What Is A Short Sale? Advice for Sarasota, Bradenton, and Venice Florida Area Homeowners . . .

Defining a Short Sale:  A short sale occurs when your lender(s) accepts a discount on their loan payoff in order to allow a sale.  This is purely a business decision on their part -- they don't do this because they're "nice" or because they "care" about. They do it because foreclosures cost lenders money, and they end up getting more of their money back by allowing a short sale.  The upside for you is that you avoid a foreclosure, and perhaps even a bankruptcy.

Short Sale Example:  Suppose we find a buyer willing to pay current market value for your home, let's say it's $250,000.  Assuming $15,000 in total sales costs, and an outstanding loan balance of $400,000, then the lender(s) would have to agree to reduce the mortgage loan debt by $165,000 in order to allow the short sale to close. You walk away debt free and the lender(s) pick up all of the sales costs.  Fees and expenses, including property taxes, insurance, commissions, etc., all come off of the sale price -- there is never an out-of-pocket cost to you.

New Fed Government HAFA Short Sale Program Now Available to Sarasota & Manatee County Florida Homeowners:   New guidelines for the US Treasury Department's HAFA program have been released.  The
Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program (HAFA) streamlines the short sale process and offers financial incentives to homeowners and lenders that encourages a short sale over a foreclosure.  Visit our HAFA web page for more information on this new program. 

Why Would a Lender Consider a Short Sale? Whether or not to approve a short sale is purely a business decision on the lender's part -- they don't do this because they're "nice" or because they "care" about. They do it because foreclosures cost lenders money, and they can typically end up getting more of their money back by allowing a short sale. Also, with a foreclosed property the lender runs the risk of vandalism and other damages that can be avoided by keeping the current owner in the property until a short sale is completed. The upside for you is that you avoid a foreclosure, and perhaps even a bankruptcy. 

Today, most Florida lenders will refuse to commit to a Short Sale until there is a knowledgeable real estate broker involved who has a firm contract in place from a committed and prequalified buyer. In addition to finding a buyer and putting them under contract, the right broker will have a team in place that will prepare and submit a professional and complete Short Sale package to the lender, and negotiate on your behalf until the transaction is approved.

How are Short Sales Negotiated? Short Sales are one of the most complicated and difficult residential real estate transactions to negotiate and close. Compared to conventional sales, these transactions require substantially more paperwork, often prolonged and intricate negotiations with several different bank departments, and careful and meticulous documentation of the entire process. A Short Sale package typically includes: a sales contract, numerous addenda to the contract, proof of buyer loan qualification and down-payment, a detailed "fair market value analysis" of the property, an analysis of local market conditions, a seller financial worksheet, seller hardship letter, photos of the property, and certain specific forms and seller financial data as may be required by your particular lender(s).

Basically, your Short Sale real estate professional must prove to your lender(s) that the property's current market value is less than the mortgage payoff, that the purchase offer is fair and realistic, that the buyer is ready, willing and able to close, and that the homeowner has a genuine financial hardship that precludes them form continuing to pay.

What's Causing the high volume of Short Sales in the Sarasota, Bradenton and Venice Florida Areas Today? Remember the old truism, "What goes up must come down?"  Our real estate market today is paying the price for the "high flying" days of a few years ago when property values soared. Sarasota and Manatee home prices have decreased by as much as 35% to 45% in some areas, which is causing many area home owners to consider a Short Sale to solve their personal financial crisis. As a result, there are literally thousands of area homeowners who are upside down on their mortgages, and who can no longer afford their mortgage payment.

Why Do I need a Florida Licensed Real Estate Professional to Conduct my Short Sale? Truthfully, it is theoretically possible to conduct your own Short Sale, but there are two very good reasons why we strongly suggest that you don't . . .

1. Our Services effectively cost you nothing... the lender pays. We Negotiate our fee's with the Mortgage lenders, and we never charge you any type of up front fee's (never agree to pay anyone a large, upfront fee).
2. This is what we do for a living -- day in and day out.  What are the odds that you'll do as effective a job as we will?

Why should I work with the "SaraMana preForeclosure Assistance Team" to complete my Short Sale? We have helped countless Sarasota and Manatee county homeowners, and we are prepared to help you too. It's a serious mistake to trust your Short Sale to just anyone having a real estate license -- it takes a full team with diverse skills, and it takes many dozens of transactions with many dozens of different banks before one can claim "experience" and "reliability" when it comes to closing short sales! You may only have one shot at this, and your financial future is riding on the successful outcome of the negotiations with your Bank(s), the approval of your Short Sale, and the subsequent sale of your Home. It's all about getting things done right the first time.

We and our Title and Legal partners, have been working in the real estate industry since 1990... We've successfully negotiated with many Banks and Lending Institution servicers to postpone foreclosures, and to get short sales approved and closed.... In short, we've been involved in all facets of the Short Sale & Foreclosure process and we're here to help you resolve your personal mortgage loan crisis.

Negotiating short sales is a full-time job. Within the SaraMana Short Sale Team, all short sale packages go through a very meticulous screening and preparation process -- everything is reviewed "twice" for accuracy. Your short sale package is only submitted to your Bank(s) when it meets our strict standards, thereby ensuring the greatest chance of final approval. Our bank negotiation Title Partner has developed a sophisticated database tracking system to keep on top of your short sale all the way through to closing, as well as a far-reaching network of bank manager contacts to help "smooth" the negotiation process. The strength of our experience, skills, specialized knowledge, and relationships are invaluable.