Five Short Sale Tips to Share with Your Clients Considering a Short Sale:
- Don't assume you have to sell your home and move: check about other options. Do you really prefer to keep your home if your payment could be made more affordable instead of selling? If so, you should call your loan Servicer - the company that sends you your mortgage bill every month. Ask them about any loan modification programs you may qualify for.
- Document your financial hardship. Lenders are much more willing to forgive debt for homeowners who have been hit with an unplanned hardship such as job loss or medical emergency. Get your paperwork together so you can make a case for any debts you are unable to pay back to be forgiven.
- Be sure you review the terms approved by the lenders on your short sale: and don't be afraid to say "no" later in the process. In a short sale, you often won't know the final terms offered to you by your lenders until long after you have selected a REALTOR® and listed your property. Be aware of this timing issue and be sure to review the final short sale terms approved by your lender or lenders before closing the transaction.
- Ask about relocation support. Some loan servicers have special programs and offer financial support for relocation in the context of a short sale.
- Check with your tax advisor. Even if you don't have one, check with someone to ensure your don't have a bad tax surprise caused by debt forgiveness. In some cases it is included as income on your tax return. This is particularly true for anyone who refinanced their loan and pulled cash out in the past, or took out a home equity line of credit.
As a REALTOR® you can help your clients by learning how to master the most important short sale program in the nation - HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives).
Register for the six-hour online Certified HAFA Specialist (CHS) training program to learn everything you need to know about the HAFA short sale program. Click here to learn more.
Distressed Property Forms add-on library for zipForm® 6
Everything You Need for a HAFA/HAMP Transaction – from checklists to supplemental forms
For more information and to view a list of what your add-on library includes, visit www.car.org/tools/zipForm6/DPL.
For more tips and information to share with your consumer, visit C.A.R.'s Short Sales - California website at: www.shortsalescalifornia.org/consumers/.
