Is a Short Sale Right for you?

If you live anywhere in Maricopa County in Arizona (the greater Phoenix, Scottsdale and surrounding cities) and you either purchased your home or refinanced it during 2005 – 2007 there’s a huge probability that you are underwater in terms of your property value – what you paid vs. what you owe.  Each neighborhood is different.  Some have seen property values decline greater than 50%.  Other’s have lost friends, families and neighbors to a foreclosure onslaught.  The reasons vary.  Initially we had the sub prime mortgages that defaulted.  Then, we saw a plunge brought on by lender owned homes in the area, especially the outlying suburbs.  Job losses brought on further decline in established neighborhoods as unfortunately a lot of homeowners were unable to afford their mortgage obligations and ended up either doing short sales or lost their homes in a trustee sale.  We’ve seen ARMs reset – and will continue to for a number of years which will further make it difficult for some home owners to make their new monthly mortgage payment as it may be substantially higher when the ARMs reset to a new APR. 

Interestingly, with property values down, rents seems to have increased.  Also, we’re seeing investors come in again and pick up properties to add to their investment portfolios.  If you can get a fairly new home, decent size for less than $50.00/sq ft & put a tenant in you’re going to see positive cash flow.  But that’s a different blog article.  Today I want to talk about shortsales exclusively.

I’ll have people call me to ask if a shortsale is right for them.  This is a good thing!  I find these are motivated sellers and somewhat educated on the market and at least realistic to know that they need help.  The profile of this seller is someone who acknowledges there is a problem but is hopeful that there may be a solution. 

The point I want to illustrate though is that regardless of what you read or what you heard there is no cookie cutter response to if a short sale is right for you or not.  Every situation is unique.  If your neighbor, colleague, brother, anyone has shared with you their experience that’s great, good or bad but that doesn’t mean you will have the exact experience or that your situation or the solutions for you will be the same either.  This is important for people to understand.  There is a lot of misinformation out there.  Everyone and their mother has a friend who said this or did that or this is what happened.  NO!  Do you hear me? NO!  For you and only you, your situation is NOT the same as any of them.  For starters your home is different.  Even if it’s the same floor plan on the same street.  It’s different.  Your bank,  your loan, your down payment, how current you are etc. etc.  Even if you both have the loan from say the same bank – chances are it’s still different.  Maybe yours was originated by that bank whereas your friends is only serviced by that bank.  Do you know the difference?  I’m guessing not.  And I could go on but I don’t want to get preachy.  The point is just because Aunt Sallie said this or Uncle Joe had this happened doesn’t mean diddly squat!   So, what do you do? You talk to a Realtor who has experience closing short sales, or a number of Realtors, whatever your comfort level is.  You talk to an accountant, you talk to a lawyer, preferably a real estate lawyer.  You utilize the professional opinions of these folks to figure out if this will make sense for you and your situation. 

I hope this helps you, especially if you’re prone to asking everyone else but the professionals that really matter on whether this is a good solution for  you.  Think of it this way.  Aunt Sally may have a lot of experience visiting doctors but can she really tell if that pimple on your back is carcinogenic or may become some day just by looking at it? No.  If the pimple is hurting, go see a doctor.  You may have to start with your family doctor, you may have to run some tests.  You may be sent to a dermatologist or an oncologist but regardless you have to pursue it or the pain won’t go away.  If you need to sell your home today for any reason whatsoever, and if you are underwater and couldn’t sell it to recover enough proceeds to cover the debt a shortsale is probably your best option but listen to people who are in the business vs. lay persons. 

I have seen too many people recently just walk away because they don’t want to deal with this or because they are so confused by listening to every Joe out there that it sickens me.  I don’t charge for a consultation.  Most of my colleagues don’t charge for a consultation.  You owe yourself to make educated decisions about yours and your families financial future.  It’s not the end of the world although it may seem that way sometimes. 

All the best!