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What Are The Hardship Requirements to Short Sale?

By
Real Estate Agent with Fred Sed Group ~ Your Premier Southern California Realtors CA BRE #01423187

Every homeowner in the Orange County area wants to avoid foreclosure and will choose short sale to avoid the damages and consequences that come from going through foreclosure. Even though some Orange County Realtors might say that all home owners will qualify to short sell their homes, the reality is that some won’t because; they don’t have a legitimate enough hardship.

What Qualifies as a Hardship?

Due to the economic recession, some of the most common reasons for hardship include: job loss, prolonged unemployment, health issues that have left the homeowner with a lot of medical bills, divorce, job relocation or the death of the primary income earner.

Some homeowners who are in a home with negative equity or an upside down mortgage and want to short sell their Orange County homes will not qualify for the short sale process especially if they have assets and enough income coming in every month to make their mortgage payments on time.

You Need a Short Sale Specialist

The critical step to getting an Orange County short sale approved is to write a great short sale hardship letter but, before attempting to write a short sale hardship letter, every home owner in Orange County should contact a top Orange County short sale specialist like Fred Sed & Associates, because, a short sale specialist doesn’t charge any upfront fees, they only get paid once the short sale has been approved and they have experience with helping Orange County homeowners write short sale hardship letters.

How to Write a Great Short Sale Hardship Letter

The short sale hardship letter is the homeowners chance to tell the lender the nature of their hardship and explain the following:

  • How their financial hardship started
  • What they’ve tried to do to fix their financial hardship and why in spite of their efforts, they’ve been unable to fix their present situation.
  • Why things will get worse for them in the future if the financial situation doesn’t improve.

  Short Sales Hardship Letter Tips: 

  • Don’t be optimistic – If the hardship letter sounds optimistic and the lender thinks the homeowner will be able to make their mortgage payments again, they will not approve the short sale.
  • Use figures – An Orange County short sale hardship letter should include facts and figures. For example: the homeowner borrowed $50,000 from their credit cards to pay their mortgage.
  • Make it easy to read – The goal of the hardship letter is to make it easy for anyone to read, it should not use complicated or elaborate words because, this will only lead to the homeowner not being able to “paint an accurate picture” in the readers mind of their present situation.

  Practice Sound Financial Management

During the 20 to 30 days that the homeowner is waiting for their short sale to be approved, they should follow their Orange County real estate agent's advice and also practice sound financial management including not over-spending or going on a lavish vacation. Why is this important? If the lender finds out that the homeowner spent a lot of money on other things, they will deny their Orange County short sale.

Pat Champion
John Roberts Realty - Eustis, FL
Call the "CHAMPION" for all your real estate needs

Great post and detail on what consists of a hardship for a short sale. Thanks for sharing this information.

Apr 27, 2012 07:09 AM
Fred Sed
Fred Sed Group ~ Your Premier Southern California Realtors - Irvine, CA
Your Southern Cali Realtor, Why? Because Fred Se

Thanks Pat!!

May 07, 2012 02:01 AM