Short Selling in Athens, GA

Short Selling in Athens, GA is frankly challenging!  Although blessed by a relatively stable economy, we are still in a stagnant home resell market. 

REO (real estate owned by banks after foreclosure) inventory is increasing monthly, and starting to significantly affect resale and new construction appraisals.  Negotiating short sales has recently become even more fraught with potholes, as wait times increase and documentation of hardships becomes more stringent.

We are getting a lot of questions about "short sales". Over the next few weeks, I am going to attempt to answer some of the real estate short sale questions I am getting asked frequently starting with the most common below:  

Do I have to get an approval from my lender to offer my house as a short sale?
The short answer is no.  Because every contract offering you may receive from a potential purchaser is going to be different, an "approved short sale" can be a "mis-nomer" and many lender's do not offer "approved short sales".  However, there are many things you can do to get the ball rolling.  Your real estate short sale specialist should be collecting the paperwork necessary to submit with an offer  including a form that authorizes your mortgage company to discuss your situation with the real estate broker (often called a third party authorization), providing you with the financial worksheet which will document your hardship situation, and advising what other documentation is going to be required.  

Do I have to be behind on my mortgage payments in order to short sale my home?
Again the short answer is no.  Your short sale may not get priority processing, as it may be placed behind homes that are in foreclosure or moratorium (forbearance) status; however most major lender will consider a short sale where there is documented hardship and declining market situations.  It is desirable for the lender to not have your property go into foreclosure which will reflect an even greater loss for them.

When should I consider a "short sale"?  
When you have or anticipate a hardship situation that will cause you to be insolvent (when you monthly expenses exceed your monthly income) and/or your home is worth less than you owe.  In order to avoid foreclosure it is critical that you not wait to late to begin the short sale process.

If you need immediate assistance and answers to your short sale questions, please feel free to ask your questions in the comments below or contact me now privately (use the button the side of this blog for a confidential contact), otherwise I will continue to answer questions as they come in.

 Short Sales in Athens, GA are not easy, but are possible!