You plan to buy or sell real estate. Great idea! And you want to succeed at your task without any surprises. This web site provides the tools you need to guide you through the property acquisition / disposition process. Guess What ? There are always surprises along the way; that's why we call it our "excellent adventures in real estate". Let's get going - WATCH the Video.
By
Joseph Wrobel, reporting for
TribLocal: "A “short sale” is simply a real estate closing
where the sales price of the real estate is not high enough (it is
“short”) to cover the existing mortgage or mortgages. In order for
the closing between Seller and Buyer to take place, the mortgage
lender(s) needs to agree to release its mortgage lien against the
property for an amount less than is owed on the mortgage, so that the
Buyer can obtain a clear title. Except for this one aspect, a
short sale is not any different than any other real estate closing."
"The Seller will generally not be allowed to “walk away” with any money from the real estate closing. This is because the mortgage lender(s) is reducing what is owed to it and will not agree to allow the Seller to have any proceeds. This is one of the common misunderstandings by many homeowners, thinking that they will be allowed to receive a monetary benefit from a short sale."
"A second misunderstanding is that Sellers think they are entitled to
sell short, that all they need to do is obtain a buyer and the mortgage
lender(s) will agree to accept less money. More often than not,
mortgage lenders do not agree to a short sale. However, sometimes
when they do, they require that the
Seller signs a
promissory note to
repay to the mortgage lender the difference between what the lender
receives at the closing from what is owed. This happens quite
often with a second or junior mortgage or home equity loan. Unless
the amount is small and affordable to the Seller, it is rare that it
makes any financial sense to do this. In such a situation, it may
make more sense to file a bankruptcy in order to avoid an
deficiency
that would be due on the mortgage(s)."
"A third issue to consider is that of income taxes. Unless the property is your primary residence, the Seller will be issued a 1099 for the amount of deficiency forgiven by the lender. Unless insolvent at the time, the Seller may be required to pay income tax on the loss to the lender."
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