Why a Short Sale is Not for Everyone
Today I met with a nice couple, and they were trying to do the right thing. They always paid their bills. They helped their kids out.
Their son is in a severe pickle, which has put him a few months behind on his mortgage, and they wanted to pay it up current. Nice, quality little house, great starter-home-plus. However, the market has dropped in the last 5 years, such that this home is now worth less than what they paid for it.
Should they short sell? Maybe. I do a ton of short sales. (In fact, I do so many, I thought I should get my CDPE -- just because.)
BUT....even though the son definitely qualifies for short sale status, the parents had so much cold, hard cash into the place, they didn't want to lose it. So, my counsel was this:
- Let's see if we can rent it. The mortgage payment is likely lower than what they could get for rent.
- If the rental market is good in their area (and I called in the pros to help out on this), perhaps we could even get a loan modification to make the monthly payments less of an alligator. *
Before you flat out decide to do a short sale, look at all of your options. Yes, sometimes it is the best answer, but not always. A good agent will help you sort out your options.
Barb
* A payment that takes a bite out of your hiney every month
Comments(1)