It seems that everyone knows someone who is facing losing their home to foreclosure. It can also be said that if you know somebody in foreclosure, the chances are someone has told them that a short sale as the strategy to unlock the foreclosure prison.
While short sales can help homeowners avoid losing their home to foreclosure, it is a very complicated process and one that should not be attempted by the inexperienced.
If you are a homeowner who is facing foreclosure, a short sale may might be for you. However you will need to be open, honest diligent, cooperative and you must comprehend that the following 5 tips are vital to your short sale being approved by the bank:
1. While you may be able in some instance to persuade a mortgage company to work with you, the intelligent homeowner knows that they may not be well versed in short sales and should let the those who are trained in the market handle the short sale. Whether an experienced real estate agent, title processor or attorney, make sure the person managing your short sale really is knowledgeable in regards to the short sale process.
2. Make sure you stay actively involved and you cooperate fully with the timely submission of forms and other paperwork as may be needed by the lender. This includes that you, not your agent or advisor, but YOU write a clear and compelling Hardship Letter. Having someone else write your hardship letter may be the reason that your short sale request will be turned down.
3. Make sure you know what you are getting into. The lender is going to demand a comprehensive short sale package and that will include a full financial package complete with bank accounts, tax returns and more. Your omission to give the bank this information most likely will get your short sale request turned down.
4. The bank made a loan to you and they have the right to collect. You have the responsibility to disclose your assets and to liquidate them to reduce what you owe them. You cant expect to take less while you are cruising around town in your Porsche. Thats just not right. You must be ready to demonstrate a reason you are unable to pay them back (i.e. show a hardship).
5. Make sure you dont dilly dally until its too late before you request a short sale. Most homeowners dont do anything or simply wait to long to act. No real estate agent or attorney is a magician. They need time to make the short sale work. If you want to save yourself from enduring a foreclosure on your home then you must act in timely fashion.
Short sales can take as long as 6 months to get accepted. These are just 5 simple strategies you can implement to give your short sale request the best chance for approval. This is not an easy process for lender or homeowner and your ongoing cooperation can mean the difference between a successful short sale or your home being sold at the Courthouse steps.
Whatever you do, take some action. If you want to try to effect a short sale on your own, some banks are now letting homeowners do just that. If you want to learn more about how short sales should be correctly completed please visit our short sale information resource center for videos and tips as to how to successfully complete a short sale.
By learning about the short sale process you will be better educated to talk about things with your lender and you’ll be more prepared to spot inadequacies and mistakes in the process with any real estate agent that you may choose to hire to represent you.
If you’re a real estate agent reading this, you too may want to visit our short sale resource center. It will help you learn how to properly execute short sales and generate higher commissions.