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How Much Does A Knoxville Short Sale Cost Me??
“Why don’t I just let the bank have the property”, sellers tell us. “I don’t ever think I’ll be able to fix my credit to be able to buy another house.” “Plus I don’t have the money to pay a Realtor”
Short sales in Knoxville are worth the extra effort. They enable you to buy another home much faster than you would have to wait if you experience a foreclosure.
And they cost you nothing. All the costs are covered by your lender. Now, I’m sure you’re thinking, “I might have to pay my agent to sell the house. That sounds risky.”
That is a legitimate concern. Here is why the lenders are willing to pay your agent. If they foreclose on the home, they will have to hire an agent to sell it.
So why not just pay the short sale agent. Extensive studies have been done on the advantages of a short sale versus a foreclosure.
The study results showed that a lender will make more on a short sale than a foreclosure. Oftentimes the difference is huge.
I have seen some lenders lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. They turned down a short sale thinking the home would sell for more as a foreclosure.
The home ended up selling for much less. That is why lenders like short sales and are willing to pay all of the costs. Thinking about a short sale?
I can help you short sale your property and never pay the bank another penny. Send me an e-mail at [email protected] I will contact you for a free consultation.
When we talk, I will explain how the process works in detail and answer any questions you may have. Or, if you prefer, you can call me at 865-696-9002. You have options so don’t lose your home to foreclosure.
7 Advantages Short Sale VS Just Walking Away From Your Knoxville Home
A home owner thinking of a short sale recently asked us why they should short sale versus just walking away and letting their lender foreclose on the home. We gave them the normal answer: “It’s much better for your credit.”
That was the first thing that popped into our head. But, I knew there are more benefits to a home owner than simply better credit. So I put together the entire list and here they are.
1. The upside down debt is erased in most cases. If you are selling because of a financial hardship, then the upside down debt will be automatically erased in most cases. Is your loan is owned or insured by the following agencies: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, and or VA? If you are short selling because of a financial hardship, their policies state that your debt will be erased.
2. You are eligible to buy another home much sooner compared to a foreclosure. The most common loan program, Fannie Mae, stipulates that you can buy another home under their program in 2 years. FHA, a popular low down payment loan program stipulates that you can qualify for an FHA loan within 3 years.
3. No Cost To You. That is right. A short sale costs you nothing. All of the expenses are paid for by your lender. That includes the title insurance, any county taxes or fees on the sale, attorney fees, and the Real Estate Agent. If the lender foreclosed on the house and then tried to sell it, they would have to pay all the costs. So why not pay the costs with a short sale?
4. Your credit suffers less damage. Most people think that a short sale will be the kiss of death to their credit. That is the one big advantage of a short sale over a foreclosure.
Upon completion of the short sale, your credit score will drop between 50 and 100 points. However it will rebound fairly quickly. The other benefit is that you will have less debt. (A lot of debt hurts your credit score.) You will have a lower debt to income ratio, which will boost your credit.
In a couple of years your credit will be back to normal and you can buy another home. In addition, anything and everything bad on your credit can be fixed thru the dispute process.
5. You can often rent a comparable house for less than your former mortgage payment. In one example, a homeowner in foreclosure found a larger home. It even had a fenced backyard for their kid and a garage. Their prior mortgage payment was $1,500. They rented the nicer, bigger house for $850 a month.
6. You avoid the humiliation of a foreclosure.
7. You don’t have to pay rent during the short sale process. A short sale can take up to 6 or 9 months. Not all of them do. But, some do. If you aren’t concerned about your credit, then you can stop making your mortgage payments during the short sale. You can use the savings for the deposit on a rental.
Thinking about a short sale? I can help you short sale your property. Send me an e-mail at [email protected]. I will contact you for a free consultation.
When we talk, I will explain how the process works in detail and answer any questions you may have. Or, if you prefer, you can call me at 865-696-9002
Does The Short Sale Of My Knoxville Home Need To Be Approved Before I Put It Up For Sale?
We often get asked if a short sale is even worth the effort. “Do I need to have my short sale “Approved” by my lender before I put my home on the market?” one seller asked us.
“When I called my lender they wouldn’t talk to me about it. I am concerned that they might do that when I finally sell the property and I’ll never get the sale approve .”
Most lenders will not talk to you about it until you have several things in place.
They want a solid offer from a pre-qualified home buyer along with all the necessary financial documents. Why do they do this?
Because they only want to process short sales that will sell and close. Now, I think it’s a stupid way to do things. Instead of refusing to negotiate sales until there is an offer on the table, they should instead pre-approve short sales.
It would make the process so much easier. A home could be placed on the market at a set price. Buyers would be more interested in the property because they know they can get an answer in 2-3 days versus 2-3 months.
We have brought this up with Lenders Short Sale Department. They know there are many areas in which they need to improve.
But, it’s hard to change the course of a huge company with so many different parties involved. Despite all this, experienced short sale agents are getting short sales approved every day.
The Short Sale Process is getting better and easier to navigate. More and more lenders are moving towards “Approved” Short Sales.
You just need to find a good short sale realtor that can navigate their way thru the crazy short sale process. Thinking about a short sale?
I can help you short sale your property send me an e-mail at [email protected] I will contact you for a free consultation.
When we talk, I will explain how the process works in detail and answer any questions you may have. Or, if you prefer, you can call me at 865-696-9002
Knoxville Short Sale Is It Really Worth The Trouble?
We often get asked if a Knoxville short sale is even worth the effort. “Why don’t I just let the bank have the property”, sellers tell us. “I don’t ever think I’ll be able to fix my credit to be able to buy another house.”
When you are having a tough time financially, it may seem like you will never get back on your feet. But, most people do get back on their feet.
They find another job and start making money again. Their credit will usually be back to normal in 2-3 years.
Why not buy a new home at that time? If you short sale, then you will be eligible to do that. Fannie Mae will consider you for a new loan 2 years after a short sale.
You would have to meet all of their credit guidelines and other lending criteria. Most derogatory credit items such as late payments or collections won’t have as much of an impact when they are 2 years old.
In addition, there are many ways to get derogatory items removed from your credit. The other great option is an FHA loan. FHA allows you to buy a home with only 3.5% down.
Current FHA guidelines will loan to you 3 years after a short sale. Contrast that with the 5-7 year wait required if the home is foreclosed on by the lender.
That is the number one benefit of a Knoxville short sale. You can get back on your feet and buy another home a lot faster than if the lender forecloses on your home. Thinking about a short sale?
I can help you short sale your property and never pay the bank another penny. Send me an e-mail at [email protected]
When we talk, I will explain how the process works in detail and answer any questions you may have. Or, if you prefer, you can call me at 865-696-9002
Deficiency Judgment Can You Avoid Them On Investment Property Short Sales?
We were contacted by a Florida resident who had 3 rental cabins. They were upside down and the rental income had dropped off and they had run out of money to continue to pay the mortgages.
They were concerned about a deficiency judgment once we sold the properties on a short sale
I do know that you can usually short sale in Tennessee and get the lender to forgive you of the debt. However, there are other things you can do to avoid the deficiency problem.
First, work hard to convince your lender to waive the deficiency. Investment Property Short Sales are tougher because the lenders are more reluctant to waive the deficiency.
But, many lenders will waive it. Others will agree to waive it when you have presented financial statements that show you cannot afford the deficiency.
So I think that over half of the deficiencies will be waived by the lenders. Here is what you can do for the remaining ones. First, depend on incompetence on the lender’s part.
Most lenders don’t have enough staff to handle their delinquent debt. Even if they do have the right to a deficiency in most cases the only thing they will do is call you.
When they call, you simply tell them that you don’t have the money in your budget that month to pay them anything. Don’t say anything more than that and don’t lie to them.
(A lie can get you in legal trouble later on. You are better saying very little and hanging up the phone than lying.)
Most lenders won’t do anymore than “sic” the debt collectors on you. They hardly ever go to court or attempt to garnish your wages.
In my opinion, this will enable you to short sale 90% to 95% of all investment properties and avoid paying a deficiency. Here is what you should do if you fall into the unlucky 5-10%.
Hire a good lawyer. They can usually find a hole in their court case and get you out of paying the debt. These lenders are so disorganized that the often do not have all their paperwork in order.
Or, they can find a situation where the lender broke Collection Law. In that case, the lender is usually more than happy to settle with you versus facing a lawsuit.
Thinking about a short sale? Send me an e-mail at [email protected] I will contact you for a free consultation.
When we talk, I will explain how the process works in detail and answer any questions you may have. Or, if you prefer, you can call me at 865-696-9002
Short Sale Or Rent Your Home??
Just had a meeting with seller who bought their home in 2008 for $525,000 and did a 100% loan at the time. They have been trying to sell it for over a year now because of a job transfer.
The seller just wanted to payoff what he owed on the property wasn’t worried about making any money. The problem has been the home is only worth about $450,000 in today’s market
He didn’t think he would qualify for a short sale because he had a job. But he was living out of town while his family still lived here in Knoxville. But it was getting difficult maintaining two different house holds.
So we setup a time to meet and explore all of his options. We covered all of the aspects of a short sale with them. Both the positives and negatives of selling his home short. In this situation I told him it would be highly unlikely his lender would just let him walk away and forgive the debt. That they would most likely need to sign a promissory note for all or part of the short fall. But we have had success with promissory notes being at 0% interest and payments that would be affordable for him.
The other option we looked at was renting the property for a few years and waiting to see how soon the market would take to come back and get closer for him to a break even sale. Looking at the rental income he could get on the home it would be negative cash flow of about $300 per month. There was also the concern of the tenant trashing the home and not wanting to be a long distance landlord.
But what I explained to him we could hire a professional management company for him to screen the tenants. They would be responsible to making repairs that come up, collecting rent etc. I told him yes it would cost him some money each month but I felt it was a better solution for him than selling it on a short sale.
He agreed with me so we contacted a management company for him they found a very good tenant who wanted to rent it for two years. They where able to get more rental income than I thought so his negative income was only $175 per month.
This is the difference a trained professional with the CDPE designation can help sellers determine when they are facing tough times selling their home. Untrained Realtors don’t know what your options are in order to avoid foreclosure a CDPE can help you.
My team and I are the most qualified team of professional in the Knoxville market. We can help you determine your best option in order to avoid foreclosure at no cost to you. Call me at 865-696-9002 or email [email protected] and let’s talk about your situation.
Can I Short Sale If I Have Substantial Assets & Good Income?
I just had an appointment with a seller who want to short sale some properties. It was an interesting situation that I want to share with
you.
They bought several investment properties at the peak of the market. The homes have dropped in value by almost 40% and they losing money on the rent every month.
They are sick of writing a check every single month to cover the loss. They would like to short sale these properties if possible. They were wondering if the banks would accept a short sale?
Here was our answer. There is no answer that is correct 100% of the time. In there situation, it depends on your lender. Many lenders will allow a short sale.
Others won’t talk to you until you are behind on the payments. We have had clients in this situation very similar to yours and is short selling several properties.
He has substantial assets and a good income. Some of the banks were easy to work with. He was able to stay current on the payments until they approved the short sale.
However, some of the other banks weren’t as easy to work with. He had to stop making payments before they would talk to him.
It all depends on the bank and how much you want to short sale. I know several people that write big checks every month just trying to stay afloat on their rental properties.
Our seller decided to attempt a short sale. It doesn’t cost them any money. I don’t see how you can lose. If they don’t approve the short sale, then you are exactly where you are at today.
Thinking about a short sale? I can help you short sale your property and never pay the bank another penny. Send me an e-mail at [email protected] I will contact you for a free consultation.
When we talk, I will explain how the process works in detail and answer any questions you may have. Or, if you prefer, you can call me at 865-696-9002
How To Avoid Any Surprises When Selling A Knoxville Short Sale
Many agents and buyers are scared of short sales in Knoxville. Here is something that I do to make the short sale process easier for the home seller.
Before I start negotiations with your lender, I will order a complete title search. Here is why I do that. I want to know all the costs upfront, before I give the bank a number.
If I don’t do this, then the short sale lender will approve the short sale at a certain price. We can get to the closing table and discover there are unforeseen costs.
Then we have to go back and re-negotiate with the short sale lender. This can be tough because they already have a higher number in mind.
Sometimes you have to start the short sale negotiations all over again. That can delay the short sale by 2-3 months, if not longer.
This trips up many agents and causes them to bad mouth short sales. Extra costs can show up in the form of higher than expected Homeowner’s Association Dues, Property Taxes, and other costs.
The title company will do a complete title search. They will get an estimated payoff from the Homeowner’s Association, and estimate the payoff for the taxes.
Since I take this pre-caution I have found short sales to be easy and fun. Before you hire a short sale agent, ask them about the short sale process. If they don’t mention this step, then find another short sale agent.
Thinking about a short sale? I can help you short sale your property and never pay the bank another penny. Send me an e-mail at [email protected]. I will contact you for a free consultation.
When we talk, I will explain how the process works in detail and answer any questions you may have. Or, if you prefer, you can call me at 865-696-9002
Short Sales..Why Won't My Realtor Show Them To Me?
I was contacted the other day by a frustrated buyer who was interested in buying a short sale. She had an interesting question….
Here is Tamra’s question. “I am looking to buy a home. Some of the best priced properties are short sales. However, my agent won’t show me these homes.
She keeps on telling me the prices are lower than the lender will accept and that short sale never close. What should I do? I am really interested in these homes, especially at the price they are being offered at.”
Here was my answer. Tamra, you should talk to your agent and see what they dislike about short sales. Your agent may have had a bad experience with short sales in the past.
Short sales are a great way to purchase a home at a good price. They are tougher and take a lot longer than your average real estate transaction.
However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider them. Just be cautious with your search. Make sure the agent who has the house for sale has prior short sale experience.
Your agent can ask them what short sales they have sold in the past. If they or the people working with them have a good track of working with the banks, then you should be ok.
Remember, not every short sale is going to be approved at the listing price. But, if they banks feel the price is fair, then they will accept the offer.
So go look at some of those short sales. With a little luck one of them will be the perfect home that meets exactly what you are looking for.
If you are interested in buying a short sale give me a call. They can be a very good value and as long as you understand the process it can be worth the wait. Call me at 865-696-9002 or email me [email protected]
Need Help With A Loan Modification?
Loan Modifications are tough. Lenders don’t want to reduce your payment or reduce the amount you owe.
Most loan modifications end in failure because the banks are so hard to work with. In a recent story in the news, a New Jersey Company is accused of defrauding homeowners out of thousands of dollars.
According to the story, one couple had more than $2,800 billed to their credit card but received no loan modification. Another customer paid more than $3,500 and received no assistance.
Your best bet for a successful loan modification is to negotiate it yourself. No one else is going to care as much as you. After all, whose house hangs in the balance?
We will help you get all the information together in order to complete the information you need for a loan modification. This is a free service that is offer to you it will cost you nothing maybe a few cups of coffee while we are meeting. Our goal is to help troubled Knoxville homeowners who may be facing foreclosure avoid it. You do have options and we are here to help you and make sure you understand all your options.
My first goal is to help you stay in your home if at all possible. The information you will need to do a successful loan modification is very similar to what you would need to do a short sale on you home. It is a packet of personal information about you and your situation. When it is put together properly and presented correctly to your lender we have had people be successful getting loan modifications. So if you want some help and want to take advantage of this service we offer to homeowners in the Knoxville Area. Contact me
Don’t lose your home to foreclosure call me at 865-696-9002 or email me [email protected]
