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Short Sales in Orlando Series overview

In Lesson 1 the definition of a short sale was established.  The homeowner negotiates with their lender to sell the property less than what is owed. If the lender agrees then you have a short sale.  Although the definition is very simple, the process and results are quite complex.  Complex in terms of time, guidelines, negotiations, paperwork, parties involved, closing, patience, and emotions.  We will begin to simplify the complexities of the short sale.  In Lesson 2 we walked you through the foreclosure process in the great state of Florida.  It is critical to have a basic understanding of the legal process in order to have a successful short sale.The Short Sale Process in Orlando FloridaNote: This article describes the short sale process in Florida.  Because the foreclosure and short sale process are closely connected, please be sure to understand your state foreclosure process and laws.  The short sale process will be slightly different based on the foreclosure process in your state.In order to have a positive outcome using the short sale option, one must first understand the lender’s short sale qualifications.  The short sale option is not for everyone because it may not meet your goals or the lenders criteria.  The first step is to determine your hardship.  If you don’t have a hardship and can make your current payments the lender may not consider a short sale.  A hardship can be anything.  A few examples are job loss, job relocation, divorce, loss of income, death, medical bills, care for a sick family member, property tax increase, insurance rate increase, adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) increase, or a combination of several hardships.  What is your hardship?The second step is to answer this question.  Do you want to save or sell your home?  If you want to save your home then the short sale is not an option at this point.  To save your home you must immediately contact your lender to see if you qualify for a loan modification program.  The lender has incentive to keep you in the home because the foreclosure process can be time consuming and costly.  In most cases the lender will modify the terms of the loan by lowering the interest rate or extending the length of the loan.  Make sure you fully understand the terms of the program because many of the programs are short term and not permanent.  If interested in this option, please contact us about our Attorney based loan modification option.  Do you want to save or sell your home? If you answered “sell” your home, it is important to be committed and not wavering back and forth.  Of course if your situation changes then you may reconsider but if your situation does not improve be committed to sell your house because your lender may accelerate the foreclosure process.Step 3 is immediately contact your lender to discuss the short sale option.  If you are not behind on payments they may not even entertain this option with you.  Some lenders have told homeowners when you are behind on payments then call us.  The key here is to put the lender on notice you want to short sale the property.  The lender will provide you a list of items to submit referred to as a Short Sale Package and specific instructions to follow.Step 4 is to submit the short sale package.  The short sale package is a list of items required by the loss mitigation department to review your case.  This includes 3 recent and consecutive pay stubs, 3 recent and consecutive bank statements, previous two IRS tax returns, financial statement, hardship letter, and a copy of drivers license.  Once you collect all these documents you will fax them to the lender.  The key is to submit a complete package all at once.  Be sure to put your case number at the top of each document you submit to ensure all your documents are filed properly by the lender.  You will need to follow their instructions exactly to have any success.  For most folks this can emotionally be a challenge because you are working with a company that wants to foreclose on you.  So it is critical you remain patient and calm because the short sale process is lengthy, time consuming, with lots of paper work.Step 5 is to determine market value of your house.  Research recently sold houses around your area or comparables.  Also research current listed properties in your area.  The combination of the two will give you a good indication of what properties are selling for in your area.  Then you have to consider the condition of your house, any major repairs required, and upgrades or amenities of your house.  Taking all this into consideration will give you a good idea what the property is worth.Step 6 is to find a buyer.  Start to market your house using the internet (Zillow), flyers, signs, and word of mouth.  If you are not comfortable selling your house on your own, you may consider a Realtor or a private investor at this point.  Keep in mind one of the requirements of the lender might be is to list your house on MLS.  If this is a requirement, at the very least you will need a listing agent.Step 7 is to stage your home for buyers.  This may include cleaning the inside of the house, making minor repairs, and outside landscaping.  Curb appeal is important because this is the first impression of the house with potential buyers.  If you are living in the house make sure you straighten up the place and remove the clutter.  You want to make the house look bigger and less clutter will do that.  On the outside trim the bushes and trees, cut the lawn, pressure wash the drive and sidewalk, fresh coat of paint on the front door, rake the leaves, whatever it takes to give the house curb appeal.  You don’t have to spend a lot of money but you will need to spend time and effort to provide a competitive advantage over other homes for sale.  At this point you want potential buyers interested in buying your home.Step 8 is obtain an offer from a potential buyer.  Don’t be discouraged if you receive low offers.  It is a buyers market and folks are looking for the best deal they can get.  Go ahead and submit a reasonable offer even if it is 75% of what you believe is market value.  You have a potential buyer and that is key.  Step 9 is the lender will order a Broker’s Price Opinion (BPO).  The BPO agent is typically a Realtor who may or may not be familiar with your area.  The BPO agent will do an evaluation of the property and provide the lender with their opinion of the value of the property.  A good BPO agent will look inside and outside the house to determine the condition and any repairs needed.  Then the BPO agent will research recently sold and currently listed houses.  The BPO agent will consider all these factors and provide the lender their opinion of the true market value.  A not so good BPO agent will just drive by and take pictures of the property and research recently sold houses.  The key here is to make sure you are present when the BPO agent is scheduled to analyze your property.  You want to ensure the agent has all the facts to assist them to determine a fair opinion of the value of the property.  If the BPO agent is too high and above market value, then you are in for a tough road with the lender and buyers.  For example if the lender thinks the value is 200k based on the BPO and buyers think the value is 150k then you will need to convince the lender to come down and buyers come up on their values.  The closer the BPO value and prices buyers are willing to offer, the quicker you will be able to sell your property.  Don’t take this step lightly.Step 10 is contact the lender to determine the BPO value.  Don’t be surprised if the lender does not disclose this information.  The lender will want you to get the buyer to come up on their offer.  This most likely will be the case because the lender is looking for the best and highest offer to minimize their loss.Step 11 is to contact the potential buyer and get them to increase their offer.  Submit the new offer to the lender.Step 12 is to contact the lender with the new offer.  The lender will either accept, reject, or decrease their amount of the offer.  If they accept go to Step 14.  If they reject or reduce their price continue to Step 13.Step 13 is to contact the buyer with the rejection or reduced price.  The buyer will either accept, reject, or submit a new offer.  If they accept go to Step 14.  If they reject then you are done with this buyer.  Find a new buyer but you will have a better idea what the lender is willing to accept right now.  If they submit a new offer go to step Step 12.As you can see negotiating with the lender and buyers can be time consuming and frustrating.  The lender may take several weeks to reply to an offer.  There are many reasons for this which include getting approvals, contacting the investor of the loan to lower their guidelines, or the simple fact the lenders have millions of short sale deals which they are processing.  The key is to communicate constantly with your potential buyers and let them know the lender is considering their offer.  Buyers want to close quickly but reality is that short sales take time.  Keep in mind better the offer, quicker the sale.Step 14 is schedule the closing.  This will include finding someone to conduct the closing which is typically a title agency or lawyer.  A title search will be required.  The buyer may want to conduct an inspection of the house prior to closing.  The buyer may have to get final approval for a loan.  If there is a second loan on the property, the second mortgagor will need to agree to a payoff amount.  The final HUD statement will need to be approved by all parties.  A lot of tasks need to be completed before the sale is final so make sure you get a good closer to ensure the sale does not fall apart.Step 15 is a successful short sale.  The buyer received an under market value house, the lender received an agreed upon partial payment of the loan, and the homeowner avoids foreclosure and moves on with their life.  The steps above by no means is how a short sale will exactly proceed.  Instead it is to illustrate the major steps in the short sale process.  Each lender is different and may have slightly different process and requirements but for the most part these are the main steps.  Also the time frame of each step was intentionally excluded.  The short sale process has a lot of independent moving parts and requirements.  If all these parts are aligned perfectly then the short sale process could take only a few months.  But reality is that a short sale can take up to a year to conclude.  Also the foreclosure process will influence the length of this process depending if the lender wants to aggressively pursue a foreclosure.In summary, the short sale process is not a cookie cutter approach.  Just understanding the main steps in the process is just the beginning.  You will need to determine how much time and effort you can afford to spend in this process.  You will need to spend a lot of time on the phone with the lender’s loss mitigation department.  If you have multiple secured loans, then you will also have to spend time with additional loss mitigation departments.  You will need to spend a lot of time marketing your property.  You will need to spend a lot of time with potential buyers.  Then you will need to bring it all together for the closing.  Plenty of negotiation skills are required to bring all the parties together on a final decision.  And you will need to keep your emotions in tact the entire time which can be difficult while dealing with your personal hardship, corporate red tape, different personality types, and your pending foreclosure.  If you are hesitant about performing a short sale on your own, don’t feel bad.  There are options available for you to consider, like an experienced Realtor dealing with short sales.  We provide a turnkey solution for short sales and the services are free for all homeowners facing foreclosure.  Our philosophy is you are facing foreclosure for a reason and can’t afford to pay to work your short sale.  The short sale process is very complex and requires an experienced team working hard on your behalf.  Even if you are currently working a short sale contact us to discuss your situation.Understanding the process, effort, and skills is not the only consideration in a short sale.  There are other personal ramifications to consider.  The next Short Sales in Orlando Florida lesson we will next discuss some personal ramifications.