Short Sales

The seller in financial distress has these options:

1. Find the funds to bring the loan up to date and pay in good standing.
2. Work out a repayment plan to bring the past due amount current.
3. Sell the property at what might be a Short Sale.
4. Negotiate with the lender to take a Deed in Lieu.
5. Let the lender foreclose and take the home back.

Conversely, the buyer in a similar market is typically looking for the best deal. What the buyer need to remember is that the buyer's strongest position is when there are many unknown factors for the seller. A good, experienced agent should be able to make the best of the uncertainly and use that to the buyer's benefit.  In all of the distress situations, the short sale requires the most agent attention and is the scenario with the most unknown.

A REO can be a faster transaction and often a good deal, but recall that the seller in a hort sale is working to help sell the property. In an REO setting, the seller has often been evicted, or did not depart on the best terms. REO properties are typically neglected by the orginal owner prior to his departure and have been left empty with little or no maintenance for several months.

A short sale occurs when buyer and seller agree upon price and terms yet need the approval of the seller's lender to close the tranaction. A short sale is essentially a proposal to the seller's bank to take less than what is owed and to allow the seller to sell to the buyer.

In a short sale, the seller's lender is not a party to the contract and does not go into great detailed negotiantion. If the lender likes the offer, the lender might accept the offer or make a counter offer. The buyer should not expect the bank to counter offer every offer. If any offer falls too low, whether the seller likes it or not, the lender often declines the sale outright. Short sales take time to negotiate, and all terms are subject to the seller's lender's approval.

For more information regading Short Sales, please contact

 Carol Smith at (602)315-8859 or email

carolsmithrealtor@cox.net