Your South-Metro Real Estate Expert

Selling Your Home

For most families, their home is their largest financial asset, and deciding to sell it is a big decision that involves a lot of preparation and work. When you're ready to sell it's important to have an experienced real estate professional handle the details involved in the successful sale of a home for top dollar. As an experienced professional who has helped many South-Metro area residents sell their homes, I know how to handle every aspect of the sales process - from strategically marketing and showcasing your home to making sure everything's signed, sealed and delivered by the closing date. Providing you with comprehensive, high-quality listing service is my top priority. So when you decide to sell your home, please contact me and let's get started!

The following articles are a great place to start if you're looking for information about the sales process and how you can get more for your home when you decide to sell.

About Short Sales

A “short sale” process can happen when a home owner owes more on the property than what the current market dictates the actually value of the property to be.

Example: A home owner owes $200,000 dollars on their property, but the market dictates a price of $150,000 to be the current fair market value for the property. This creates a $50,000 short sale situation, where the lender(s) involved with financing the property would agree to take a payoff of less than what is owed.

You can be current on your mortgage payments and still administer a short sale. For example, if you’re current on your payments today, but happen to know that in 2 months you will no longer be in a position to continue making payments on the home, you can act proactively and list your home for sale before you fall behind. Doing so may not only help avoid costly attorney fees, but will allow more time to complete the short sale process. Once you’ve fallen three to five months behind on payments, your home will go to “Sheriff Sale”. This “sale” will be published prior to the event, and you will be formally made aware of the sale. It is at the Sheriffs Sale, that investors or prospective buyers will be given the opportunity to purchase your home. Ordinarily, if you only have a mortgage with one bank, that bank will purchase the property at the sale. If you hold two mortgages with two different banks, the first bank is the one that will commonly purchase the property. Seldom does an outside investor acquire the property.

From the date of the Sheriff Sale, you are then given a Six Month Redemption Period of which you have to come current on your mortgage(s) and redeem the property. If you cannot do so, or sell the home within the six months, then the home goes to whomever purchase it at the Sheriff Sale.

You are legally entitled to remain in the home throughout this entire process. However, if it is your intention to redeem the property before the expiration of the six month redemption, and you do so unsuccessfully, you will be lawfully removed from the property at that time.

You do have the right to sell the home during the six month redemption period.

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM US

We’ll work diligently and confidentially toward selling your home for the absolute highest dollar amount in the quickest time possible, all while working directly with your bank(s). We’ll facilitate the entire listing process from coordinating showings and providing feedback, to negotiating any and all offers presented for your home directly with the bank. Simply put, there is not one aspect of the “short sale” process that we don’t handle for you.

It is our #1 goal to sell your home for you before it is lost to foreclosure. In most cased, doing so will mean a difference on your credit score by more than 300points!

WHAT IS EXPECTED OF YOU

We ask that you promptly provide us with the necessary information (see below) that we will need to effectively communicate with your lender(s). We ask that you help make sure that the property appeals to prospective buyers by keeping it in “show” condition at all times. And finally, we ask that you please feel comfortable to ask as many questions as you need to.

Items You Will Need To Provide - SHORT SALE PACKET

· Account information for your lender(s) (include bank names, account #'s and phone numbers)

· Authorization letter (attached) giving Patti Schmidt and Walter Altenbach of Coldwell Banker Burnet permission to speak to your banks on your behalf

· Hardship letter (explain in detail how you've come to be in the situation that your currently in that has disabled you from being able to continue to make payments on your home

· Financial statements (monthly income vs. monthly expenses... be as detailed as possible)

· 2 most recent pay stubs

· Most recent bank statement

· Past two years tax returns

· Deficiency Clause signed (attached; If accepted by your bank(s), this letter will remove your obligation to re-pay any deficiency balance that may be owed)

Here are two helpful articles from the MN Assoc of Realtors:

Accepting Offers/Short Sale Issues    Seller's Legal & Tax Liability in Short Sale