You have had an experince happen in your life that has led you to need to sell your home. You have realized that what you owe on the home is greater than the value of the home. Therefore you are considering doing a short sale with the bank that holds your mortgage. What can you do to successfully navigate the process?
First, is immediately contact the lender who has your mortgage and request a short sale packagae. Most lenders have a department that is set up to handle these situations when you call. Some will mail them out to you immediately, others will e-mail and some have them electronically online for you. Once you receive the package, fill it out completely.
Second, interview and hire a Realtor to handle the short sale marketing and selling of your home for you. I always recommend talking to at least THREE different people and seeing what they feel you should price the house at, how they are going to market the home and that they have dealt with short sales or are comfortable dealing with them.
Third, pricing of your home. The reason I say talk to three different Realtors is that you may get three different prices on your home. Ask what their pricing strategy is. If a Realtor is signifcantly below market value the chances are great that they are not going to do you a favor. You will get a lot of activity and an offer that will be rejected from the bank...and probably back to square one. All Realtors have different takes on pricing strategy. But, one constant is if you are starting well below market value you are hindering your chances of a successfully negotiated short sale.
Fourth, photos of your home. Just because you are selling your home through a short sale does not mean you do nto need photos of the house.With over 90% of people starting their search online photos are critical for buyers to determine if they want to even look inside of your home or not. Too many times I see short sales with one or a couple of exterior photos and nothing else. You are not doing your self justice or helping to get your home sold by not having photos of the inside of the house taken.
Fifth, make your home accessable. Do not put unrealistic limittions on showings. The more accessable your home is the greater the chance of it getting sold. By refusing showings you are turning off buyers. You may have the occassionaly buyer driving through the area with their Realtor and all of sudden wants to look at your home...if possible let them. That could be the one family that buys your house.
Sixth, make sure your home is always is showable condition. You want to ensure your home is showing at it's best during all showings. Keep the place extra tidy and clean and ensure that it is properly staged for showing at all times.
Last, the most important part of this is when you do receive an offer. Negotiate in good faith. You, NOT the bank, is signing off on the house and the deal. The banks is only deciding if the negotiated price is acceptable to them and the market value out there. And when you do receive an offer and submit it to the bank for approval, have your paperwork ready. The bank will be asking you for updated financial information once they receive the offer...The longer you delay in getting the items to them the less chance you have of the buyer waiting on the bank...Time in this case is of the essence....
These may not be all inclusive steps. However; this is a general outline of how to get your home on the market and sold through a short sale process to avoid the F word (foreclsoure).
David diCecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com.
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