Well, this is a fun subject for people, NOT! As I’m sure you’ve heard, homeowners are coming under increasing difficulty. Fortunately, by far the majority of homeowners are perfectly fine, thank you very much. In fact, just the other day I heard that about 30% of homeowners actually own their homes free-and-clear, which actually sounds like a nice idea right now. I’ll have to remember where that source is and link to it.
Another positive that should limit stressed homeowner’s problems is that they do have options. One option is that it may be possible to modify your loan. Lenders actually do this, and it can work quite well. Another option is called short sale. Short sale simply means that more is owed on the home than it’s worth, and as a result the bank needs to agree to the sale in order for it to occur. The bank is willing to do this because they *really* do not want to own the house, although if you mess around they will foreclose, which is by far worse than a short sale. A short sale results in a few missed payments which can be cleaned up in a relatively short period of time, while a foreclosure results in a blemished credit report which could haunt you for years.
Due to the increasing problem of decreasing equity, I’ve taken the time to become a Certified Short-Sale Professional. This means that I’ve spent hours studying the approaches that will maximize your chances of a successful short sale, and will minimize your chances of foreclosure or continuing to owe money after the sale has concluded, although there are no guarantees. Most agents are learning how to do short sales by trial and error, but do you really want to be someone else’s trial, or worse yet, their error? To most agents, short sales still contain mysterious elements, I’ve decided eliminating the mystery is critical for my clients.
Does this mean I have the attitude “No Equity, No Problem”? Definitely not. Having no equity or negative equity isn’t fun for anyone and is always stressful. My goal is that being as professional and knowledgeable as possible on the subject will help alleviate my client’s stress.
--Ward Spears
