Do you owe more than your house is worth?

Here in Manchester NH about 1/3 of people who have to sell their homes, owe more than their house is worth in today's market. Some owners can no longer afford their payments and think foreclosure is their only option. Other home owners need to sell due to being transferred, marriage, divorce or illness and just owe too much also assume they can not sell.

There are options for all of these scenario's. A Short Sale will allow you to sell your home at the current  market value and asks your bank or mortgage company to accept this lower amount. A Short sale often costs the seller no out of pocket expenses.

Having a professional, local, full time agent who is well experienced in short sales makes all the difference in the world. I strive to be that agent by offering the best in personal and professional service while guiding you through each step of the short sale process. 



THE BASIC PROCESS OF THE SHORT SALE

1. THE FIRST STEP:  In order to complete a short sale, a seller must be able to show a "hardship". Some examples are: not being able to afford your monthly payment, losing a job, illness, divorce, death or job transfer to another state.

2. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING is to choose a local Realtor who is experienced in listing, negotiating and selling short sales. Beware of out of state companies or people who promise you things that sound too good to be true. If you live in NH, call us first for experience that makes a difference.

3. STARTING THE PROCESS. You will need to gather your last 2 years tax returns, last 2 pay stubs, 3 month bank statements and a list of income and expenses. The listing agent or negotiator will complete a title search to see how many liens or if your home is in foreclosure. 

a. The listing agent or negotiator will make preliminary contact with sellers bank to obtain any specific forms or instructions they want or need to complete the short sale

b. The listing agent completes a broker price opinion. The home should be priced at or just below market value. Pricing a home too low, will result in the short sale being counter offered or refused.

c. The listing agent markets the property in search of potential buyers and offers

4. RECEIVING AND ACCEPTING AN OFFER. The one thing to remember is the sale is between the buyer and the home owner, not the buyer and the bank. The seller should choose the 1 best offer to accept and submit for approval. The buyer should be ready to close wthin 30 days of the acceptance of the short sale by the sellers bank. If the house needs any repairs, they should be noted in the initial offer, not left to work out later.
 
5. SUBMITTING THE SHORT SALE FOR APPROVAL. Once an offer has been submitted and all the sellers financials are gathered. The listing agent or the listing agents professional negotiator will submit the short sale package to the bank. The short sale offer and package MUST be complete or will be rejected.

6. THE SHORT SALE APPROVAL PROCESS. Once the bank gets the file, the bank will assign a negiotiator for themselves. This could take 1-2 weeks. They then will review the package, if complete will order an appraisal or bpo within the first 2 weeks. It could then take 2 more weeks to finish the appraisal. Once it comes in, the negotiator will review what the home is worth versus what they will receive from the short sale against what they would receive if they foreclosed. This could take 2-4 more weeks.

7. THE BANKS RESPONSE TO YOUR SHORT SALE.  In whole and on average, it takes 2-3 months if you have only 1 mortgage. The response from the bank can be either to accept your offer as is, or they can counter the offer trying to reduce the costs of the short sale by asking the buyer for a higher price, better terms or money from the seller. Worst case is they deny it outright if the seller does not have a hardship of if the offer is just way too low.

==========

The 2 most important things to note are:

1. Use an agent who is local and well experienced in listing, neogtiating and selling short sales. Here in NH you can call on us for results. We are locally owned and operated and are well experienced with short sales in NH. We will guide you through each step of the short sale selling process.

2. A short sale should NEVER be considered approved unless received in writing. All offers, counter offers and such should always be in writing for your protection. No matter what a short sale will only go as well as the listing agent is experienced in short sales and who is doing the negotiating for the seller? If they are not experienced, the short sale process will be much more difficult. It is common for tough short sales to go 3-6 months. One of the most important things is for the seller to stay in their home, leaving the home early, lessons your negotiating power with the bank.


PLEASE SEE SOME OF MY MOST POPULAR BLOGS

1. TOP 5 TIPS For Buying a Bank Owned Home
2. TIPS AND ADVICE For buying a Short Sale
3. Should a Buyer Use more than 1 Agent to help then buy a home?
4. Can I Purchase a home that is in FORECLOSURE?
5. Are Buyers waging WAR on SELLERS?
6. Do you owe more than your house is worth?
7. Can a Listing Agent submit an offer to a Seller that is "TOO LOW?'
8. THE TOP 5 MYTHS about Todays; REAL ESTATE MARKET
9. THE TOP 5 WAYS to know if "NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY A HOME."
10. THE "SECRETS" to getting a SHORT SALE approved