OK, let's start at the beginning again-

Every day since I became a CDPE (Certified Distressed Property Expert) I have clients, associates, and other Real Estate Agents ask me "What is a Short Sale"?  "Are they really good deals"?

A Short Sale is where the Home Seller is offering their Home for sale for less than they owe on the Home. The loan can be held by one lender or two lenders. Meaning they could have borrowed money the first time to buy the Home and the second time they took out a Home Equity loan.

Why would a Home Owner try to sell their Home on  the Short Sale process versus allowing their home to go into Foreclosure. The Answer, if a Home Seller sells their Home through the Short Sale process rather than going to Foreclosure than they are only hurting their credit approximately 50-80 credit points versus 250-300 credit points on a Foreclosure. In the future a Family that Short Saled their previous Home should be able to re-purchase a home within 2-3 years if they keep the rest of your credit clean and pay everything on else on time. Where as a Family that took a Foreclosure may not be able to purchase a Home any time soon. I know everyone is saying, "Well, with everyone having bad credit the banks are going to have to find a way to still lend to us!". Yes, I agree they will, but are you willing to pay the lending costs? People complain daily to me that the Homes rates are at 5.25%, can you imagine what their shock is going to be when the lender asks them for 12%-15% because of their foreclosure, which by the way will ALWAYS be public record and will stay on your credit bureau for 10 years.

I get the feeling that SOME people truly believe that they can walk away without paying the price, but they definitely will going forward. If you decide on selling your home through a Short Sale process you DEFINITELY will need a CDPE Agent. DO NOT USE AN AGENT THAT IS NOT A CDPE! We are trained to work Short Sale processes. Their are Agents out there that claim to know the ropes but can not get answers from the lenders for 3-4 months. Would you wait to find out if your offer was received for 3-4 months. I know I wouldn't-

Please feel free to write me or call me more questions about Short Sales at 630-674-2215. Next Blog, I am going to give you a list of questions to ask an Agent if you want to know if they truly know the Short Sale process- Stay tuned- Karen