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Because I am very active in Short Sales in the Portland, OR metro area, I get all kinds of questions by email and phone.

As much as possible, I try to keep the questions and answer in email form.  One of the most common questions I get is:

"should I short sale or not".  My answer is almost always "it depends".  Basically, whether a short sale is a good strategy to unload a property, or not, depends on the specific situation.  The email sequence below is a good example of this.

Email Sequence:

Customer questions are in navy.  My replies are in blue.

Hi -

I have an initial question on my possible options. I got divorced 2 years ago and still jointly own a house with my ex wife, which is under water by aprx $55k, I owe $260k. I am current on my mortgage.

I have a first for $200k and a second for $60k. My problem is I could afford to pay the defect, but don't want to pay her 1/2. Additionally I'd like to not impact my credit or damage my chances of buying a new house in the next few years.

Please could you let me know possible options from your perspective, so I can begin a plan on selling my house.

Thanks.

Ken

Ken,

Thanks for contacting me. 

It seems to me you are not much underwater.  Maybe you need to buy her off the title and keep the house.  The ticket is to do it now rather than when there is equity, because you will get there.  At that point she will want her cut, even if she is not paying now.  Cash plus resentment area bad combo.

Is the property vacant?

Another option is for you to pay the short fall of the sale if you want to sell with no default.   That would be around $80K by the time you add the second mortgage, the unpaid part of the first, the real estate commissions and other things.

Hopefully this helps.  For a short sale you need to default.

Oscar

Thanks for the quick response Oscar. The house is not vacant, I am actually currently residing there.

I assume that default is the worst possible option and would completely ruin my credit (and potentially leave me exposed to lenders wanting to come after debt recovery)?  I have a feeling this would be my ex's preferred option, which I want to steer clear of. Do you know if a default in her name would impact her new husband or just limit their future lending options as her credit will be poor (that could be a good deterrent).

I guess my other option could be to buy her out, then potentially look at renting it, although my mortgage is currently at 6.5% :(

Thanks again.

Ken

Ken,

It seems you are better off buying her out.  You will have to pay for rent or mortgage anyway.  Offer her $2K for getting out of the title.  Do it at a title company.  I can connect you.

Don't take this as legal or tax advice.  Just a pointer.

Let me know if you need anything else. 

Oscar

Oscar Morante
Ph:  971-222-3734
Fax: 866-844-7009
PDX Experts Real Estate, LLC
www.PDXExperts.com
534 SW 3rd Avenue
Suite 305
Portland, OR 97204

Real Estate Agent
Realtor

In my previous blog post, I estimated that in 2014, home prices were expected to rebound. 2012 however surprised all of us with sharp price increases. What is causing this price increase? A number of factors may play into it but one of the main variables is the lack of supply thus increasing demand and prices. It is a seller's market and will probably remain until the latter half of this year. However, I don't believe this will last.

Based off our research, there is a artificial lack of inventory meaning, home prices may very well halt its increase and decline for some time. Let's explore why short selling now would be in your best interest.

What will the status of the housing market be in the next couple of years? Only time can tell. What we can investigate are the factors that led to the volatile home prices.

We are seeing large hedgefund investors like blackstone and other cash investors, buy out most of the inventory. Concurrently, new legislation as seen in California, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington, are slowing down the foreclosure flow in those areas which according to Daren Blomquist, VP of RealtyTrac, will result in a backlash of foreclosure activity at the end of this year and into 2014. RealtyTrac is still expecting to see about 600,000 REO's enter the market in 2013. This indicates a hit on home prices to come.

At the same time, homeowners are vulnerable to a large tax liability at the end of this year. The mortgage forgiveness debt relief act is set to expire Dec. 31, 2013. For more information, please read our previous blog post.

A short sale is when you sell your home for less than what is owed. The remaining balance owed is negotiated so if home prices decrease, the difference between the sale price and the amount owed will only grow meaning you have a higher risk of owing more to your lender after you short sell your home.

Moral of the story, no one can fully time the housing market but the uncertainty should create urgency this 2013 year.

Hope this helps

Peter

 www.seattleshortsaleblog.com

The National Association of Realtors and the U.S. Department of the Treasury are collaborating to help Realtors better assist distressed homeowners who are struggling to Selling Your Home Through a Short Sale - Avoid Foreclosure.

Realtors who attend upcoming Making Home Affordable "Help for Homeowners" outreach events, sponsored by the Treasury Department, will learn insights to help them navigate the short sale process and have the opportunity to meet directly with loan servicers on their clients’ behalf for assistance with difficult transactions, according to a statement.

"As the nation’s leading advocate for homeownership and housing issues, Realtors are working hard to keep more people in their homes, and when a family is absolutely unable to keep their home, Realtors specializing in short sales, short sale specialists are there to help homeowners by facilitating a loan modification or short sale," said NAR President Moe Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Assoc. inc. in Miami.

"Help for Homeowners" community events will take place throughout the year; the first sessions are in Miami today and Tampa, Fla. on Feb. 24. Additional events are scheduled in Chicago, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, Calif.

The sessions for real estate professionals are not open to homeowners, but borrowers who are in financial distress and concerned about losing their home to foreclosure are encouraged to attend the free homeowner sessions. Homeowners who are having difficulty paying their mortgage will be able to meet one-on-one with loan servicers and housing counselors to explore foreclosure prevention options and work toward solutions to their mortgage problems. Real estate professionals are encouraged to invite homeowners and their clients to the events and are welcome to accompany their clients in conversations with the servicers.

The Opland Group Specializes in Real Estate Sales, Luxury Home Sales, Short Sales in;  Bexley  Columbus  Delaware  Downtown  Dublin  Gahanna  Grandview Heights  Granville  Grove City  Groveport  Hilliard  Lewis Center  New Albany  Pickerington  Polaris  Powell   Upper Arlington  Westerville  Worthington

Bank of America is making a process change that will reduce the processing time and improve customer service for HAFA Short Sales (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative Program) that are submitted with an offer.

The proposed change goes into effect Dec. 1, 2011, and impacts all short sales submitted with an offer in which the homeowner is eligible for the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA) program.

When a short sale is submitted with an offer and the homeowner is HAFA eligible, we will no longer halt work on the file while waiting to contact the homeowner. HAFA eligible homeowners are no longer required to call our Short Sale Customer Care to indicate whether they will participate in the program.

Instead, real estate agents specializing in short sales can indicate a homeowner's HAFA interest by submitting the necessary documents to Equator within 14 days. During that 14-day window, the short sale will continue moving forward. By the end of the 14 days, if we have not received the requested HAFA documents, we will continue to process the file as a traditional short sale.

This change is being made because we are transitioning the processing of all HAFA short sales with an offer from our outsourced vendor partners to Bank of America associates. A Bank of America specialist will be able to seamlessly transition a file from our traditional process to the HAFA process, thus improving customer service and the borrower and agent experiences. Homeowner's and agents should be aware that Bank of America's outsourced vendor partners will, however, continue to process all short sales submitted without an offer.

Action required:  

Short sales initiated on Equator.com that receive a HAFA eligibility message no longer require homeowners to call Customer Care to confirm their interest.

-  If homeowners wish to participate in HAFA, agents must submit the requested documents within 14 days.  (Note: the 14-day period begins the day the HAFA solicitation letter is mailed to the homeowner. Agents can obtain the date of the letter from homeowner.) 

-  If you are unclear about which documents to submit, contact your short sale specialist via Equator messaging. 

Additional Recommendations:

Homeowners interested in understanding the benefits a HAFA short sale, including the $3,000 relocation incentive at closing are encouraged to review HAFA Program or the HAFA education guide to learn more.

Bank of America also has put together a HAFA Eligibility FAQ for interested homeowners