Hi folks, 

I have a mortgage through Navy Federal that is owned by Fannie Mae. I owe 265,000 and was told by a realtor that I should list it at 257,000. I have about $10,000 cash in the bank. I don't have enough cash to cover the difference plus a 6% commission. I attempted to sell the home off and on between 2008-2009. I applied for HAMP and was denied (wasn't everyone?) in December of 2009. I've managed to scrape by with the help of family and remain current on my mortgage payments. My mortgage payment is $1970 per month. 

I must sell the house now. My parents have been helping me out by employing me through their insurance agency, but it must end. I have a job lined up that will require me to relocate out of the country. The organization will not hire me until I resolve the home ownership issue.

Based on my research, these are the options that I see:

- List the home with a realtor, hope it sells, and try to find the cash to make up the deficit at closing.

- Put my $10k in cash towards the equity and list the house as a FSBO with an aggressive price of $255,000, hope it sells at my asking price

- Work with a short sale specialist, hope it sells quickly, and that I don't have to sign a note that would require the same cash contribution as the first two options

- Apply for deed in lieu in accordance with HAFA (I received the app from Navy Federal, but have not submitted it)

- Mail NFCU the keys and keep my cash

I spoke with NFCU regarding deed in lieu and they were helpful, but a tad aloof. I couldn't get a read on whether or not they would give it serious consideration. She did commit to a three month timeframe to reach a decision, but my HAMP experience doubled the original 8-12 week estimation. I'm afraid to put all the eggs in the DIL basket, only to find out three months from now that I never had a real chance at successfully pulling it off.

Thanks for your feedback and support!

Mike