What Is A Short Sale?

Posted by: najirashid on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

For the past week I have been forwarding properties to my clients with the following remarks in the listing, “property subject to third party approval- short sale.” Some of my clients have called me wanting to know “what is a short sale?” This is what I explained to them.

For homeowners who can no longer afford to keep mortgage payments current ( because of either a job loss, divorce, or an option ARM that’s resetting higher) their are alternatives to bankruptcy or foreclosure proceedings. One of the options is called a “short sale.” A short sale in real estate means the lender is accepting less than the total amount due. Not all lenders will accept a short sale or discounted payoffs, especially if it would make more financial sense to foreclose. Also, not all sellers or all properties qualify for short sales. Just because a property is listed with short sale terms does not mean the lender will accept your offer, even if the seller accept it.

Over the next couple of years I believe we will see a lot of properties subject to third party approval-“short sale” but lenders are smart stay tuned for the details…

 

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