Are financial difficulties making it hard for you to meet your monthly mortgage payments? Have you tried a mortgage loan modification that hasn't worked? Are you facing foreclosure?
If you are a homeowner who can no longer afford to keep your mortgage payments current, you may have an alternative to bankruptcy or foreclosure.
One such option is a short sale.
A short sale means that the real property is sold at a discounted rate, and the amount received is used, under these specific terms, to satisfy the loan. At present, 13.5% of the homes on the market on Long Island are short sales.
Why would a lender agree to accept a reduced payoff on a mortgage?
If it seems as though a homeowner is likely to default, a mortgage company may approve a short sale rather than attempt to take back the property. The bank receives more money through the short sale process than it would receive through a lengthy and tedious foreclosure process.
Benefits of a Short Sale
There are a number of good reasons why you should consider a short sale over a foreclosure
1. Forgiveness of Loan Deficiency
If a bank forecloses on your home and the proceeds of the judicial sale are not enough to repay the loan balance, you will end up with a deficiency. In the state of New York, the lender may have the right to sue you for the deficiency, along with the interest and legal costs.
With a short sale, you might even avoid being held responsible for any deficiency balance.
2. Control of Your Life
When you choose to do a short sale, you are taking responsibility and regaining control of your life. You can organize your plans for moving and leave your home gracefully on your own terms.
3. Better for Your Community
Aside from helping yourself and your family, a short sale is a better move for your local community. Foreclosed homes that have been abandoned typically deteriorate due to lack of maintenance. A short sale will save your neighbors from the negative impacts of a foreclosure and will not undermine the integrity of your Long Island neighborhood.
4. Costs You Nothing
You incur no out-of-pocket costs in a short sale. The lender absorbs all the expenses paid by a seller in a typical real estate transaction. These include realtor commissions, attorney fees, New York transfer taxes, title company charges, and back taxes owed on the property.
How to Qualify for a Short Sale?
In order to qualify for a short sale, you must demonstrate financial hardship. Acceptable hardships vary depending upon the lender's particular guidelines.
Commonly accepted short sale hardships include:
• Unemployment
• Reduced income
• Job relocation
• Increased expenses
• Severe Illness
• Death in the family
• Divorce or separation
• Bankruptcy
• Property damage
• Military service
• Incarceration
Before a short sale is authorized, buyers must complete a hardship packet. It details the reasons why the homeowners should be approved to short sell their home.
The packet contains information about their earnings, an illness or the details of their hardship, or a plea to the bank which states their case and position.
Once a short sale has been approved, the property must be placed for sale with a real estate agent. However, you have to remember that a short sale contains complexities not present in a typical real estate transaction. As such, you need an experienced and qualified short sale agent to help you accomplish a short sale.
That would be me, Rene Perrin.
I know that every situation is different when it comes to a short sale. Contact me today at 516-802-3785 if you are considering selling short or if you are thinking about purchasing a short sale property.