You have made the decision to sell your home as a short sale, but now what? Many people do not fully understand short sales or the short sale process and this creates stress, worry and miscommunication about how to move through the short sale process. Review these easy to follow tips to make sure that your short sale is effective and meets your home needs.

Mortgage Balance - The very first step of the short sale process for you as the seller is to accurately know what the balance of your mortgage is. If you have multiple loans on the property, each mortgage or loan holder has to approve the short sale. Understand that the mortgage holder or lender will set the price for the home, because they are the one that will be taking a loss on the sale of the property.

Hire Professionals - For the short sale process you will need a real estate attorney, tax consultant and a real estate agent that specializes in short sales. As an agent that specializes in short sales, I fully understand the short sale process and will ensure your best interests are placed first. Selecting qualified professionals to represent you in the beginning reduces the risks of errors and ensures your short sale is accurately monitored through each step of the process.

Prepare your Documents - A short sale of a home is not a guarantee and you as the seller must provide documents to detail your financial reason for the short sale. You are required to gather the requested documents and then the professionals you select will take the information to draw up your proposal. The proposal along with requested documents is submitted to the mortgage holder or lender. After the documents and proposal are reviewed by the lender, a decision to accept or decline the proposal will be sent to you. The more efficient you are at providing the documents lessen the amount of time waiting for an acceptance or denial of the proposal.

Requests and Demands - Considering a short sale is not like a traditional sale; expect and be prepared for multiple communications back and forth with the lender to finalize the deal. With each request from the lender, review the information with your real estate attorney, tax consultant and me, your real estate agent, to ensure that each request is in your best interest. Try not to delay in your responses to the lender as this will only lengthen the amount of time you will be waiting for the sale to be approved.

The decision to sell a home as a short sale is a big decision and I am here to help and answer any questions that you may have. We can review your options together, so you can make the best decision for you and your home. You can contact me, Laura Austin at (281)789-2911 or 936-321-2977 or email Laura@RealtyTx.net. To find out more information on short sales and avoiding foreclosures visit my website.

As you look at potential homes in the Conroe area, one of the homes may be listed as a short sale. In many cases, buyers tend to shy away from these types of sales largely due to the lack of understanding of the short sale process. The tips listed below will give you the edge when considering purchasing a short sale home.

Lower offers receive slower response: Potential buyers see “short sale” and make an offer tremendously lower than the value of the home, hoping to purchase the home at a steal. This process can flood the bank or mortgage holder with numerous lowball offers, and cause longer response time from the bank. The potential buyer may spend months waiting to hear on an extremely low offer, just to have the bank reject the offer. When deciding on the price to offer, consider the home’s value and what is realistic.

Continue looking at properties: The short sale process is not a guaranteed sale, so potential buyers should not focus on just one property. With the appropriate contingencies in the sales offer, it is legal to look and make offers on numerous properties. Before making an offer on a short sale home, speak with your agent to ensure your offer is written correctly and does not limit you to waiting months for a response on one home.

Approved Short Sale: An approved short sale is where the price of the home is approved by the bank. The approved short sale tends to be the quickest form of short sale since you are not waiting for the bank to approve the offer. This type of sale lets the potential buyer know from the start what offer the bank will accept, and can use this information to determine if the price meets their budget and needs of the home.

Must close on time: Short sales differ from traditional sales during the closing process. In traditional sales, an extension on the closing is typically granted, but for short sales, many banks will not grant an extension. As a buyer of a short sale property, you should set a goal to have the paperwork and your portion of closing completed a few days before the actual closing of the home. This extra time acts as a safeguard, helps to reduce your stress during closing, and allows time for unexpected items.

The decision to buy a home as a short sale is a big decision. I am qualified and here to help answer any questions that you may have. We can review your options together so you can make the best decision for you and your home. You can contact me, Laura Austin at (281) 789-2911 or (936) 321-2977, or email Laura@RealtyTx.net. To find out more information on short sales and avoiding foreclosures visit my website.

Whether you are buying or selling your Conroe home with a traditional sale or a short sale, a home inspection is a top concern for both buyers and sellers. In the traditional sale, the home inspection is typically performed at the beginning of the sales contract, but this is not always true for short sales.

As a seller who has selected to sell their home through short sale, you can request to not perform the home inspection until the bank or mortgage holder approves the sales offer. This way if the offer is rejected by the bank or mortgage holder, the buyer has not lost any money on the cost of the home inspection. Keep in mind with this option the length of time to close on the home is extended waiting on the home inspection, and the buyer still has the option to walk away if they do not like the results of the home inspection.

Performing the home inspection at the beginning of closing provides the seller and buyer with vital information about the home to help with preparing the final offer given to the lender. In short sales, the seller typically does not have the income to make the repairs and the buyer uses the home inspection results with the lender to settle on a purchase price. When the home inspection is present at the beginning of closing, the buyer knows the information up front and makes the decision to still purchase the home before sending the offer to the lender, which reduces the amount of time waiting in the closing process.

The last option for sellers of short sale homes is to up-front state the home is selling as-is. This option is preferred if the seller knows there are repairs such as a new roof and the seller cannot afford to make the repair. Selling the home as-is shortens the closing process even more by not having to schedule or wait on the home inspection. In cases where the seller is approaching foreclosure, this is the preferred option. Selling the home as-is reduces the number of unsure buyers as the buyer is aware upfront they will be responsible for all repairs on the home.

The decision to sell your home as a short sale is a big decision, and I am here to help and answer any questions that you may have. We can review your options together, so you can make the best decision for you and your home. You can contact me, Laura Austin at (281)789-2911 or (936)321-2977 or email Laura@RealtyTx.net. To find out more information on short sales and avoiding foreclosures visit my website.