Buying A Short Sale

BUYING A SHORT SALE

If you are long on time and patience and are hoping to get a good deal on your home purchase, the short sale market may be right for you. A short sale is when the mortgage holder is accepting less than full payoff of their mortgage in exchange for releasing the lien. By purchasing a short sale, you may also be helping keep a troubled homeowner from facing foreclosure. There are some things to consider before entering this market:

Know your market: Not every short sale listing is a good deal. Some properties have been so overmortgaged that even at a lower price than what is owed on it, it is still overpriced. It is important to know the values in the area and the condition of the property.

Work with an experienced real estate agent: There are a lot of potential issues in trying to purchase a short sale and an experienced agent can help you navigate them. It is important to know how along in the foreclosure process the property is and whether or not there are additional liens or encumbrances on the property that might prevent the sale.

Be prepared to be patient: The banks have been working to streamline their short sale processes, but it may take 3-6 months (or longer) to successfully purhase a short sale, and some of them may go back to the bank or go to sheriff's sale before approval can be reached.

Benefits of a Short Sale

Benefits of a Short Sale

If you own a home and are falling behind in your payments, you may want to consider a short sale. A short sale is when a property is sold for less than what is owed on the mortgage and the lender accepts the lower amount as satisfaction of the mortgage.
Benefits to the seller include:
1. A short sale may not impact their credit score as much as a foreclosure.
2. Seller can continue to live in the home during the process
3. Morally, sellers are not walking away from a debt but attempting to pay off as much as possible
4. Realtor fees and closing fees are deducted from the payoff to the bank, seller does not incur these costs.
Benefits to the Lender include:
1. Lender may not have to go through a costly foreclosure process.
2. Lender does not have to incur the cost for listing and marketing the property.
3. Lender is able to remove a loan that is behind from their portfolio.
For more information, visit my website at www.tulsasrealestate.com.