Email Elizabethqualify for short sale
Can This Sacramento Seller Qualify for a Short Sale?
You may find this surprising to hear, but this Sacramento Realtor takes the time to analyze her sellers before listing a home for sale and she makes sure the sellers qualify for a short sale. I realize it looks like I never say no to anybody, but that’s just because I list and sell many, many homes in Sacramento, including some short sales. I will take just about any listing but I do subscribe to set criteria: I’ve got to believe the home will eventually a) sell, and b) the seller can’t be crazy nuts, like Dr. Jekyll and Hyde personalities.
The Sacramento short sales in particular require special attention because they require so MUCH extra work and time. You can bet I make sure my sellers can qualify for a short sale because that will ensure that my short sales will get approved. I’ve worked on short sales now for going on 10 years, and I’ve sold and negotiated more than any other short sale agent in a 7-county area. I stay abreast of new developments, laws and legislation, lender requirements and, quite frankly, there is not much I do not know about short sales. For a person who once said she didn’t have anything more to say about short sales, I’ve written 150+ articles, a book and goodness knows how many thousands of blogs and online tips.
Sometimes, I have to say no to a short sale. Not every seller will qualify for a short sale. Like yesterday, a nice fellow called to ask me about listing his home in Natomas. A quick search while he was on the phone with me revealed he travels the world, has built a home in the South Pacific and presently lives in a home he owns in Elk Grove, an Elk Grove home with lots of equity. Although he continued to insist that he lives in the home in Natomas and, when I mentioned the disparity, he claimed to live at both homes. Which I suppose he could, maybe he has more than one family, I dunno, but I don’t believe a short sale bank will buy it.
The best chance to qualify for a short sale is to have a financial hardship. The worst thing is to have excellent credit, lots of disposable income, and the ability to pay on the mortgage. Upon closer examination of this guy’s situation, it was apparent to me that we could sell his home in Natomas and he’d be short about $10,000, after all the costs of sale and existing loans were paid. For THAT he wants to short sale? It’s not worth it. He’s got the ten grand, and, upon review and confirmation, it would not be a huge sacrifice or stretch to just pay the difference.
But people have to make up their own minds what to do. I should charge for my advice but the BRE seems to frown on agents charging for advice when it’s not part of a sale. The financials the bank will pick apart should negate any chances of short sale for this guy. I work with more sellers lately who pay the difference and don’t short sale because the gap is becoming increasingly smaller, thanks to our recovering market.
My reputation is also at stake. I don’t want to put a buyer and her agent through waiting 90 days for approval and not perform. My short sales close. Because I qualify the seller. And I give straight-up advice. If it’s unlikely to work, I’ll tell you. My advice to other agents is to think through the short sale and seek out a short sale expert if need be, and don’t just throw every seller into MLS because they ask. Buyers, look at the track record of the Sacramento short sale agent before committing to buy a short sale.
Tips for Your Short Sale Hardship Letter
When I originally wrote How to Write a Hardship Letter, I did so as a link that I could use to send to my clients as well as creating a useful article for others contemplating a short sale. Whenever I find myself repeating a scenario, I figure it’s probably worth writing an article about. That way I no longer repeat it, and I can just send my clients a link to read.
A seller emailed that she laughed and laughed when she read my article. I was snuggling into bed with my husband, about to read an eBook on my iPad when I noticed the email, so I clicked to read my hardship letter piece. It is rather amusing, I suppose; I was focused. Especially the part about not getting waylaid and fooled into writing that things will get better. Not only will they most likely not improve for sellers who are severely upside down, but the bank doesn’t want to hear that they will improve. If the bank thinks a seller’s situation is temporary, the bank will not approve the short sale.
Another seller called to say she could afford to make her mortgage payments, and her lender, upon review of her financial statements, most likely would also agree that she could afford to make her mortgage payments. This seller apparently enjoys disposable income and makes a good living. She’s just tired of her home being upside down. That’s not enough of a reason to do a short sale through her particular lender.
There are a few lenders that will let a seller do a short sale without a hardship, but most of them want a documented hardship through a hardship letter. This doesn’t mean you make up crap, but there are ways to prove a hardship, which a seller might not be aware about. For example, if you’re retiring and moving away, that’s a hardship. On the other hand, paying for your daughter’s ballet classes and French lessons are not valid hardships.
If you want to know if you qualify for a short sale, call an experienced Sacramento short sale agent to discuss it. I always offer a free consultation to potential short sale clients. You can call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916 233 6759. But don’t call me to pick my brain and then hire another agent. That’s not cool.
Death Qualifies for a Short Sale
I suspect you’ve landed on my blog with the thought she is NOT going to talk about death and a short sale. But you would be incorrect or maybe you just don’t know me very well yet. I’ll talk about anything I darn well feel like on my blog. If you’re not interested in matters surrounding death, all I’ve got to say is you are going to be very surprised one day. That old grim reaper is hanging around and not just around us old people. You can’t escape it. One day you’re laughing and joking with friends, and the next day, bam, somebody is dead.
You just hope it’s not you.
I haven’t seen very many dead people myself. Once, driving along the Biz 80 freeway in Sacramento, I saw an upside-down Corvette. The windows were open. The driver was still in the car, shirt unbuttoned and this huge stomach was bloated and bare for all the world traveling by to see. I guess it took paramedics a long time to get there. They were probably stuck in a traffic jam on the other side of the road. Because even people on the other side of the road were slowing down to gawk. You don’t want to look but you do. It’s kind of human nature. I felt sorrow and horror for this dead person in the Corvette.
If this guy in the Corvette had a home that was upside down, the same as he was, his joint tenancy partner or tenants in common partner could sell that home as a short sale. Because death qualifies for a short sale. Even if his heirs were not on title to the property, they can use death as a qualifying factor to get rid of the house. Doesn’t matter if it’s Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or which bank is servicing the loan. There is no getting around it, death qualifies for a short sale.
To do a short sale involving a dead person, you need a recorded copy of the death certificate. It might take a while to get the death certificate, especially in Sacramento. I guess it depends on where the person kicked the bucket. If a person died in the hospital, I hear you get a death certificate a lot faster than if you came home and found your ex-husband dead in bed. That’s what clients tell me. I don’t have any first-hand experience myself.
But I do have a lot of first-hand experience selling short sales in Sacramento. I’m a competent and veteran Sacramento real estate agent. I am, in fact, working on two separate short sales this week involving spouses who have passed on. These are different than a strategic short sale or a short sale involving loss of income, for example. There is a lot of grief and bereavement. Pain. People need to talk. I listen. I’m not just in the real estate business. I’m a person, too. If somebody has died in your family and you need to sell that Sacramento home as a short sale, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916 233 6759. I know what to do. Remember, death qualifies for a short sale.
