April 19th, 2010
How to start a short sale on real estate property?
My husband and I moved to make better money in another state. We bought a second home (mistake #1). Husband’s hours have slightly dropped due to the economy. On the 2nd home we have PMI. We have listed our 1st home for sale for almost a year with no offers. We have dropped the price to the lowest we can go to pay off the mortgage. Still no buyers. We finally decided to rent it out. We could not rent it out for the amount of the mortgage as other rented properties didn’t compare. So we pay $750 each month to make up the difference. We are so strapped in mortgages and we cannot seem to sell the one back home we are considering a short sale. Where do I start? Should I get a real estate attorney first or contact the lender myself? I am open to any suggestions. Have even considered selling the 2nd home.
Related posts:
- I did a short sale on my Rental property, what are the tax ramifications? I bought this home back in April of 2006. I bought it to live in it but then a few months later, I decided that I didn’t like the...
- purchasing a new home and may have to Short Sale my existing property.can they foreclose on my new home? with the current real estate market, my wife and I want to move back home, but our current house is worth less than what we owe on it. i...
- How to prepare for a short sale of investment property? We had a condo for rent, but the rental market has sunk to the point where it is a losing investment. We have listed the property for sale, but...
- Do I have to pay rent if the property I’m leasing is listed as a short sale & is in the foreclosure process? I live in Florida. I’ve been paying rent for over two years and I have an unstructured lease agreement. The lease basically states that I have been offered the...
- Please Help! Equity Line Short Sale Property Tax Question? Okay – I bought a home 3 years ago on an ARM. I have since refinanced to a loan and have a 1st mortgage that is interest only fixed...
Filed under: Rent Property
i would put images up on a site that you make and sell it you will be able to sell it in no time
I have not seen anyone use a real estate attorney to help with a short sale but it might be very good to help with the negotiations (with the mortgage company) they often want you to agree to a lot of stuff that you don’t understand until to late.
You will also need a very knowledgeable real estate agent.
I would start by finding a real estate agent that has done several short sales. Then contact the mortgage company. Then before signing anything I would contact a real estate attorney (emphasis on “real estate” part of attorney)
You are sitting in a position that so many others are. You are caught in a housing recession, as a result of the bubble, where so many others got greedy. You should get with your lending institution, and discuss your circumstances. Tell them that you are considering walking away from your mortgage. In a short sale, the lending company agrees to take much of the loss in the sale. Between taxes, mortagage payment, and insurance annual costs you are in trouble. You and the mortgage company will share the loss, rather than you taking on the whole burden. You don’t want to declare bankruptcy. Good luck.
First: Contact the lender. Explore a mortgage restructuring or forebearance.
Second: Clearly, your first home is overpriced if it’s been on the market for a year. Interview (via phone, if necessary) 3-5 real estate agents in the area of your first home. Get their evaluations, and a CMA (competitive market analysis) of the property. Find out which ones have experience with short sales.
Third: I’m not sure what a real estate attorney would do. Feel free to contact one, but I’ve never encountered one who handles short sales.
Fourth: Do a complete financial analysis. You raise the possibility of selling the second home. That might make sense.
Good luck.
Work with your bank directly. Unless you are facing foreclosure and have no other assets they are not likely to agree to a short sale, but you can request the package anyway.
You can contact the lender directly and ask about a forbearance (a period where you don’t have to make payments). That would buy you some time to sell your property. But it sounds like, even at the debt on the property, the price isn’t low enough to sell the property. If that’s the case, and it sounds like it is, then you should move forward with the short sale.
In a nutshell, you need to get a buyer to make an offer in writing at a price that can be justified with other recent sale prices in the area. You are going to need to demonstrate your inability to pay, which it sounds like you should be able to do. There is a set of documentation that you should use when submitting the package. You can get that documentation, full explanations and more at. Look for The Complete Short Sale System.
Alternatively, you can work with organizations that will negotiate on your behalf with the bank. The most reputable ones won’t charge you more than a small upfront fee, with the balance of their fee paid by your lender and/or your buyer. One such group is.
In either case, you’ll need to market your property and find a buyer. Hope that helps. Good luck.