What is a Short Sale?

That's the most frequent question we get at Short Sale Homes Orlando, "what is a short sale and how does a short sale work"? 

The easiest way to explain a short sale is to describe what happens when a short sale occurs. A short sale takes place anytime a property is sold for less than what is owed on the mortgage and the lenders who own the underlying mortgages accept less than full payoff as a settlement. This has become common in today’s real estate market.

This allows the property to transfer to the buyer even though the lenders did not receive the full amount that they were owed.

Short sales usually take place during the foreclosure process when a buyer is trying to buy a property and the purchase price will not cover the payoff of the mortgages in full. Most often these properties are bought and sold after the foreclosure process has started but before the process is completed through a sheriff’s or trustee’s auction sale. This stage is called the pre-foreclosure stage.

Lenders and mortgage companies have loss mitigation departments whose responsibility is to deal with properties in foreclosure. The main objective of these departments is to find ways to resolve properties in default other than just foreclosing. In other words they’re responsible for mitigating the bank’s losses and keeping them to a minimum. Those options include short sales, deed in lieu, loan modifications and forbearance agreements all of which will be explored in this course.

Foreclosing on a property is a problem for everyone: the lender, the homeowner and the community. Lenders and investors who own mortgages on houses in foreclosure do not want to foreclose and repossess the property. They would prefer the homeowner make the mortgage payments. Mortgage companies profit greatly by lending money and receiving interest payments in return. Many institutional investors also invest in mortgages to receive the interest payments in return.

Here’s one myth about the companies who service loans. About 80 percent of the mortgages that service companies like Countrywide, Wells Fargo, Option One, Washington Mutual and Homecomings work are owned by some other investor. Those mortgages are not owned by the service company who sends out the mortgage payment coupons and collect the mortgage payments.

Rather, the mortgages are owned by some other “big hitter” like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, a hedge fund or pension fund. The servicer just collects the payments, calculates the numbers and answers customer calls.

Short Sale Homes Orlando can resolve these issues. Please call or fill out the form above and a representative will discuss options with you.