If you are thinking about doing a short sale, you might want to hire a foreclosure defense attorney to handle the negotiations for you. Lenders can be difficult, and the attorney knows how to handle them. Since the attorney is an expert at negotiating short sales, you have a better chance of getting your short sale approved. This way you don’t have to worry about dealing with your lender and can concentrate on finding a buyer for your home. You may also want to list your home with a local Realtor to help you market the property, price it properly and negotiate with your buyer.
Getting Your Short Sale Approved
The attorney is extremely skillful in handling and solving situations that may arise during your short sale negotiations such as:
- Your lender discovers you have assets. They may decide that you have the ability to pay off the difference between the sale proceeds and the mortgage balance. If you do have assets, be honest and disclose them. Your lender may still approve the short sale, but you may have to add some of your own money to pay off the mortgage or pay for some of the closing costs.
- The lender disapproves the sale price the buyer is willing to pay, and the buyer won’t go up in price. Your Realtor or attorney can help you negotiate with the buyer. Continue to keep showing your home until you get a backup offer in case the first offer does not get approved by your lender or the buyer walks away.
- The buyer cannot close on time because they don’t have their funds available. Only accept cash offers from your buyer. The attorney and your Realtor can review your contract and find any pitfalls that may cause delays in your approval or closing and advise you of ways to avoid delays or problems.
-
The buyer walks ways and finds another property because they get tired of waiting for your lender to approve the sale. Be sure to explain to the buyer that short sale is going to take at least 3-6 months. If the buyer needs to close by a certain deadline, you should find another buyer that is willing to wait. Otherwise, if the buyer cancels, you will have to start the process all over again, and you could lose your home to foreclosure. The attorney may be able to stall the foreclosure and get the lender to hold off on foreclosing until you find another buyer.
Having the peace of mind that the attorney is looking after your interests and helping you get your short sale approved is worth the costs involved in paying the attorney legal fees.
Attorney Help
A foreclosure defense attorney can negotiate your short sale more effectively than you can on your own. Since the attorney is knowledgeable about the short sale process, there is less chance of errors that may delay your approval. The attorney can answer your questions and discuss other options that may be available to you.
