What Should I Expect When I Sell?
A short sale often presents a good option for homeowners who are in danger of foreclosure or in default because of documented financial hardship.
The benefits of a short sale include:
1. A less severe hit to your credit history than what you'd experience with a foreclosure.
2. You continue to live in your house until the sale takes place.
3. In some cases, banks are offering homeowners cash incentives to do a short sale (to help with sales and moving expenses).
Because your credit history won't take as long to recover with a short sale as it would with a foreclosure – an average of two years versus seven years – the short sale option is great for sellers who want to own a home again in the near future.
Has your bank already contacted you?
Some banks have launched programs to prequalify homeowners for short sales. Through their records and housing data, they identify borrowers on their books who are in negative-equity situations. In this case, some are reaching out to borrowers in an attempt to further streamline the short sale process.
This makes it much easier for you, the seller, to proceed with a short sale.
Compiling your short sale package
Short sales require different paperwork than a normal home sale. In some instances, as mentioned above, your bank may have already qualified you for a short sale. In other cases, you and your agent will need to submit certain paperwork to your lender.
Your lender then decides whether or not to approve your request for a short sale.
Just what goes in a short sale package? Each lender is different, but in general, you will need:
HUD-1 or preliminary net sheet
Completed financial statement
Letter of authorization to let your agent speak to the bank
Letter that explains your financial hardship
Two years of tax returns
Two years of W-2s
Last two months of bank statements
Recent payroll stubs or other proof of income
Comparative market analysis or list of recent comparable sales
Keep in mind that banks' processes vary, and the above list is a general representation of what many will want to see.
New federal guidelines shorten the wait
In the past, the notoriously long waiting game for short sales deterred many buyers from attempting them.
But times have changed. Many banks have streamlined the process and removed the barriers that have hamstrung short sales in the past. Some are even prequalifying borrowers to get the ball rolling faster.
In addition, federal guidelines have helped shorten the wait for mortgages owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These are great changes for buyers and sellers, because it means there are regulations in place to help shorten the process.
Get In Touch
share
Local Expert Updates
Aaron Jones
Cell: 712.320.9442Community Updates
The West Lake "Tie Up"
For most leisure boaters in the Iowa Great Lakes, there are 2 main hot spots to go throw an anchor, sit back, and just relax. Sometimes this will result in numerous boats tying up to one another (you may not even know your neighbor), and sometimes it results in a little more privacy where you can chill just by yourself. Every weekend, boaters make the trek across the deepest parts of West Lake to either Gull Point (North AND South side) and Miller's Bay. Thought there are many other great areas to throw an anchor, relax, and swim, these are the two hot spots. If you aren't sure where to go on a Saturday afternoon or wonder where your friends might be, these two spots would be a good start.
"Turn-Over" Thermocline
Referred to locally as the lake turning over the thermocline is a feature of lakes with deep water. The water on the top of the lake changes temperature much more variably during the year. On West Lake, it can reach as much as 75 degrees in July while the water below, greater than 35 or 40 feet deep is relatively stable around 45 degrees. In the fall and early winter, the top strata of the lake will cool to below 45 degrees, and then because it becomes denser, it will "sink" below the lower strata, thus, displacing it and making the lake "turn-over". In the deepest part of West Lake (near the 136ft mark), no light is availble, and hence little life is known whether fish or plant. Typically questions are raised as to why the surface water gets dirty for a short period of time in the fall, this this is the standard answer.
Arnolds Park Greenspace Concert Calendar
With summer right around the corner that means one thing for the Greens Space at Arnolds Park. The 2024 Free Summer concert calendar has been released spanning the whole summer with exciting performers. Who are you excited to see?
