Saturday, October 31, 2009

Short Sale Homes

By Max Buchanan

Has your house been on the market for a long time without any reasonable offers? Are you worried that your property value has declined so much that you will be unable to sell your home for more money than you currently owe on your mortgage? There are many homeowners in the same boat as you; you need to find out about short sale houses.

Before your house goes into foreclosure you need to get a short sale house deal. This happens when you can no longer afford your mortgage payments and you are unable to sell your home for a price that exceeds what you owe.

A number of short sale houses have seen drastic decreases in their value due to the housing market slump. The owners of the houses took out large loans with minimal down payments. The monthly payments that they made for the first few years went towards interest only. When these homeowners began struggling with their payments they were surprised to find out that they would be unable to sell their home for what they owed on it.

Short sale houses would undoubtedly end up as foreclosures if the owners did not get a short sale deal. Make sure that you hire an experienced attorney to negotiate your short sale house deal with the mortgage company.

Time is of the essence when it comes to a short sale house. You have a minimal amount of time to negotiate with your lender before they begin foreclosure proceedings on your house.

By contacting a lawyer as soon as possible, you will be able to minimize the damage that is done to your credit score. Your mortgage lender will be happy to discuss a short sale opposed to having to file foreclosure proceedings.

Depending upon your individual circumstances you may be able to get either partial or complete debt forgiveness for the balance that you owe the mortgage lender.

If your lender holds you responsible for a potion of the debt it will still affect your credit but it will do far less damage than a foreclosure will. A short sale is definitely a much better option than going through foreclosure proceedings.

About the Author: