When and Why a Short Sale Might Be Your Best Option

Tracy King is uniquely qualified to work with homeowners in a “short sale” situation. The bureaucracy, emotions and decision making require someone with her background.  Additionally, Tracy King's partner Keely Myres is a Certified Distressed Property Expert.  Together, Tracy King and Keely Myres have been able to provide a 100% effective strategy to home owners who are faced with short selling their home.

The difficult real estate market since 2008 has brought distress to many homeowners. Thousands of home mortgages are underwater – worth less than the loan principle – or adverse loan terms may render the homeowner unable to continue making mortgage payments. If one or more members of a household are unemployed or underemployed, the problems can escalate.

Traditionally, when homeowners could not keep up with mortgage payments the property would go into foreclosure. Loan modifications have worked for some people but not the vast majority of homeowners in unmanageable home loans.

Fortunately, there is the “short sale” option that has worked for many homeowners. In simplest terms, it offers a faster way to exit a bad mortgage and to shed residual home-related debt – enabling people to get a fresh start at manageable living costs. It is a house-selling, debt-management method that is expertly orchestrated by the professionals on the Tracy King team.

In simplest terms, here is how the short sale process works:

Study your home-sale options relative to a short sale

A short sale might be preferable to a foreclosure, and a loan modification may not be possible. Your Realtor can discuss these different options, as every homeowner’s particular situation is unique.

Consider, for example, that a homeowner owes $400,000 on a house that is now valued at $280,000, and perhaps their payments may be going up due to adverse loan terms or that person or family may experiencing a hardship, such as unemployment, underemployment or unmanageable medical expenses. To simply sell the home at its market price would still leave him or her paying on debt for a home they no longer live in. In a short sale, creditors are asked to take less than what is owed; in return they incur fewer costs than would otherwise occur in a protracted foreclosure process. Concurrently, the seller is released of a difficult debt in a relatively short period of time.

Your Realtor works with lenders and creditors

The Tracy King Team is experienced at submitting all legal filings and engaging in negotiations with creditors to achieve a short sale. If a home is already in foreclosure, they can stop that process by explaining to the bank how much the home is likely worth and the seller’s interest in a short sale. Under this arrangement, the bank is freed from owning and managing a property when instead a new owner purchases it – reducing the bank’s costs overall. Other creditors (such as municipalities owed money for property taxes) are also engaged and similarly agree to reduced obligations because that is better than getting nothing in a foreclosure or bankruptcy.

Sell the house

With the short sale negotiated, your Realtor is able to market the house a price that is in line with comparable properties. Often, the term “short sale” in marketing materials tells the buyer that it is priced to sell. For many sellers in a short sale, the process is completed in about six months – freeing them from a burdensome situation, enabling them to move forward under better circumstances.

Trained as a social worker, Tracy King understands both the emotional challenges and the bureaucracy that are inherent in underwater properties and adverse loan terms. The goal that she and her team pursue is to rectify difficult circumstances and achieve optimal outcomes for all involved.