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Over the next few weeks I will be talking about short sales and foreclosures.  You hear the terms every day, but what do they mean?  Whether you are in the process of buying a home or you are currently a seller, and struggling to make your mortgage payments, this information is important for you to understand.

Today we will start with short sales. A “short sale” is when a lender (or lender’s) agree to accept less than what is owed on the property and release the deed.  For example, if you own a home and the current market value is $175,000 but you owe $200,000, the lender (or lenders) agree to accept $175,000 (less costs/fees of the transaction) and release the deed to the buyer.

This process is lengthy and requires a lot of negotiations with the lien holder(s).  Communication, cooperation and patience are the key factors in this process.  You need a real estate agent who understands the process.  It is important that your real estate agent negotiates the options of a short sale with your lender(s) PRIOR to listing your homes as a short sale.  An experienced agent in short sales will help you through the entire process, from beginning to end, including obtaining the necessary documents needed from you to send to the lenders.

The time frame of a short sale can take anywhere from a normal  transaction of 20-30 days to months.  I have heard of numerous transactions that lasted as long as seven months.  On a more positive note, I completed two short sales in Twin Falls in July.  One closed in 16 days (it was a cash sale) and the other closed in 21 days.  The sale that closed in 21 days did have a lender involved, who was obviously on the ball on this one and I had already negotiated the short sale with the lender.  Therefore, when the offer came in, the lender was prepared and had it returned to me with approval within twenty four (24) hours.

As an agent, I can now search homes for sale in Twin Falls that are in the short sale process.  This additional search option is an indication that “short sales” will be a part of our terminology for a long time.

Tags: buying a home in Twin Falls, homes for sale in Twin Falls, search homes for sale in Twin Falls, short sales in Twin Falls, Twin Falls homes for sale

Posted on Saturday, October 24th, 2009 at 1:27 pm and is filed under Real Estate, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.