As highly-skilled associates we help distressed homeowners work with lenders to approve a sale for a price less than the amount of their existing loan - known as "short sales."
Avoiding foreclosures not only helps the homeowner's credit rating, it also helps protect area home values.
Myth 1: You must be behind on your mortgage to qualify for a short sale. Lenders look for three things: a "verifiable hardship," such as a job loss, pay cut, job transfer, divorce or serious illness; a monthly cash-flow shortfall
or pending shortfall and insolvency; or lack of liquid assets that would allow you to pay down your mortgage.
Myth 2: Short sales rarely get approved. There is an 85% success rate for closing short sales. However, they still take patience, requiring anywhere from 30 to 120 days for lender approval.
Myth 3: Banks would rather foreclose than approve a short sale.
Myth 4: There's no time to negotiate a short sale. It's always worth a try.
Myth 5: It's fine to make simultaneous offers on short-sale properties. Making multiple offers clog the system and could force sellers who think they have a solid offer into foreclosure when the offer is rescinded.
Myth 6: A short sale is a fire sale. Not just any offer will do. Home sellers may ounter; their agents can only bring reasonable offers to the bank, which typically means a little less than market value.
Myth 7: Anyone can help navigate a short sale.
Myth 8: A short sale is not worth the effort. For buyers, short sale properties are often in better shape than foreclosures and are priced to sell quickly. For sellers, there is no lasting stigma for completing a short sale.
Myth 9: Short sales are as financially damaging as foreclosures. Unlike foreclosures, short sales are not reported on a person's credit history and don't present problems with employment or security clearances. Home-owners who
undergo a foreclosure are ineligible for a Fannie Mae-backed mortgage for five years, while a home-owner who closes a short sale is eligible for a Fannie Mae-backed mortgage after only two years.
Myth 10: Short sale negotiations are adversarial. Not if handled with care!
Short Sale Truth: It can be a hassle, but it beats a foreclosure!
