Short Sale Help
If you find yourself falling behind on your mortgage payments because of the poor economy, health problems, or other reasons, you are in the same boat with hundreds of thousands of other home owners across the country. There is no reason to panic, but you do need to take fast action to prevent a foreclosure. After only three months of missed payments, your lender has the right to start foreclosure proceedings. The end result of a foreclosure would be your being evicted from your home with a totally wrecked credit report. Having a foreclosure on your record could also prevent you from working for many employers.
You should immediately contact your lender to try for a loan modification. If this fails, and you feel you will not be able to catch up on payments, you may need to quickly consider "short selling" the home. A short sale is a sale in which the lender agrees to accept less than the amount that is owed on the home.
In our area, dozens of homes are being sold every month as short sales. In most cases, the owners are walking away from large amounts of debt and are able to start over, without this large debt on their shoulders. Owners who are able to short sell are able to purchase homes again after two years, assuming that their credit is good otherwise.
Although short selling a home is a complicated process that typically takes three to six months to complete after a purchase agreement (contract) is signed by a buyer and seller and submitted to the lender for approval, most of the work is done by a real estate professional (like me) and by a paralegal (on our staff) who negotiates the contract with the lender.
The responsibility of a homeowner who needs to short sale is simply to cooperate with their listing agent to get the home on the market and sold to a buyer. Then the homeowner has to complete all financial information requested by the lender (short sale package.) Once the home is under contract, the home owner typically has three to six months to plan their move before the closing happens. There is no cost to a homeowner who needs to short sell.
Although owners who short sell do not receive any money from the sale, in some cases, they are given $3,000 for moving expenses. Typically they are very relieved to be rid of the debt, the phone calls and collection letters. Clients we have worked with recently are extremely happy to have the short sale behind them and to be able to move forward with their lives.
If you are in this situation, do not put off taking action. Call us right away with any questions you have. We will be happy to meet with you in the privacy of your home or in our office at your convenience.
