If you find yourself behind on house payments and need to sell quickly, prepare for journey ahead! Despite the name, short sales aren’t usually short. They can take anywhere from 1 month to years to complete. The process can be draining especially if you are just ready to sell and move on. But there’s hope! If you’re thinking of doing a short sale in Jacksonville, working with the right people can make the process a lot quicker and smoother.
What is a short sale?
A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the net proceeds from selling the property will fall short of the debts secured by liens against the property. In this case, if all lien holders agree to accept less than the amount owed on the debt, a sale of the property can be accomplished. So if you’re considering selling, what should your next steps be?
Call a real estate agent you trust
The first step is getting all your paperwork together and getting the house on the market. Your bank is going to want a lot of information to make a decision on approving a short sale or not. Some items they will want are :
- A letter of authorization which lets your agent speak with the bank
- A listing agreement and copy of your home in the MLS
- A hardship letter from the seller
- Two years tax returns
- 30 days payroll stubs
- Two months of bank statements
- A comparative market analysis
Once everything is gathered, your listing agent can send everything into the bank on your behalf. To make things easier, use a listing agent that has a good working relationship with a short sale attorney that can stream line this whole process.
Submit a buyers offer
Now, you wait to get an offer. Once you receive an offer that you feel comfortable with, all parties will sign off and the contract will be sent to the bank. At this point, all you can do is wait for the bank. They will ask for more paperwork and send their own appraiser out to determine a fair price. If the bank approves the short sale price that the buyer submitted, you can move forward with closing. But if the bank denies the buyers price and sets the price higher, you may end up losing your buyer and starting over.
Closing
Let’s say the bank approves the short sale price. At this point, the buyers will start their loan process and they will need to be quick! Most banks only give 30 days for a buyer to close on the property before they close the file and you have to start over. But if all the stars align and everything moves smoothly, the attorney handling the case or the title company you choose will get all the closing documents together and set a closing day! Hooray!
You may be thinking “this doesn’t sound too difficult” but the truth is, some banks will open and close files for even one thing wrong or missing in the paperwork. It can get very frustrating as the bank doesn’t work on our time and it can take 30-60 days before you even hear anything back initially.
Here’s the good news, we’ve handled our fair share of short sales and work with some of the best attorneys in Jacksonville to make the process as easy as possible. The best part, the attorneys are NO cost to you! Plus, you don’t have to worry about showings or buyers coming in and out of your home. We’ll handle everything from listing to buying your property. It is literally a one stop shop! And even if you’re not sure if you need or want to do a short sale, call us at 904-416-9398 and we can give you all the options to help you make the best decision possible!