What Exactly Is a Short Sale?

Selling your Lane County Home? Get a free home value report
Buying a Lane County Home? Search all homes for sale

 
Welcome to the second edition of our short sale series. Today, we explain what a short sale is and why it's sometimes the best option for homeowners.

A short sale is when you owe more than what your property is worth and you negotiate with the bank an acceptable price when you go to sell. For example, let's say you have a house that you owe $200,000 on. If the market shifts and your home's value falls to $150,000, you end up selling it for that much. Once various selling fees are deducted, the net selling price may actually be only around $135,000. Obviously, that amount isn't enough to pay off the $200,000 you owe.

In this situation, we negotiate with the bank to allow us to sell your property and forgive the difference between what they receive once the house is sold and what you still owe on the property. While a short sale does damage your credit, it's not nearly as harmful as a foreclosure and can even prove beneficial if you are in a bind.

If you have any questions about the short sale process, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, don't hesitate to give us a call or shoot us a quick email. We're always available to chat!

Is a Short Sale Right for You?

 

Selling your Lane County Home? Get a free home value report
Buying a Lane County Home? Search all homes for sale

Today I will be starting a 10-part series on short sales. Almost all of our business comes from these types of sales, and we always get a lot of different questions about them. There are a few things to consider when thinking about if a short sale is right for you.

1. Can you afford your mortgage payment? 
2. Is your property under water? If it is, how far under water is it? 

If your property is significantly under water is it that wise for you to spend the next 5-10 holding onto it? It may be better to just cut it loose and start fresh with a different property.

If you ask yourself these two questions, you will probably find yourself in a better position to answer the question above. If you have any more questions, please feel free to contact me via phone or email.

Be sure to stay tuned next week when we will be discussing what the short sale process looks like. 

As always, if you're thinking of buying or selling in Lane County, please get in contact with me.