The National Association of Realtors says that 500,000 short sales occurred in 2009. That is about one in ten homes sold this year. A short sale is the process where a troubled homeowner can sell their home below the mortgage balance with approval from the lender. The advantage to the lender is avoidance of the foreclosure process which is usually more costly vs. short sale. In most cases short sales take 90 plus days for lender approval. This is mostly due to clerical backlog due to the large number of short sale requests. Many short sales are cancelled due to buyer impatience. The process is also slowed when lenders nit pick Realtor's commissions. Many also try to hold the seller accountable for the debt in the future.
IS THERE A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL? YES AND IT IS NOT A TRAIN!!!
U.S. Treasury released new rules regarding short sales. New guidelines include $1,000 to $1,500 payments to homeowners to help cover moving costs and TIMELINES, and now has a more standardized process. Effective date for this new guideline is April 5, 2010. In the interim buyers & sellers will just have to be patient. To learn more about short sales, please contact us at piketteamrealtors@hotmail.com.