Even in today’s market there are many homeowners who are still considering selling their home through the short sale process due to personal hardships they are facing.

Hardships can take on many forms. The loss of value in a home or not budgeting your income well enough are two examples that can lead someone to decide to short sell their home but they are not really hardships. To qualify for a lender approved short sale you need to have a valid hardship such as a divorce or death for instance.  There are many more valid hardships.

Some homeowners will decide strategically (voluntarily) to default on their mortgage even so they do have the ability to make their monthly payment and don’t have a valid hardship. They do this with the intent on achieving approval for a lender approved short sale. Just because you voluntarily default on your mortgage does not mean you will receive approval for short sale. You will still need to prove the validity of your hardship prior a lender approving you for a short sale.

As buyers and sellers we need to be informed of the ins and outs of a short sale while keeping in mind, that when you as the seller opt to sell your house through a short sale, you might not be able to buy anther home for about 2 -3 years. This would be at the discretion of the servicer and what type of mortgage you had previously.

As the buyer you might need to have some patience during the closing process because it is the seller’s lender who has the final say so on the sale of the house and not the seller. You also need to be willing to be pre-approved (not pre-qualified) for a loan. Many homes are being sold “ASIS”. You can have your home inspection but most of the time the seller is not able to make any repairs.

For additional information about short sales or selling real estate in general feel free to contact our office.