Listing your home for short sale is not as easy as being upside down in your mortgage and wanting to move. There must be a REASON for the short sale.
Listing your home for short sale is an alternative to letting it fall into foreclosure. While not always, homes listed for short sale may have owners who have missed mortgage payments and can no longer afford the home. Perhaps an interest rate adjustment has made the mortgage payment too expensive, or your interest only ARM has now begun to incorporate principal.
Another short sale scenario in the Washington, DC area is government employees who are transferred out of state, or out of the country, owe more than they will get for the sale of of their home. The transfer is mandatory and the homeowner can not maintain two residences. You can see the hardship on the horizon.
When the writing in on the wall that your home is becoming unaffordable, it's time to call the mortgage holder(s). Explain the hardship, or scenario you find yourself in, and ask the mortgage holder(s) if they will consider allowing a short sale of your home.
This qualification step with the mortgage companies is crticial to determining whether or not you can short sell your home. Why? A short sale MUST be approved by the mortgage holder(s) before the sale can be consummated.
If the mortgage holder(s) will consider a short sale on your property then it's time for Step 2: Choosing Your Listing Agent.
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