How to Time Your Sacramento Short Sale

Two things potential sellers tend to ask this Sacramento short sale agent. The first is whether the bank will do a short sale. The answer to that is generally yes, unless you just bought a new home in your name. If you’ve just bought a new home in your name, unfortunately, you’re pretty much hosed and you should probably talk to a lawyer about that bad advice. The second question is how long does it take to close a short sale? What a seller is really asking is not how long it takes to close but when the seller must move.

Closing hundreds of short sales give this Sacramento real estate agent a unique perspective. Based on a seller’s individual situation, I can pretty much predict when the seller will have to move out. In some short sales, a seller should not move out at all until closing. A little known and recent supplemental twist to the HAFA short sale, for example, withholds the $3,000 payment to the seller if the property is unoccupied.

I also ask sellers why are they in a rush to move out? If they are not making a mortgage payment, and most of them are not making a payment, it’s free rent to stay in the home. Why move elsewhere and pay two sets of utility bills? Plus, moving out leaves the home vulnerable to vandals. There are good reasons to stay put.

Timing the short sale is important. A seller’s convenience is the most important. A potential seller from Granite Bay called me last week. He wanted to know if he could rent back and close his short sale. I’m glad he called me and not somebody else because the answer to his situation is no. He needs to delay his short sale until he’s ready to move. His short sale will take 120 days and he needs 6 months. On top of this, few short sale banks will grant a short sale to a seller who intends to rent back. In fact, one of my team members brought a short listing in MLS to my attention last week. The listing agent had noted in the confidential remarks the seller would sell only to an investor who would let the seller rent back. The lender was Wells Fargo. Lottsa luck there, buddy.

In a Wells Fargo short sale, all parties sign an arm’s length. No exceptions. See, the thing is if a seller and listing agent commit mortgage fraud — and violating an arm’s length could be considered mortgage fraud — a seller has given the bank a potentially legal reason to set aside the deficiency waiver. That means the seller could end up owing the bank the difference between the sales price and the mortgage payoff after the short sale closed. Simply because the agent gave the seller bad advice. Legal advice, on top of it, which an agent is not allowed to do.

My time frame for closing a short sale is my seller’s time frame. I am in no rush. I won’t push a seller to put her home on the market. To do a short sale, a seller must be ready to move forward. I advise my sellers along the way and help them to adjust their moving plans depending on their particular short sale circumstances. Stuff happens. Are you ready to do a short sale? Timing that short sale is everything. Hiring the right Sacramento short sale agent is a close second. It’s OK to ask your agent if it’s time to put your home on the market based on your own personal situation. In fact, I insist.