School Teachers Can Do a Short Sale

One thing that this Sacramento short sale agent is blessed with is super nice clients. All of my clients are really nice. But some of them are exceptionally nice, over-the-top nice, the kind that if you turned to talk to them while waiting in line at the grocery store you might feel embarrassed because you’d end up hugging a total stranger out of the blue — THAT kind of nice. And I am not a huggy-feely type of person. I am more of a firm handshake type of person.

This particular seller and her husband are high school teachers. They are super sweet, sensitive and caring. They started their life together as a young family in this home in Rancho Cordova. As the years passed, they, like many new families in Sacramento, outgrew the tiny 2-bedroom, 1-bath home.

They bought a larger home in a nearby community and rented out their former residence. Unfortunately, the rent did not cover the mortgage payment and unexpected rental expenses. But they could still get by because they both worked over the summer months at a summer school. When the economy crashed, they lost their summer employment. Expenses mounted. Like so many homeowners in Sacramento, they did not count on the value of the property falling as well. They had hoped if they ran into difficulty that they could sell the home. But selling this home was not an option because they were underwater.

We began this Rancho Cordova short sale in May. The market was very hot in Sacramento in May. Not as sizzling hot as it is now, but it was a strong beginning of our seller’s market. We received a ton of offers and had to sort through them all. One offer stood out from the rest. The offer was from a real estate agent who was trying to buy a home for her son and his fiancé who were beginning their own family. The lender in this situation was Sun Trust (notoriously slow), and there was a second lender that was demanding more than the first loan would allow. The buyer agreed to hang in for the duration and not cancel. Bingo, that’s our buyer.

It took us 7 months to negotiate and close this Rancho Cordova short sale. We were rejected once because the lender could not understand that teachers live on 10 months’ of income in a 12-month calendar year. An important thing I have learned over the years as a Sacramento short sale agent is not to give up. Not to throw in the towel. Especially NOT when sellers are counting on you and the buyers are counting on you. If there is a shred of hope, you find a way to get the message through, and you close.