Monday, October 12, 2009

Short Sale... A Dignified Solution to a Homeowner's Financial Crisis

Short sale: mentioned a lot, but not fully understood by many. A short sale is a traditional sale between a Seller, the owner of record, and a Buyer, with a third party contingency requiring approval from the Seller’s lender to sell the property “short” of the debt due to decreasing values and documented hardship by the seller.

A short sale happens when a homeowner NEEDS to sell their home, but cannot because the value has dropped below what they owe. The “needs-to-sell” determines who qualifies for a short sale. In the eyes of the lender, this “need” is a circumstance or series of events that has made it impossible for the homeowner to continue to pay the monthly mortgage payments. Also called hardships, these circumstances could be a reduction in income as a result of a pay cut or loss of commissionable income, a job loss, a divorce, a job transfer or new hire out of the area forcing a move, the death of a family member, prolonged illness, any serious family medical condition causing a forced move, increase in medical bills, sustained medical leave of absence from the work force or disability. In many situations there is a combination of factors that when compounded, the probability of a homeowner losing his/her home increases.

A short sale may be the solution after the homeowner has tried the other options available to ease his/her financial crunch: Seeking advice, from the lender, for a possible refinance, loan modification or forbearance are possible ways to stay in the home while reducing monthly financial obligation. Visit www.makinghomeaffordable.gov to research the viability of these programs for each situation. If those avenues don’t produce successful results, a short sale may be the best alternative.

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By: Gayle Henderson, CDPE Advanced, RE/MAX Excalibur Realty, www.azavoidforeclosurenow.com

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