Woodland Hills California Real Estate Information - Short Sales Part 3
The Short Sales in Woodland Hills Ca is a series of articles for sellers and buyers to be better informed what a short sale is and how to advance with closing with a short sale. In order to surmise where we are at in the series please read part 1 and part 2.
Short Sales In Woodland Hills California- What You Need To Know, What Is A Short Sale?
Short Sales in Woodland Hills, West Hills California- What You Need To Know, Who Qualifies To Sell A Short Sale?
Now that you know what a short sale is and you have passed the entitled tests as set out in the above posts you are now ready to put your short sales package together for your agent and your lender.
Before you even call your agent to list your property you should have your short sale package put together. This way your agent will be able to facilitate the short sale process. Once an offer is made on your property your short sale package must have all associated documents with that offer. You will be delaying the process and possibly lose the buyer if you are waiting until you get an offer before you gather up all your documents for your short sale package. There is no deviation to this process that I have heard about or experienced.
The very first thing that you need to do is call your lender, tell them you are intending to put your house up for sale and confirm that the lender still the note holder. or servicer. We just went through sending out a short sale package for one of our sellers only to find out that the note was sold to another lender. We had to start the process all over again. You may be able to save some time by confirming your lender.
The next thing you will need to do is write an authorization letter for your agent to discuss your loan standing, details and short sale offers with your lender. This letter must have the name of the person the loan is under and the loan number must be on the letter along with the name and company of your agent. Please date the letter. Most lenders have a period of time in for which the authorization letter is good for and after that time it expires you will need to write another authorization letter.
Here is the list of all the documents you may be required to submit. If you put together a package and then you find out they don't need one of these documents then just take it out of the package. It is better to be prepared and find out you did more than required than to submit an incomplete package. Your agent should be checking the package to make sure there is nothing missing. The lenders receive so many files each day that they can not even look at the uncompleted packages.
- Your authorization letter as stated above.
- A handwritten hardship letter explaining your hardship. This hardship letter needs to explain why you need to sell your property as a short sale. Please refer to my previous posts regarding the letter.
- A completed financial statement that your Realtor® has received from your lender. We have found through our experience that each lender has their own financial statement that they provide. It is not difficult to fill out. It is in form format with fill in the blanks. There is an asset column and a debt column and they will have a place to write in your income and your expenses. This is where it is important that you told the truth on your loan application.
- The last 2 pay stubs for all the signers on the mortgage.
- The last 2 years of tax returns for all the signers on the mortgage.
- A copy of your listing agreement with your Realtor®; your agent will provide that.
Put all these documents together and give them to your Realtor® so that he/she can get to work on your short sale package and make all the proper notations. Each document will have to have your loan number written on it.
After you get an offer you and your agent will have to put together the rest of the package and that includes:
- A fully executed offer of sale and purchase agreement.
- The prequalification letter for the new buyer. A copy of a deposit check
- A HUD1 settlement statement from the title company with all the fees listed correctly. The lender will need to approve the expenses prior to accepting the buyer's offer.
Your agent should put together a sales package along with the short sale package. He/she should have your current market value paperwork and evidence showing the offer is reasonable. We also put newspaper articles in the package showing our current market conditions. Documentation beats conversation. This is one of those times you can take all the bad news and work it in your favor. We make a very though and compelling argument and we have met with good responses going the extra mile with the lenders.
Stay tuned for part 4 of our Short Sales, In the Series as we discuss what happens after the short sale package and offer is sent in to the lender. If you are interested in buying a short sale property understanding what happens after the lender receives your offer will be benefit you.
Disclaimer: This post is not intended to be or to provide legal advice. We recommend that you speak to your attorney and your tax accountant regarding specifics and to find out if this is the best option for you in your situation.
Copyright© Rachel Zeppinick 2008 All Rights Reserved Woodland Hills California Real Estate information - Short Sales part 3 . Contact Rachel Zeppinick for customized listing packages
P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Woodland Hills California make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. Call us at 818 – 288-7255 to find out more.