Real estate brokers and homeowners often shy away from the short sale option. While a short sale isn’t ideal, we recommend it over foreclosure.
Through the years, we’ve helped clients successfully navigate short sales and bounce back.
Here’s one situation where a client found themselves on the lucky side of a short sale.
Situation
We helped a client overcome a potential foreclosure disaster.
The owners were making regular mortgage payments but had trouble with their second lender due to a lack of equity in their home and the loan coming due. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Challenge
The major challenge here were the minimal options available to homeowners who can’t meet lender demands. Most homeowners assume the worst—foreclosure.
Had our client gone into foreclosure, their property would have been seized by the lender if the mortgage payments stopped or if additional loan terms weren’t met. The property would have sold, and the homeowner would have taken a 7-year hit to their credit.
Homeowners are often forced to rent following a foreclosure. It’s difficult to find lenders open to providing a mortgage during the 7-year credit score issues.
Solution
The homeowners came to Minchella & Associates worried about their options.
They felt they shouldn’t be forced into foreclosure because they’d kept up with the mortgage. We suggested a short sale.
We understood that if the homeowner was suddenly unable to make mortgage payments, the lender and owner could agree to sell the house instead of foreclosing on it.
In addition, the home would sell for less than the amount owing on the mortgage. There were a few alternatives explored for dealing with the shortfall.
Outcome
We helped our client avoid foreclosure by conducting the short sale.
By following my advice and opting for a short sale, the client sold the home and settled the balance of their debt without a hit to their credit. While they did incur a penalty on their credit report, it was far less impactful than a foreclosure.
In the end, our advice allowed them to successfully purchase a new house near a quarter of a million dollars following the short sale. The home was near the same area as their previous home and within the same price bracket.
Working with an experienced real estate lawyer offers invaluable resources. In times of financial realty distress, a real estate lawyer thinks outside of the box to offer novel solutions. In this case, choosing a short sale allowed my client to pick up where they left off in a home they could be proud of.
