Selling your house via a short sale is a complex transaction that requires the services of experienced professional.
First of all let’s define exactly what a short sale is. A “short sale” is a real estate transaction where the lender or lenders allow a property owner to sell that property for less than the mortgage balance causing them to get a ‘short” payoff, hence the term “short sale”.
Why would a lender do this you may ask? Generally a lender loses less money in a short sale than they would if they simply foreclosed on the property and sold it on the open market.
Generally two things have to occur for a lender to approve a short sale.
- The value of the property must be less than the amount owed; the mortgage or mortgages.
- The owner must have a “qualified” hardship.
Just owing more than the current value of your house is not a qualified hardship.
Some example of acceptable hardships are:
- Mortgage rate adjustments which make your payment more than you can pay.
- Loss of job or reduction in pay
- A death in the family
- Divorce
- A medical hardship
- Job relocation
- Military service
- Business failure
- Other reasons that create a legitimate hardship
If you think you might qualify for a short sale or just have questions, we’re happy to sit down with you and explain your options and recommend a course of action.
Jim Lee & Ann Cummings, “Your Seacoast Real Estate Experts”
www.MaineNewHampshireRealEstate.com
Give us a call today and let’s talk; no cost and no obligation.
