A short sale is a complex real estate transaction (also unfortunately a common one at the time of this writing in 2011) that relies on several factors to be just right, including a cooperative seller, a knowledgeable listing agent, the willingness of the lien holder and the strength and patience of the buyer. In no way does the word “Short” imply a fast process because there are many things that can and sometimes do go wrong!

Heard a lot of people lately talk about being under water?  In a nutshell, a short sale situation exists when a homeowner owes more money for his home than the sale of the home will produce in the current market and is unable or unwilling to bring funds to closing.  This situation is also usually referred to as being under water. The figures vary, but this year, it is estimated that about 25-28% of homes in the US are underwater.  If you're in this situation, you are definitely not alone.

Short sales are very common nowadays, but can be very difficult to close. Often times, a payment-challenged homeowner lists their home for short sale, receives and accepts an offer, waits out the short sale approval process, and then has their agent disclose significant expenses which must be paid to close but which their bank will not cover!  Some examples are property taxes, unpaid homeowner's or condominium association dues, or even unpaid water/sewer bills. These kinds of delinquencies result in liens on the title (ownership) of the property which must be removed in order to clear the title for it to transfer to new owners. 

The homeowner's mortgage holder will not generally agree to pay any of these outstanding bills, which results in a situation where the ownership cannot be transferred to a new owner. The sad part about this is that most times when this happens, the seller's listing agent will have some rationale or justification to give the buyer's agent as to why these problems were not known or disclosed.  This is usually nonsense and results from an inexperienced agent or firm trying to go through the process. Any listing agent accepting a listing from a homeowner for short sale has an obligation to ask the homeowner about unpaid taxes, HOA/condo fees, and water/sewer fees.  $50 is not often a problem. Substantial amounts, however, can be considered significant material defects in the title of the property and therefore have to be disclosed to lien holders and potential buyers. What is a seller then to do to ensure that they can go through as seamless a process as possible? Enter SAF Assist to the rescue.

SAF Assist is a Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston Program designed to provide sellers with all the support, tools and assistance necessary for a successful short sale of their property or for assistance in delaying or stopping foreclosure when necessary to have time to complete a sale of their property. It is a program that has successfully helped many sellers save money, time, and aggravation in situations where they're already usually going through enough stress and problems.

Program Features

Dedicated Attorney 

• Proper understanding of a short sale and the pursuit and negotiation of a short sale requires legal advice and assitance.  The Short Sale and Foreclosure Assistant Program provides an attorney for you with no out of pocket expense. 

• Attorney will provide you with information and tools to stop or delay a foreclosure of your property, regardless of whether a short sale is needed

• Attorney will handle all submissions to and negotiations with lenders/lienholders

Dedicated Document Coordinator

• Handles gathering of short sale documents for you 

• Assists you with neccesary hardship information

• Sets up files and communicates with attorney

Most problems with short sales arise because of the lack of experience with the process. Working with an experienced organization that provides both legal and documentation help at NO COST to the seller is the key to success.

Program Benefits 

• Legal consultation with NO out-of-pocket expenses for legal representation

• Advice about and protection from further liability and income tax ramifications

• Pre-qualified buyers when an offer is made to purchase your home

• Efforts to minimize the negative effect on your credit score

• Credit counseling from Towne Mortgage of the Carolinas

It should also be noted that for this type of transaction with the help of SAF Assist, the Realtor® is paid from the "proceeds" of the sale. In most cases, this is paid by the lender. 

One thing to note is that in these type of transactions, the lender may not agree to the terms of the sale agreed upon by the seller and a potential buyer. A lender always has the choice whether to go through with the transaction or not, which is why I noted above one of the key components of the short sale process is a willing lender. SAF Assist, however, will ensure the seller can uncover any potential problems upfront which would discourage lenders from even considering the short sale in the first place.  Even when a lender agrees to consider a short sale, until a purchase contract is submitted to the lender for approval, no one really knows exactly what the lender will accept in regards to price or specifics of the contract. Until the contract is approved, it is a "wait and see" situation. This can be extremely frustrating for a buyer who is anxious to know if they need to look for a home elsewhere, or for a seller who wants to move on out of this situation.  However, knowing about the process upfront at least helps in understanding the details involved, which is where the SAF Assist team comes in.

Call me today if you'd like me to put you in contact with our SAF Assist specialists!