Every Day I am asked “What is a Short Sale?,” So I Thought I Would Talk About Them Here
If the value of your home is less than you owe on it and you need to sell your home for some pressing reason (maybe you lost your job, you need to relocate, are getting a divorce, can no longer afford your payments due to some change and cannot or do not want to do a loan modification, etc.), you are a potential candidate for a short sale. To sum it up very quickly and simply (I will detail the process more in a later blog post), a short sale is when mortgage lenders agree to accept less than they are owed to release a lien on a property. That is, they will let you sell a house for less than you own on it.
Who can do a short sale you may wonder…pretty much anyone can request to do a short sale with their lender if they owe more money on their home than its current market value. Most, but not all, lenders, will want you to write a hardship letter telling them why you need to do a short sale as some financial information and documents like W-2’s, pay stubs (if you have any, tax returns (if you have any), bank statements (if you have any), etc.
Even if you have NEVER missed a mortgage payment on your home OR if your home is ALREADY in foreclosure, short selling may still be an option for you. Don’t listen to inexperienced agents who tell you otherwise.
A short sale, if done in a timely manner and properly, can minimize the negative impact to your credit as well as potentially reduce the financial liabilities a poorly negotiated short sale or foreclosure will leave you with. That’s right, you may end up owing money if your short sale is not negotiated well or your home goes to foreclosure! So make sure you work with an experienced short sale specialist, not just a regular real estate agent, to make sure your transaction is handled properly and you are taken care of.
To learn more about Alternatives to Foreclosure, visit my free info website at http://RobinBirdTeam.com. There you can get a copy of my FREE Report entitled “9 Alternatives to Foreclosure” along with tons of other real estate information and reports. You can even see some of my listing and search the Active MLS just like Realtors do! Check out my site and let me know what you think!
I have been working full time as a REALTOR for about 7 years now with 90+% of my business coming from referrals. During the last 3 years, in addition to helping regular home buyers and sellers, I have been specializing in assisting people who are “upside down” on their mortgage(s) (that is, owe more money on heir home than it is worth) negotiate short sales with their lenders. I have spent thousands of dollars on short sale training and on-going coaching to make sure my skills remain cutting edge. To date, all of the short sales I have listed and negotiated have closed escrow! That is very unique because the typical agent will usually only successfully negotiate and close 1 or 2 out of 10 of their short sale listings; the remaining ones usually go to foreclosure.
Most agents are not familiar with the short sale process, do not like it because it is a lot of work & time, requires specialized training and experience, and hence, stay away from short sales. I LOVE SHORT SALES and I am happy to assist people with them in quite a wide area. In fact, just in the last few months, I have listed and closed short sales in Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Solano County, San Joaquin County, Santa Clara, and Sacramento County.
I even take referrals from other agents throughout California who have friends, family or clients who need to do a short sale on their home and they want to make sure the deal is done right! I sometimes even process short sales for other agents who want to list property and do not want to have the hassle of do allof the short sale related work. So, if you know California agents who avoid short sales, have them give me a call at 925-577-8692 and I will be happy to tell them about what I do and take great care of their clients. If you know an agent anywhere in the U.S. who may be interested in having my team process their short sales for them so they can spend their time listing more homes, have them give me a call so we can determine if we would be a good fit for one another!
If you or someone you know may be considering bankruptcy, foreclosure or possibly doing a short sale, check out my free information website at http://RobinBirdTeam.com for more information about the short sale process and some of the options to foreclosure and bankruptcy that are out there. Of course, folks are always welcome to pick up he phone and give me a call. Since I am on the phone a lot, you may be my voicemail, but unlike many agents, I do return calls!
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