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our home is your safe haven and considered as the most important place for you and your family, that's why, as much as possible you want to keep your home.  But what if the time comes when foreclosure appears to be inevitable?  Perhaps, one of the most traumatic experiences a homeowner can ever encounter is leaving the house due to foreclosure.  You've been barely struggling with your mortgage payments and definitely when you reach the point wherein you already used your resources, you don't have any choice but to face the foreclosure.  That's pretty sad. :(

But of course, just like most of the things in this world, foreclosure has its own alternative too.  Short Sale.  Yes, short sale is absolutely the viable substitute if you are not qualified to refinance or amend your mortgage.  Another reason is if you are facing a long term adversity.  Moreover, short sale can also be an option if you are behind your mortgage payments and you are indebted more on your home than it's actual worth.

To learn more about this Short sale Solutions, read this full article here.

Too often, many homeowners doing a short sale read up on the internet and speak to friends, coworkers, relatives and anyone else whose done a short sale, about how they received $3000 relocation assistance by doing a HAFA short sale.

Sadly...this is NOT always the case. Simply going into the HAFA short sale program here in CA does NOT guarantee you will walk away with money.

Case in point.....First your realtor needs to determine if your servicer(the one you normally make or made your mortgage payments to for your 1st lien)participates in the HAFA program. Many servicers DO NOT!.

Also, even if your servicer(1st mortgage lienholder) participates in HAFA, the INVESTOR who is above your servicer and has final say so...may NOT be a HAFA participant.

Many 1st mortgage liens are SOLD to a private investor or group of investors that DO NOT belong to HAFA, nor do they have to abide by HAFA's guidelines and rules. 

OK, so let's say your 1st lien holder and their investor DO participate in HAFA and allow you to do a HAFA short sale.

If you have a 2nd lien, you need to also find out if THEY participate in HAFA...for if they DON'T...then guess what may happen when you go to close? Your 2nd lien holder could see the $3000 monies awarded to the seller(YOU) by the 1st lienholder and decide to GRAB or TAKE any monies on the table. Thereby preventing YOU, the homeowner from getting ANY MONIES awarded to you. Don't say NO...because I've seen it done.

Also...here's the kicker....and even better than the above. Let's say..Mr and Mrs Seller had a 1st and a 2nd on their home, and the 1st even agrees to a HAFA short sale, and so does their investor.And let's say your 2nd lien servicer WAS a participant in HAFA and agreed to participate. *  If your 2nd in this process gets SOLD OFF or CHARGED OFF during this process to a collection co. for x amount of months of NON PAYMENT on your part, then that COLLECTION co is NOT HELD to HAFA's rules and can collect the relocation monies at funding. The collection companies ARE NOT SERVICERS...and therefore they DO NOT belong or partipate in HAFA's rules or programs...so  since they are a collection company..they can TAKE the monies left on the table. Remember people...they are a COLLECTION company...they don't call them a collection company for nothing!!!!

Remember the 2nd lien holder, whether it be a servicer or now a collection co...has begrudgingly accepted what the 1st will give them, and they are NOT happy.

Please make sure when doing a short sale that you interview an agent who has done them extensively and has much experience in negotiating short sales. Please don't assume EVER that because an agent has these CDPE or SFR designations...that they KNOW or are VERSED in NEGOTIATING short sales. These companies handing out designations are PRIVATE COMPANIES charging realtors a $500 or more fee to take a 1 day or sometimes just a several hour course in short sales. THIS DOES NOT mean your realtor knows in the slightest how to navigate and negotiate the slippery slope of short sales. Many of these realtors who have gotten their licenses not that long ago or get these designations because they know that 50% of the market is upside down and if they want ANY business, they better get with the program and start handling short sales.

I am not knocking these designations....there are agents who have them and legally have experience and know how to handle short sales... the main thing is to check for experience in how many short sales they have done...and if they have DONE it themselves. Farming it out to 3rd party negotiators or attorneys, does NOT guarantee success.

Please ask many questions about the short sale process and scenarios. There is no magic wand that anyone can wave to make sure your short sale goes smoothly, for many things occur as roadblocks to navigate along the way. But with a strong negotiating agent who is familiar with all the ins and outs and possible scenarios that the banks, lenders, servicers, investors,and collection agencies throw our way....hopefully having this extensive knowledge and experience can help you obtain a successful outcome.

It really doesn't matter how experienced you are as a Short Sale List Agent. It doesn't matter how many CLOSED references you have..again as a Short Sale List Agent.  When it comes to approval, it is a complete crap shoot with the Negotiator holding all the dice.

I can tell from the first e-mail exchange, and often phone conversation if they won't e-mail, whether or not I am dealing with a sane Negotiator. 

The WORST negotiator I have ever had in the past 5 years was a Chase guy..I can still hear his plaintive voice telling me, "I'm sorry, but your Seller has too much money.  She can pull out of her IRA and make that mortgage payment"

"No, she can't.  She's retired, this home was a retirement hopeful, and she will let it go to Foreclosure as she has another mortgage for her primary res.  However, she will definately make a cash contribution of the $10,000 you are requesting."

"Hmm..well, I understand what you're saying, BUT.  I also see here that she charged $500 to Victoria Secret over the past few months.  If she's so broke, why did she do that?"

I was cleaning my horses pens right then, and literally had to sit down on the wheelbarrow and put my head between my knees to keep from cursing like a wild woman.

He turned down the file. BAM!  Here's the kicker.  Chase called me two more times on this same file, requested that I re-open it because their guidlines had changed.  I did, they rejected it again..generic rejection.  "Your Seller has too much money."  She chose to send them a letter telling them they could keep it as she was letting it go to Foreclosure.  Almost 2 years later and it's still sitting empty, the landscape is shot and the pool is boarded over.  Good decision!

That first guy still holds first position as far as insane negotiators. 

We've all got our favorites...