Short Sales in the Austin TX market are not abundant. In many neighborhoods, they are scarce. In others, they are more prevalent. It's mostly price range driven, with most in the lower, first time home buyer price range. Here are some great Austin TX Short Sale stats I posted.
Even though Short Sales as well as Foreclosures are not as common in Austin TX as they are in other markets, it's still good to know what they are and how to accomplish one timely in case you end up in this situation.
What's a Short Sale? A Short Sale, in general terms, is when a lender accepts a short payment to pay off a loan in full. For example, if you owe $200k and the lender agrees to accept $180k, you are paying the loan short, hence a "short sale". YES, this will go on your credit report! YES, it will show you didn't pay it in full. YES, a Short Sale looks better and scores better than a Foreclosure.
No, you may not buy a house immediately after going through a Short Sale. You must wait 2 years... though I'm sure the lenders are working on some kind of exceptions to some rules as I believe many relocation buyers don't have a choice if they're following a job.
How can a Short Sale get through the process in a timely manner? Work with an agent, like me, who knows what to do and also has a team of people who specialize in getting Short Sales approved and closed! Sometimes, a Short Sale can take longer than 6 months to finalize. That's just ridiculous! If you have your ducks in a row, timely approvals can happen much quicker than that. In many cases, under 60 days, but I tell people to prepare for at least 3 months.
3 Months to close on a house? 6 Months to close? When do I know to move out? Believe me, you'll know! Once your bank gives an actual approval on the Short Sale, all you wait for is the buyer's lender to approve their loan, and that's about 3 weeks, so you'll have plenty of notice. NEVER wait until the last minute to figure out where you'll go once closing arrives.
How do I know what the bank wants for approval of my Short Sale? That's where an experienced agent comes into play. I have a checklist of every possible document the lender might need. By sending in everything at once, they can't come back weeks and months from now asking for more. You, as the home owner, need to work with me to jump through the hoops the lenders provide.
Hoops? What kinds of hoops? Hoops of Fire!! Just kidding...Most of the hoops, you'll never know about as I'm taking care of that from my end. The other hoops are the endless amounts of documents and paperwork they will require and you MUST provide. Because of their requests, you must be willing to go with the flow when I tell you that I need this and that. When you question or refuse to provide something needed, you hold up the process.
Working together as a team through an Austin TX Short Sale, we'll get your home sold quicker so you can move on with your life quicker and begin your fresh start rebuilding your credit.
If you're an Austin TX home owner, and you're in trouble with a potential foreclosure in your future, give me a call YESTERDAY, and I'll help you through the process. Waiting even one more day or one more week can put your options at jeopardy. Not everyone qualifies for a Short Sale, so let's get going on it now!
**Are You Packed Yet?**
Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
Austin TX Real Estate and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Hill Country Austin TX Real Estate and beyond. Whether you're buying or selling an Austin home, I'll be with you every step of the way.
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** #1 Agent in my Office for all of 2008 **
Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Real Estate - Austin TX Homes for Sale are Selling Strong * was first published on donnahomesblog.com
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