Right now across many areas of the United States, house prices are once again on the rise. It’s because of this that many prospective homeowners find themselves in a bit of a bidding war, competing to offer the best price to get their hands on their dream homes.
While many areas are experiencing an uptick in their current real estate market, this trend hasn’t swept every single area yet nor should it be expected to do so. In some areas, many homeowners continue to find themselves desperate to sell their homes, yet find themselves fielding offers that are far below what they still owe on their mortgages.
In these cases, many homeowners have begun having to consider the pros and cons of pursuing a short sale of their home.
You might have heard of a short sale, but aren’t precisely clear as to what it involves. If you’ve had your home on the market for a while and all you’ve gotten are offers that are lower than what you owe your bank on the mortgage, then you may decide that it’s in your best interest to simply go ahead and unload your property for a lower amount than what you owe them.
It’s important to understand that you can’t just decide to do this unilaterally though, but instead, you must first seek out permission from your bank. They’ll need to agree to accept less than you owe them in order to move forward with divesting yourself of the responsibility for paying the mortgage on the property.
Data published by RealtyTrac in 2016 showed that just over 5 percent of all home sales that year were short sales. Many homeowners sold their homes via this option because they no longer could afford to pay their mortgage on a monthly basis and couldn’t find buyers that could pay the full loan amount due.
Many homeowners negotiate the sale of the their home as an alternative to losing their home to foreclosure. Doing so allows them to stay in their home up until the last minute. It also has far less of an impact on a homeowner’s credit than foreclosure does. The bank also pays closing costs.
If you’re considering short selling your home, then you may benefit from the guidance a Trenton real estate attorney can provide in your legal matter.
Source: Realtor.com, “What Is a Short Sale? The Long and Short Of It,” Judy Dutton, accessed May 02, 2018