What is a Short Sale?

When a homeowner owes more on his mortgage than his house is worth, and he cannot afford his payments anymore (loss of a job, interest rate hike, for example) one of his options is called a "short sale."

When lenders agree to do a short sale in real estate, it means the lender is accepting less than the total amount due. Not everyone qualifies for a short sale however, and if you are considering a short sale on your home, there could be drawbacks. For your protection, I suggest that all borrowers:

•Obtain legal advice from a competent real estate lawyer about a short sale

•Call an accountant to discuss short sale tax ramifications on a short sale

Although all lenders have varying requirements for short sales and may require that a borrower submit a wide array of documentation, the following steps will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.

•Call your Lender

You will need to contact the short sale department and get the short sale supervisor's name - the name of the individual capable of making a decision.

•Submit Letter of Authorization for a short sale

The short sale request letter should include the following:


•Property Address
•Loan Reference Number
•Your Name
•The Date
•Your Realtors' name & Contact Information

and

•Hardship Letter

Make it honest, tell the lender why you are in such a financial hardship situation, it makes a plea to the lender to accept less than full payment. Lenders looking at a short sale understand, especially these days, how the economy can affect income and expenses.

Your Realtor will also provide your lender with paperwork to help with the short sale process, and it can take a while for the short sale to be approved.

You will need to find a buyer willing to wait through the approval process, sometimes there may be more than one buyer, the first offer will be submitted, while any and all others will be held by your Realtor as back-ups in case the first offer disappears during the process. This is quite common, and short sales are becoming the norm, we Realtors are very knowledgeable about the process, if you need help contact me and I will be able to help you.





Jane Loveday
Windermere Real Estate Agent
Licence # 01439083
619-519-1615 Cell
http://janeloveday.com
http://www.facebook.com/realestatesandiego
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A day in the life of Real Estate!

It’s not easy, but there are some funny times and funny stories – in Real Estate there’s always something unusual happening. How about a house with absolutely nothing in it – no flooring, light switches, bathrooms (including the toilets), nada – it happens even in the best neighborhoods.

There was a Realtor in England who showed a home, thinking the owner was asleep, showed the clients out only to go back and discover the owner had passed away on the sofa!

A colleague of mine was feeling ill at his open house, again, laid down on the sofa only to be woken up by visitors poking him, he’d fallen totally asleep, thank goodness is still around!

Another colleague shared that he went to one house thinking he had an appointment to show it, the owner wasn’t aware but said it was ok to show, only to find out he was at the wrong house on the same street – embarrassing just a little.

Or my favorite – showing condos downtown San Diego, thank goodness my client was in her own car and I was in mine – we came out of one particular building only for me to find my car had been towed – we continued looking in her car!

There are so many different stories, some funny, some sad, but always a day in the life in Real Estate is never boring!


Jane Loveday
Windermere Real Estate Agent
619-519-1615 Cell
http://janeloveday.com
http://www.facebook.com/realestatesandiego

Searching for a new home on the Internet!

Are you starting your search for a new home on the Internet? Do you visit Realtor.com, Trulia.com, Zillow.com? Of these Realtor.com is the most accurate, here you will find all the updated listings. Trulia has a lot of innacurate information, homes that are now in escrow still show up as being active, and Zillow with it's Zestimates can be way off base!

However, to get the most accurate information when searching the internet you need to start your new home search via the internet with a Realtor, such as myself, who has access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) - you should be able to search through their website, and you can also have them set up a completely customized search based on your own criteria, anything from price, size of yard, location of laundry, how many garage/parking spaces, patio, balcony, pool, just about anything you can think of.

Customized internet home searches can be emailed directly to you as soon as a new home is listed, ir there is a price reduction on one already mailed to you or if one goes into escrow. Or you can have it notify you on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. And it's completely FREE! You can continue to search other sites, but a customized search through a Realtor, will give you up-to-the-minute accurate information without you having to do the hard work yourself!

Start your internet home search here - http://www.janeloveday.com - or contact me directly to set up a customized search for you today!

Jane Loveday
Windermere Real Estate Agent
619-519-1615 Cell
http://www.janeloveday.com
http://www.facebook.com/realestatesandiego