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In the oftentimes chaotic world of short sales, the road from initial list to closing is filled with rough terrain, speedbumps, wrong turns, u-turns, no turns, stop signs, and many detours. Nary a day I fail to hear the laments of yet another agent succumbing to the trials and toils of short sales. In fact, in my 7 years of selling everything from normal market re-sales to REO and short sales, I've dealt with many different (and often frustrating) short sale transactions. In fact, I've had too many to count! I must say, however, that when I first found out about FHA's Pre-Foreclosure Sales Program....I instantly fell in love! It was Short Sale Xanadu!!!

The FHA Pre-Foreclosure Sales Program enables a home owner to short sell his property (provided he has a FHA loan, of course) with a very little amount of fuss and muss. Prior to being officially enrolled into the program, an appraisal is conducted on the property to establish fair market value. Once that magic number arrives on the desk of the Negotiator from the Appraiser, it becomes the list price...VOILA!!! No more guesswork on how much the bank will require for the sale of the property! Not only that, this program takes it a step furthr and gives you their secret formula of how much the bank must net as the market time increases! In addition to letting the listing agent in on the holy grail secret of what the bank has established as market value, the program also has other benefits:

*Up to $1000 in Seller Relocation Assistance (reduced to $750 if it takes more than 3 months to close)

*Pays up to 1% in buyer's closing costs as long as the buyer's using an FHA mortgage (Sometimes they'll pay up to 3% regardless of financing as long as their warm fuzzy number's met. Ask for a variance)

*Allows up to 6% sales commission for agents (yep, we actually get paid for what we do....what a novel idea!)

*Allows up to $1500 towards junior lien discharge

The benefit of knowing EXACTLY what you're dealing with even before the property technically hits the market makes the listing agent more knowledgeable about the short sale process AND makes the property more marketable to the buyer. For these reasons, my love affair with the FHA Pre-Foreclosure Sales Program will never end!

Happy Selling