Fercodini Properties, Inc.

Real Estate Corner

Short Sales and Foreclosures

     First is to understand why there are foreclosures. Most people assume it is just the economy but in truth there are many contributing factors: divorce, illness, death of a spouse, a homeowner may have experienced a temporary or permanent loss of employment or  a pay cut and of course an interest rate jump on their adjustable rate mortgage (ARM).  Homeowners do not want a foreclosure on their credit reports but what is the alternative.

     Short sales are an excellent way to avoid a foreclosure, it’s a win-win situation for both the homeowner and the bank, as the homeowner avoids a foreclosure on their credit report and the bank avoids the additional expense of the foreclosure process.

    In a short sale the bank accepts less than what is owed on the mortgage.

     What is the short sale process?  First, we meet with the homeowner to do a comparative market analysis on their home to determine current market value.  Once that is done and we determine the mortgage owed is more than the present value we have a possible short sale situation.  In order for the bank to agree to the short sale the homeowner must be in default on their mortgage with their lender and the homeowner must have a legitimate hardship.  As part of the short sale procedure the Lender will cover most if not all of the seller’s closing costs including the Real Estate Commission, the State and Local Conveyance Taxes, Attorneys fees, closing fees, etc.

     Having brokered numerous short sales in my real estate career I have found it is not an impossible feat as long as you have patience for the process as some banks respond more quickly than others.

     For more information on the Short Sale process call

     Linda Fercodini,

     ABR, ABRM, CIPS, CRS, E-PRO, GRI, LTG, PSCS, SRES

     Fercodini Properties, Inc.

     203-879-4973