The world of short sales…again!
Well, it’s Monday morning…and once again I’m here waiting to here back on a short sale. Over 14 days ago an offer was submitted on a house in Anderson County, Clinton to be exact and the lender has yet to respond to phone calls or emails. Is it any wonder that so many homes are going into foreclosure? As a buyer, you get approved to short sale your house…you submit a ton of paperwork including personal taxes, letters from realtors, anything describing why you cannot pay for this house any longer. It gets lost 2 or 3 times and you keep submitting it. You finally get approved and get the house ready to sell. A few days after it is listed, if it is a good deal, you find a buyer. Then once again, the offer gets submitted to the mortgage company, you fill out more paperwork along with the buyer filling out extra paperwork and you wait…and you wait…and you wait. You call the mortgage company daily to hear “don’t leave more than one message or your call will not be returned in a timely manner”. Well, over 2 weeks later, we are still waiting for a return call.
If you are wanting to buy a short sale, expect 2-3 months to close and a lot of paperwork. Is it worth the deal you are gonna get? You have to weigh that in…and be patient…very patient. If you are selling in a short sale, be prepared to fill out lots of paperwork over and over again. As a seller, you are getting rid of the monthly debt without have a “foreclosure” on your credit but you are also accepting a lesser amount and actually recieving a “gift” from your mortgage company that could be taxed.
There is so much involved in a short sale but the major thing to remember is that you have to have patience. This is my 3rd short sale deal and my patience is wearing thin. It is very hard to represent a buyer and feel like you are actually doing your job in their best interest when you go weeks without anything to tell them other than “no news”. I’m very lucky that my clients know me very well and they know that I’m looking out for their best interests (Thanks Mike and Olivia).
We just have to all remember to be patient! I understand why the average person just lets their home go back. It is so disheartening to be in a bad financial situation and have so much paperwork (half of which you don’t even understand) to fill out over and over again and then to wait months and months to even find out anything. I can’t imagine being in that situation, even I get frustrated and I’ve been trained in it!
Patience..patience..patience!