship, and the bank will make the homeowner jump through several hoops to get it done. That being said, unlike the Loan Modification, the hoops can lead to the desired outcome.
If a homeowner is in trouble, like so many are, they shouldn’t screw around waiting for a savior to come to their rescue, praying for thousands of dollars of mortgage debt to miraculously vanish…ain’t gonna happen. They also shouldn’t wait until the “Notice of Sale” posts on their door, to decide what to do. A Short Sale is the best bet for most homeowners in hardship, period.
If what I’ve been talking about pertains to you, find your local Short Sale Agent, schedule an appointment, and find out what they can do for you. Oh, and by the way, a Short Sale is a very complex transaction, and not every real estate agent, is a Short Sale Agent. So, your friend’s cousin’s brother-in-law’s little sister, who is a school teacher, but likes to dabble as a REALTOR, is not the person you need representing your interests when your future is on the line. Search your area online, or go to your local Association of REALTORS…chances are, you’ll find the person who can really help you.
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