You might not be familiar with the term 'short sale' but it's actually been around for a long time. Unfortunately, most local real estate agents are not up to date with the process and that has caused a lot of confusion in the community, with homeowners and even with real estate agents. Since we are Certified Distressed Property Experts or, CDPE's, we would like to try and address some of the questions that we hear from both homeowners and other agents regarding short sales.

Q.  What happens when the bank agrees to accept a 'short sale' on the property?

A.  We negotiate with the lender based on the offer, the property value and the sellers circumstances to attempt to come to a resolution which will create win-win for all the parties.  Often the homeowners can move on with their life, credit intact, with no further obligation on the mortgage.

Q.  How do we know if we qualify to sell our home on a 'short sale'?

A.  We have a number of qualifying guidelines that we use to determine what the odds are that you and your property will qualify.  We will meet with you to gather all the information that we need to assess your situation. After one short meeting we can usually have an answer for you.

Q.  What if I've already received a notice that my property is going to auction?

A.  The best time to begin marketing your property using a short sale is BEFORE you get notice of the Sheriff Sale or auction.  However, depending on your situation we can often stop the auction if we can generate an offer before the sale.  Sometimes we can stop the auction without an offer on the property.  We know the best way to do this and will work within your time limitations to get the job done.

Q.  Do I get money at the closing with a short sale?

A.  Unfortunately, do you not receive any funds at the closing.  You do get to stay in your house during the negotiations and up until the time of the closing.  This can be 2, 3 or even 4 months or longer.  The negotiation process with your lender takes between 30 and 90 days to complete and during that time you can stay in the house and not make any payments other than your utilities.  This should give you time to save up a little money to make a move.

Q.  What happens to my credit in a short sale?

A.  Different lenders report short sales in different ways.  We have a chart that shows the impact on you and your credit after a short sale and will be happy to share that information with you during our interview.

Q.  Why would a lender take a short sale on my property?

A.  First of all, your lender DOES NOT WANT TO OWN YOUR PROPERTY.  The last thing your lender wants is to take on the liability of your property, utilities, maintenance and taxes.  Lends will do almost anything to avoid this happening to both you and them!  They lose thousands more if your home goes all the way through the foreclosure process and then have to sell it on the open market.  The will lose less money if we can negotiate a short sale agreement.

Q.  What other options do I have?

A.  Depending on your personal situation you could have quite a few options.  We are prepared to discuss what other options you might have to stay in or sell your property.  We are familiar with the new legislation that was recently signed into law and can explain the impact on your situation.  First and foremost, if we can figure out a way for you to keep and stay in your home this is what we want to do!  We are Realtors first, our job is to keep families in their homes.