When All Else Fails: 3 Good Reasons To Do A Short Sale

The foreclosure crisis isn’t over, by any means. The face of it has changed dramatically, however. Much (almost half) of the current inventory that’s for sale are what we call short sales. These are people who have given up on trying to stay in their homes. Most of them now are not in that position because they bought at the top of the market. They’re about to lose their homes because of job lay-offs or the effect on the economy on them.

If there’s any chance of staying in the home, then every effort should be taken to do so. If you or someone you know is in trouble, their first effort should be to try to stay in the house. Hope Now was instituted a year ago, but is really just gearing up now.

Here’s a much easier opportunity to try to work something out. A 2 day Hope Now event at the Aliante Station Casino, today and tomorrow.

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When all efforts to modify or buy more time have been exhausted, then the lender will probably want you to try to “Short Sale” it. That means finding a buyer at current prices, and having the lender accept less than what they’re owed.

There’s three good reasons to Short Sale Your Home.

First, the hit to the credit of the homeowner is much less severe than the credit score hit for a foreclosure or bankruptcy.

Second: The bank doesn’t want the property back. They’ll get more of the original principal back (and get it back sooner) than they’ll get if the bank has to be the seller after the foreclosure sale.

Third: It’s more likely that the seller will sell to a qualified, owner occupied buyer. Hopefully the new buyer will live in the home instead of renting it out; they’ll water the lawn and trees; they’ll paint and fix up; and they’ll generally help to bring back the look of the neighborhood.

I’ve been listing and selling and closing short sales all this year. The banks are cooperating. Most of the deals are actually closing now. A year ago, the banks weren’t cooperating and the deals weren’t closing and we were avoiding short sales like the plague. But things are different now. 

If you or someone you know has gotten to the stage of needing to short sale their home, please give me a call or send me an email. I’m here to help.