Is a Short Sale Your Only Option???...Do You Live in Charlotte, NC???

Are you several payments late on your house?  You, along with many others in Charlotte, may need to list your house as a short sale.  The real estate market in Charlotte, NC is swamped with short sales and foreclosures and there are buyers out there looking at just these types of properties. 

Selling as short sale will hurt your credit...but not as much as if the bank decides to foreclose on your property.  If you are selling your house short, you are selling it for less than what you owe on the mortgage.  Banks will allow this because they do not want to have to force people out of their homes through foreclosure and they don't want to hold houses as assets on their books.  If the houses are foreclosed on, the banks are forced to keep up with the property taxes, neighborhood assessments, home owners association fees etc.  If you are several payments behind and do not have the income to get current on your payments you may want to consider listing your house as a short sale.

The idea is to list the house aggresively so that it will attract many buyers and will produce an offer in a short amount of time.  It is important that you contact the bank as you are listing your house as a short sale. 

 The Bank will ask for the following information:

1. A hardship letter - this will explain why you are unable to make your payments.  For some reason, as a short sale agent, you get a better response if the letter is hand written.
2. A list of your monthly expenses.  This can be on an excel worksheet.
3. Your last 2 bank stubs.
4. The last two pay stubs from you and your spouse.
5. Some banks will require you to show them your tax returns from the last two years.  You can go to www.irs.gov to get the 4506T form.  Fill out this form and mail it in...they will mail you your tax returns.
6. The banks also require the listing agreement between you and your agent...hopefully you will choose Brandon Farmer as your short sale agent.
7. Once you get an offer on the house, you must send them the offer with a preliminary HUD1 (settlement statement)

Once you get all of this information to the bank, you can expect to wait 30-45 for the case to be appointed a short sale analyst.  The short sale analyst will order a BPO (broker price opinion).  They will have a broker tell them the market value for the property.  The amount that the BPO agent gives to the bank analyst is a good indicator of what the bank will accept for the property.  Remember that the banks do not want to keep these properties so they will often take a large loss on the property just to get rid of the house. 

Get an agent that understands the short sale process.  Your listing agent should know how to discuss the short sale with the bank because the bank is the one negotiating the contract.  You, as seller, will have no say on whether or not you will except an offer. 

One more thing to remember...just because the bank allows you to do a short sale does not mean that they will forgive the amount that was shorted.  Sometimes they will forgive this amount but they can put a lien against your future property or put a judgment against you and it will be hard for you to obtain another loan until this judgment is paid off. 

Let me help you with this process.  If an agent ever earns their commission...it is with a short sale.

Brandon Farmer

704-975-7848                 www.showcasecharlotte.com                  www.charlottecommunityblog.com