Appropriate Short Sale Information Package
Banks need to make a decision about accepting your short sale and that decision will be based on the information you provide. Once you have decided to sell your home using the short sale process, you will need to gather all the relevant paperwork and submit it to the loss mitigation department. In the early stage of the Short Sale process, you may not have contact with the loss mitigation department, you may have limited contact with the general information phone receptionist. Generally Banks will not consider approving a Short Sale unless the homeowner is in arrears (behind on payments) at least two months, however, as inventory increases and more homeowners are struggling with falling market values and job losses, they are becoming more flexible with their approval guidelines for short sale transactions.
Short Sale Documentation Required:
1) Hardship Letter
2) Letter Of Authorization (authorizing your lender to speak with your agent)
3) Last two months Bank Statements (all accounts)
4) Last two Pay Stubs
5) Two year Tax Returns
There may be further personal information required when the Bank is analyzing your current financial status.
List Your Home For Sale
List your home with a qualified Real Estate Brokerage, one experienced with Short Sales. Keep your home clean, organized and ready for show. The better the condition and cleanliness of your home, the higher the offer price will be. Follow these easy steps to
prepare your home for show.
Factors to consider prior to listing a Short Sale property:
1) Price
2) Salability
3) Condition
4) Seller Financing
Price:
Many times agents will undervalue list prices on Short Sales to create a bidding war. This is a mistake and the Northwest Multiple Listing Service that serves nearly every County in Washington State has instituted new rules and regulations to curb this un-ethical practice. It gives the seller a false sense of security that the home will sell because the price is so low. It provide a false sense of hope for buyers who think they are getting a good deal on a short sale property, and it causes unnecessary hardship on all partied involved. when the Bank rejects an offer because the financial loss is too great the Short Sale will fail. It also drives down prices unnecessarily depressing property values.
Salability:
In any market "salability" is a key factor to selling Short Sales. Keep your home clean and ready for show with as few restrictions as possible. In a buyers market sellers of Short Sale properties must make reasonable accommodations to buyer requests, including requests for showing. When qualified buyers are few and far between, restrictions can discourage showings. Be flexible.
Condition:
If you know of defects of malfunctions in any appliance or fixture, fix them. If finances do not allow for the repair and or replacement of broken items, then and only then should they go unattended.
Seller Financing:
When you are faced with an offer to purchase your Short Sale property, you will look at the buyers financing. When you are selling short, you will need to think about YOUR financing. What type of mortgage do you currently have? Do you have a VA loan, an FHA loan, or a conventional loan? And whether or not you have two loans, a first and a subordinate loan. These factors will effect your Short Sale listing and Short Sale strategy.
Washington State is a single action State which allows banks to either foreclose, or seek a deficiency judgment. They can not do both but that will not stop a second mortgagor (subordinate loan) from seeking such a claim. The only thing between you and the bank is an experienced Short Sale Company.