Do you own a cabin in the Big Bear Valley that you can no longer afford?  Are you stuck in an adjustable rate mortgage?  Were you planning to refinance the loan, only to find out that the cabin isn't worth what you bought it for?  Are you behind on your mortgage payments?  Has the bank filed a notice of default against you?  Are you afraid of losing your cabin to a foreclosure?  If any of these answers is yes, you may have some options that will help you avoid the foreclosure.

Instead of losing the home to foreclosure, why not sell it as a Short Sale?    Under certain circumstances, you can sell your home for less than you owe the bank.  You ask, why would the bank let you sell your cabin for less than you owe?  In the current economic situation, many homes have mortgage balances against them that are far more than they are worth.  The banks have figured out that it may be better for them to sell the property short of what is owed against it rather than foreclose.  By the time the bank pays for the foreclosure and they look at the time it takes to foreclose, they may be better off working with the owner on a short sale.

For a short sale to be successful, a few things must fall into place.  First and foremost, the bank must be willing to work with you on a short sale and you must be able to prove that keeping the home is creating a real hardship.  There will be some other financial forms that the bank will want to see, such as the last 2 years tax statements, the last two months of bank statements and a current pay stub.  Some banks will want you to send all of the information in to them at that point and others will ask that your Realtor hold on to it and present it with any offers that come in.

Once you know that the bank is going to work with you on a Short Sale and you have your paperwork in place, the key to being successful is to list the property with a Realtor who is experienced in dealing with Short Sales.  Listen to what he tells you with regard to a price.  Don't get hung up on the difference between what you owe and what the Realtor wants to ask for the property.  After all, we are listing the home for what it is worth in today's market and not what you owe. 

Once you have an offer that is acceptable, sign the offer and get it back to your Realtor right away.  Once it is signed, it will be sent to the bank with the rest of the short sale package.  The first step for the bank will be to assign the short sale package to a negotiator.  Once the negotiator has the offer, he will ask for a independent agent to do a Brokers Price Opinion.  Once the bank has the value they can they determine if the price offered in the short sale what the home is worth.  It may be less than the value on the house, but when the figure in how much it is going to cost to foreclose, they may take it.

The biggest thing to keep in mind as a buyer or seller is that whenever you deal with a short sale, it is going to take some time.

If you have any questions about the short sale process or you need to sell your cabin in Big Bear, please contact me.  Let me help you with any of your Real Estate needs in the Big Bear Valley