What are the advantages of a short sale?

A short sale can minimize the damaging impact to your credit and can minimize your financial exposure and liability. A foreclosure can remain on your credit for up to seven years while a short sale usually gets reported as a “settled debt” and is significantly less damaging. With a short sale, your FICO score will not be as negatively impacted as it would be with a foreclosure, and you will be able to get into a new home much sooner.

Why would my lender agree to a short sale?

In most distressed mortgage situations, foreclosure is a last resort for all parties involved. Simply put, both the homeowner and the lender usually want to avoid foreclosure at all costs. That is why lenders have come up with various alternatives to foreclosure, which they are typically very motivated to pursue prior to going to foreclosure. A short sale gives the lender the ability to cut its losses upfront thereby avoiding the expense and time of a foreclosure and potentially greater losses. Lenders want to make loans, they do not want to be in the business of owning and managing real estate. In nearly every case, a short sale offers a better return on the lender’s investment than a foreclosure does.

How much will a short sale cost me?

Absolutely nothing with Short Sale Pros. Unlike other loss mitigation companies, Short Sale Pros provides our short sale negotiation services at no cost to the homeowner. Our fees are never paid by the homeowner, and we are only compensated if we successfully negotiate a short sale.

How long does a short sale typically take to complete?

Every short sale situation is unique and follows its own timeline. Typically a short sale is completed within one to four months from the time we have a complete short sale package ready to present to the lender. Having said that, we have successfully negotiated a short sale in as little as two weeks. Timing depends on how quickly we can begin negotiating with your lender.

Sometimes also referred to as a real estate short pay-off or a pre-foreclosure workout, a short sale is an agreement with a lender to accept less than the amount owed by a borrower via a sale of the property to a third party.

Facing a situation in which the property value decreased and can’t be sold for the amount owed on the mortgage, the lender may make a deal to sell the home for whatever it will get on the market. If the sale price is less than the amount remaining on the mortgage, then the lender will get the proceeds and discharge the remaining debt.

Even though the delinquent mortgage will still have a negative impact on the seller’s credit rating, at least short sellers avoid credit reports showing “debt discharged due to foreclosure”.

Having a foreclosure on your credit report is the worst strike, after bankruptcy, and can reduce your credit score by more than 250 points. Instead, short sales show up on a credit report as a “pre-foreclosure in redemption” status and can result in a credit score reduction of 100 points or less. After the sale, the mortgage may show up as “discharged.”