Simply put, a Short Sale is used to describe the sale of a home in which the homeowner owes the bank more than the home is worth. The bank agrees to allow the home to be sold for less than what is owed (AKA “Short Sale”).

Basically, the bank is agreeing to take less money for what is owed on the loan.

Yes. Contrary to popular belief, it is not difficult to qualify for a Short Sale. A good Short Sale candidate has no equity in their home. They are not able to sell their home and pay off all of the outstanding loans/debt that are secured against their property.

If you owe more against your home than it is currently worth and want or need to sell it but can’t or won’t bring cash to closing to make up the difference between what you owe and what your home is worth, then you are a prime candidate.

We would like to say: “Yes!” But the truth is, short selling their home isn’t the right move for everybody. Here are a couple of important signs that can help you determine if doing a short sale is right for you:

• You are behind on your mortgage payment and are unable to keep up with all of your monthly obligations. Some of the reasons for falling behind on your mortgage payment may include sudden change in monthly household income, loss of job, divorce, and more.
• You are NOT behind on your monthly mortgage payment but know that you will soon be unable to keep up with all of your monthly obligations and therefore in the near future will not be able to afford to keep your home.
• You are NOT behind on your monthly mortgage payment but need or want to move. Reasons could include a job transfer, a health reason, retirement, and more.
• You are NOT behind on your monthly mortgage payment and have come to the decision that staying in your home is not a good “business decision” or “financial decision.”

If you match any of these scenarios then doing a short sale could be the perfect solution.

With foreclosures on the rise in Arizona, banks are looking for any way they can to decrease the amount of loss due to these foreclosures.

Basically, it is much more cost effective for a bank to do a short sale rather than a foreclosure.

Banks are in the business of owning real estate and collecting monthly mortgage payments, so a bank will take a minor loss in a short sale to start that payment cycle again.

The truth of the matter is that a bank can minimize their loss by 10%, 20% even 30% in a short sale over a foreclosure.

Yes, we are currently working with all banks. Unlike some agents and investors, we do not “selectively choose” which banks we work with and which banks we won’t.

That depends on a number of factors, typically 4-7 months.

1. The First Stage requires working with you as the homeowner to get all of the required documentation that your bank will require us to send them – we refer to this as completing the Short Sale Package. This stage shouldn’t take longer than a couple of days but this stage lies solely in your hands (to get this process started right away, please complete the Short Sale Request form below.
   
   
2. The Second Stage involves us preparing the listing paperwork and scheduling an appointment with you to see your home and prepare your home to be listed for sale. This stage only takes a few days as well.
   
   
3. The Third Stage entails us aggressively marketing your home for sale and producing a willing, ready, able, and committed buyer. This stage can take as little as a few days or as long as a few months. On average we receive offers on our listings within 3-6 weeks.
   
   
4. The Fourth Stage is the actual presentation of the offer to your bank. This is where our expertise and experience in negotiating Short Sales takes place. The actual negotiation/approval process can take as little as 30-45 days or as much as 90-100 days. On average most Short Sales take between 60-90 days from the date the offer is presented to the lender to the date of the Short Sale approval. In most cases, 75-90 phone calls, emails, and faxes back and forth between the lender and our team are required. The process would not typically be described as “fast” on the banks side of things, but with the right team working on your behalf, you can be at rest knowing that everything is being handled diligently and with much care.
   
   
5. The Fifth (Last) Stage to the Short Sale process is the period of time between Short Sale approval from the bank and the buyer closing on the home. We prepare all of the buyers that we work with to be ready to close in as quickly as 3 weeks from the time of Short Sale approval. Often buyer’s will even close in as little as 10-14 days. If you are still living in the home at time of Short Sale approval, it is imperative that you move out within 2 weeks from Short Sale approval.

The good news about a Short Sale is that you as the Seller do not have to pay Realtor commissions – this is a savings of 6% of the price of your home.