Buying a Short Sale Home

With today’s state of the economy, there’s a slew of homes out there and some at bargain prices which can be great for homebuyers, especially ones that have never owned before. Short sales are one type of property out there that’s typically less expensive to buy. But there are a few things you should know about short sale homes. All My Sons of San Antonio will help you understand short sales better.

Let’s first start with a definition: A short sale of a home happens when the seller’s lender is accepting a discounted payoff to release an existing mortgage. But a short sale doesn’t guarantee that the lender will accept your offer, even if the seller does. A short sale home is basically in a pre-foreclosure state and very few of these properties close in less than a month.

In order for you to score a short sale home, the seller can be defaulting on the mortgage, meaning payments have to up-to-date. The lender may then consider the short sale if the value of the house has decreased. The seller might owe more than the value of the house, so by short-selling it, it will be aligned with the real estate market’s value.

Do your research before you consider a short-sale. Look at records and find out who’s name is on the title of the house, if there’s a foreclosure notice and how much is owed on the house. The San Antonio movers remind you that if there are two mortgages on the house, meaning two lenders, it might be even harder to score that short sale property. The first lender’s position is protected by the second, unless the second lender doesn’t want to foreclose. For example, if the seller of the home owe $100,000 to the first lender and $30,000 to the second, offering only $100,000 won’t be sufficient because that means the second lender gets nothing out of the short sale deal.

If you’re really interested in a short sale, the best way to get involved in it, is to work with a professional realtor who has experience in short sales. This will make the entire process go faster and with less challenges along the way. There are other things that you’ll need to buy that short sale. You’ll need a letter from the seller that proves hardship to the lender and other documentation, an offer letter, and an approval letter for your own loan.

As you can see, short sales aren’t as easy as they seem. It’s best to work with a reliable and credible professional that knows the business. And when you finally score your dream house at a dream price, don’t forget to call the local San Antonio movers for your easy and stress-free moving day.