Short Sales. What Is A Real Estate Short Sale
February 21st, 2008 Posted in Mortgage Info
Short Sales. What Is A Real Estate Short Sale
A short Sale is when the homeowner owes more on their mortgage more than what the property is currently able to sell for in today’s Real Estate market place.
This can occur for many different reasons. Equity lines of Credit where the homeowner takes money out of the equity of their home to pay off bills to an amount greater than what the house can sell for including closing costs.
Another possible scenario would be the type of loan the homeowner took out originally that may be an Interest Only loan with negative amortization and penalty fees for pay offs, 100% loans and Option Arm Loans. The homeowner now may owe more than the home is worth and would have to actually come up with the difference in the money in order to sell their house.
Short Sales are many times one of the first steps in the Foreclosure process. A Short Sale is definitely, a better option for the homeowner than Foreclosure. As a Realtor, I have helped facilitate Short Sales and work with Lenders on behalf of homeowners.
The Short Sale process must be agreed to by the Lender, the mortgage holder. There is quite a bit of paperwork involved in this process where the Lender asks the homeowner to provide documentation proving their inability to keep up with the house payments. W-2’s, pay stubs, tax returns are just a few of the items needed by the Lender. Lenders work with Realtors quite often on Short Sales.
Some Lenders would prefer a Short Sale rather than a Foreclosure. One very important item that all homeowners contemplating a Short Sale need to be aware of, is the difference in the amount that the Lender forgives (and some Lender’s don’t forgive), the IRS does not.
The IRS considers this amount as income and you may be taxed on it. If the homeowner decides to walk away from the mortgage loan by returning the property to the Lender, it is important to know that this will affect your credit. Remember, your credit is important when attempting to later rent.
If considering Bankruptcy in the form of Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, it is vital to see an Attorney who specializes in this field so that you are informed properly as to the long-term drawbacks.
A very important side-note is that a homeowner going through this process is many times bombarded with questionable people who offer their services at a very hefty price to the homeowner. You need to be cognizant of this and protect yourself by making sure that you are dealing with someone who really has your best interests at heart. I would suggest that you contact an experienced Realtor that can guide you through this process.
It is best to do a short sale when the property is in the pre-foreclosure state. Yes, you can perform a short sale when the bank owns the property, however your profits will more than likely be smaller. There are two stages within pre-foreclosure. The first stage being those individuals who are behind on payments and the second stage are those who are behind on payments with a notice of default. In order for this to work properly and for you to successfully get a short sale, you must find the homeowners who are in the second stage of pre-foreclosure or more than 3 payments behind on their mortgage. Once the notice of default has been recorded, banks become motivated as well, so you are more likely to get a discount. Until that time, very rarely will a bank ever discount a mortgage that soon. Why would they? The homeowners still have time to cure the loan and make up the back payments.
It does not matter what type of house or condition it’s in, all mortgages can be discounted. The best properties to perform a short sale on are the houses that need lots of work and repairs because lenders will give you a bigger discount if they see they are “don’t wanters”. Properties that are over leveraged are also prime candidates. Most rookie investors who see a house over leveraged with an upside-down mortgage may think there is no hope for this property. On the other hand, this is a sweet deal to the savvy investor. Properties with large 2nd mortgages are also treated as gold because the 2nd mortgage is wiped out at the foreclosure auction. Lenders with a 2nd and 3rd mortgage position would rather have something than nothing
Looking to buy a Phoenix metro short sale listed home? Contact Bette Zerba for listing and viewing information. www.centralphoenixliving.com - 602-791-1766
