What is a Short Sale?

A Short Sale, also known as a pre-foreclosure sale, is when you sell your home for less than the balance remaining on your mortgage. If your mortgage company agrees to a Short Sale, you can sell your home and pay off all (or a portion of) your mortgage balance with the proceeds. Fannie Mae’s program is called Short Sale/HAFA II.

A Short Sale is an alternative to foreclosure and may be an option if:

• You are ineligible to refinance or modify your mortgage
• You are facing a long-term hardship
• You are behind on your mortgage payments
• You owe more on your home than it’s worth
• You have not been able to sell your home at a price that covers what you still owe on your mortgage
• You can no longer afford your home and are ready or need to leave

What are the benefits of a Short Sale?

• Eliminate or reduce your mortgage debt
• Avoid the negative impact of foreclosure
• Start repairing your credit sooner than if you went through a foreclosure
• May be able to get a Fannie Mae mortgage to purchase a home sooner (in as little as 2 years) than if you went through foreclosure (up to 7 years)

What is the process for a Short Sale?

If you qualify for this option, the process is similar to a normal real estate sales transaction. You will work with a real estate agent to market and sell your home. However, your mortgage company will also be working with you and your real estate agent every step of the way to:

• set the sale price (based on current market value),
• collect financial information and negotiate with other lien holders (i.e., your second mortgage company) if applicable,
• review acceptable offers,
• agree to the terms of the sale once a buyer is in place, and
• work with the buyer’s real estate agent and mortgage lender to finalize the sale.

In some cases, you may be eligible to receive relocation assistance to use toward your moving expenses and to make the transition to new housing easier.

A Short Sale may take up to 120 days, but this could be shorter or longer depending upon your specific situation. If you are unable to sell your home, you may be able to transfer the ownership of your property to the owner of your mortgage (also called a Mortgage Release or Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure).

Gather your financial information—Make sure you have your basic financial and loan information on hand when you call your mortgage company. You’ll need:

• your mortgage statements, including information on a second mortgage (if applicable);
• your other monthly debt payments (e.g., car or student loans, credit card payments); and
• your income details (paystubs and income tax returns).

Explain your current situation—Be ready to outline your current hardship and explain why you are having trouble making your mortgage payment, the reasons why this is a long-term problem and inform your mortgage company that you want to sell your home to avoid foreclosure. Your mortgage company will need to understand the reasons why you are having difficulty in order to find the right solution for you.

Contact your mortgage company or a Fannie Mae Mortgage Help Center—Tell them you are interested in a Short Sale and you want to see if you qualify.

Contact a licensed real estate agent—Tell them you are interested in listing your home for sale (if you have not already done so).

Dawn Whalen, Realtor, GRI, CDPE

317-807-1568

dawnwhalen@remax.net

 

Source:  www.knowyouroptions.com

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Claiming to Be A Professional Doesn’t Make You One, UNLESS You Are T.A. Kaiser

So last week I had some work done on my house in preparation to sell it.  First I must say, I am so sorry for what my sellers have to go through when selling a home.  I always recommend contractors to handle the bigger jobs for them & most often I recommend contractors I’ve had experience with.  If I have a contractor on my list of preferred vendors and they don’t to a great job for my clients, then I simply remove them from the list.

I am preparing my house to sell, and have my punch list of things to do.  One of the top priorities was to replace my 40 year old, still functioning, but scary looking Bryant air conditioner. 

I contacted several companies to get estimates on what I wanted done and only 2 of the 4 showed up.  One company called me 30 minutes after they were to have been there to advise me it would be another 30 minutes at least.  I told them not to bother.  Calling me ahead of your scheduled appointment to say you are running late is acceptable, calling me after the fact and then saying you will be even later is not.

We had a new HVAC system installed, and I will say that the company we chose, TA Kaiser was phenomenal.   I was impressed that they stated on their paperwork they will pull permits.  One would think all contractors would do this, but that is not the case.  There was one that wanted to argue the point with me, and say they didn’t need to pull permits.  Jeremy was early, (very impressive) listened to what I wanted and didn’t try to upsell me.  He advised me of what they could do and that the price he quoted was the price it would be, even if they found additional work that needed to be done during the installation process.

The only way I know that they were in my house is the fact that we have a new system, that works beautifully.  The technicians were on time, and arrived ready/willing/able to work.  True professionals in every sense of the word.  I had to do absolutely no clean up after they left, because they cleaned up after themselves.

The technicians were friendly, and helpful, and honest. They went out of their way to work through an obstacle that arose while they were doing the installation.  Once the old furnace was pulled out it was discovered that the sub floor was rotting and needed replaced.  Josh, the technician who was handling the furnace part of the installation, showed me the floor, expressed his concern at putting the new furnace in and the potential for it to eventually fall thru the floor if it weren’t replaced.  He could’ve just as easily put the new furnace in, and went on about his day, and never told me about this but he didn’t.  He talked to his scheduling department and advised them that when I called after the subfloor was replaced to get me on the schedule that same day or the next day. 

Subfloor was replaced that day, I called the scheduling department around 5:00 p.m. that day, and was put on the schedule for the very next morning at 7:00 a.m.  I know that the technicians worked a very long day the first day they were at my house and coming to finish the installation that early the 2nd day most likely meant they had another very long day.  They remained professional and pleasant. 

I could not be more pleased with the service I received as well as my new HVAC system.  T.A. Kaiser has a client for life, and will be recommended to any family, friends, or clients in need of HVAC services.

I could tell you about the horrible service I received from the other contractors, but I won’t.  Good, Quality service deserves to be recognized, those that are sub par do not deserve a mention!

Dawn Whalen, Realtor, CDPE, GRI

RE/MAX Select

dawnwhalen@remax.net

 

 

 

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