10 Tips For Sellers And Agents To A Successful Short Sale

This is a list in part taken from recommendations made by a major mortgagor and servicing company which is currently dealing with a good number of short sales. Overall these tips are geared toward agents processing the short sale, but you as a seller and/or buyer will benefit by knowing these. Even if you hire an agent you need to know how the process works.

1. Educate yourself about the short sale process.

Increase your knowledge of short sales and become an expert on banks process. Each lender has their own process and a key to more efficiency, less stress and success is knowing how a particular lender process the short sale and holding your self and the bank to it. The more you understand about short sales, the better you’ll be able to navigate and facilitate the flow of the transaction.

2. Set homeowner expectations.

It’s crucial that you as the homeowner and all parties involved understand the nature of a short sale transaction.

More paperwork is required and approval and cooperation are needed from multiple parties, including investors, lien holders and mortgage insurers.

This added work and paper trail increases the possibility that there may be delays in the process and the transaction will take longer than a typical home sale.

3. Make sure additional liens are released.

Identify all liens on the property and seek release for those that are not serviced by the lender. This could be mechanic's liens or unpaid recorded HOA dues or even city violations that have been recorded against the property.

Continue reading the remaining 7 of 10 Tips For A Successful Short Sale