Pricing - If you have reached the conclusion and decision that you need to try to sell your home and have to try for a short sale, pricing is a key factor for success. It is a little bit of a balancing act and you will need to play the balancing game, but if you do not give pricing the right considerations then your short sale is going to fail.

Pricing High - I wonder about those short sale listings I have seen in Barrington Illinois that were priced way above market value. Did they really want to sell or were they posturing to the lender saying they were trying to sell as a short sale and the house was listed for sale with a Realtor. An example of that very situation occured on my subdivision. The house was listed as a short sale at far above market value, almost $200,000 above which represented about a 25% disparity. Of course it never sold and ended up in foreclosure. Did they get bad advice, inexperiened non local pricing advice, or was it deliberate so they could stay in the house as long as possible. Clearly trying for a short sale and over pricing the house meant the attempt was going to fail.

Pricing Low - Perhaps you are thinking the best way for a quick buyer is to price considerably below market value, get a quick buyer to make an offer, wait on the lenders approval, close and you are out. Sounds great but here are some reminders.
           
1st. Your lender or lenders are going to get what is known as a Broker Price Opinion once they receive an offer. Simply they will request a local agent to visit the property, take photos most often just the exterior, and provide a comparative analysis of the home based on local sales of similar homes. They are trying to find out what the house should sell for. If your offer is too low then it will be countered by the lender even if you accepted it. Remember they are taking a loss and need to minimize the loss as much as they can.

2nd. This is more critical to you. It does not matter what the property sells for, your lender can still hold you to repay the unpaid loan amount. So why on earth would you want to agree to any price. The lower it goes the more you may have to pay back. Now I am not saying this is automatic. Your lender may or may not agree to a discharge of the deficit. That is something we try to negotiate for you in any short sale situation but it is not an automatic right.

Pricing Right - By now you should realize that the hurdles we will meet with a short sale can be overcome by pricing your home at or just below market value.

The other consideration is not to delay. Short sales are not quick, they can take a long time. With the longer than average market times of 220 plus days for Barrington, add to that the time it takes to get a response from a lender of 2 to 6 months and you'll it can take almost a year in some cases. If you live in denial about your situation, you close off your options. How do you achieve a succesful short sale. Simple, make sure you hire a local Barrington Realtor that has local knowledge of the housing market and knowledge of short sales.

The next short sale tip will cover advertising short sale listings.

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Contact Corinne Guest ABR, e-PRO, GRI, Broker, Royal Advocate Realty Licensed Realtor® in Illinois, 847-381-6328 to list your property for sale or to buy a property in Barrington, Lake Barrington, North Barrington, South Barrington, Barrington Hills, Inverness and Deer Park, as well as Lake Zurich, Hawthorn Woods, Long Grove and Long Grove in Lake County Illinois.

Call me today at 847-363-3686.

Copyright © 2009 By Corinne Guest, All Rights Reserved. Barrington Illinois Short Sales - Realtors - Tips For Sellers - Pricing Right