Challenges To Getting A Short Sale Done
May 20, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
If you are struggling right now with paying your mortgage, you may be wondering what challenges exist when trying to get a short sale done in order to avoid foreclosure. Among many things, you of course may be in disbelief that this is happening to you and you may also be worried about things like where you’re going to live once you have to move out.
All things like this are tough to think about and I have spoken to enough homeowners, young and old, that have poured their feelings out to me over their situation. One thing I want to make clear though is, this challenge in your life is not just going away.
When I meet with homeowners who have lost their home to foreclosure (after the bank has foreclosed and the homeowners become “occupants”, no owners), I always ask them why they didn’t consider a short sale, even as a last resort. Almost all say that they just thought the problem would go away or that somehow, things would change.
When homeowners call me to discuss negotiating a short sale with their lender, I try to be the voice of sound mind. I try to present the facts and stick to them.
One of the facts about negotiating with your lender to sell your home for less than what you owe on the mortgage is, putting the package together. There are many challenges to getting a short sale done. And here’s the thing about that.
It’s tough enough for families to experience the scenario of losing their home. The last thing you want is to hire a real estate agent and an attorney who do not know what they’re doing when it comes to completing a short sale. They may sound very nice and listen very intently. The agent might even offer very kind words of encouragement and offer a warm smile.
But if they don’t know what they’re doing, that will not change your situation and will most likely add stress to your life, rather than reduce it.
My client’s…my families that are experiencing the loss of their home don’t get phone calls from me trying to fix what I have broken. They do not see me running around unorganized with no answers.
Most times, my families receive calculated phone calls about the transaction. And I’m not saying that things don’t fall apart, because they do. I’ve had short sale negotiations fall flat on their faces, meaning a lender has come up with some ridiculously high pay off or a buyer has walked away from a deal due to waiting too long. These things happen.
But the number one thing that most homeowners experience is an agent who simply doesn’t put a complete application into the bank or worse, an attorney that doesn’t know how to complete a package.
Now this can also result from banks that consider a package incomplete because the bank statements are 2 months old…because the bank’s loss mitigation department took 2 months to finally respond or it took that long to “scan the file into their ‘system’…”
Believe me, the banks and loan companies are struggling still, to keep up with this housing market turmoil.
But the more I speak with other real estate agents, the more I still hear them making the same mistakes, submitting the wrong paperwork and incomplete packages to the lenders.
So when the dust clears and you can finally think somewhat clearly, I urge you to think like a machine. A machine is built to do something exact. Think of anything around you that mechanical, even your computer. It is built to process and complete tasks.
When dealing with your lender(s), it’s not about how nice I am (even though I’m really nice), and it’s not about how much you may like me (although you will), it’s not about how nice of a car I drive or how expensive my clothing is, it’s about how I can:
A. Market your home effectively.
B. Get a qualified buyer to make a good fair market offer.
C. Get you to contract.
D. Advise you on all necessary paperwork for your bank.
E. Send that offer and paperwork as complete as possible to your lender.
F. Manage the negotiating as quickly as possible.
G. Help your file close and help you successfully avoid foreclosure.
I can help you sell your home via a short sale. Please call me at (631)831-9048.
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By Thomas McGiveron, LSA
