For homeowners who acknowledge earlier rather than later that they can’t reasonably meet their monthly obligation to their lender, contacting a short sale attorney is a good first step. By getting the ball rolling sooner rather than later, borrowers stand to save themselves money and headaches, since the short sale process demands much more borrower participation than a foreclosure – which requires a borrower only inasmuch as they are required to vacate the premises when the property is seized.
Lining up a short sale first requires finding a buyer willing to pay a fair price – one that represents a premium to what the bank might fetch at auction and one that is higher than any new balance the bank is willing renegotiate with the lender. Next, short sellers must ensure that their financial houses are in order: that any large withdrawals in the past can be explained and that their unfitness to pay can also be justified on the basis of financial books and other circumstances: despite common conception, loaners are people, too, and a sob story will come across with whosoever is responsible for allowing you to go proceed with a short sale. Finally, make sure you can justify the potential buyer’s asking price with an estimation and local market analysis – if your offer isn’t compelling, the lender generally won’t give it a green light.
Along the way, you can get a lot of short sale help from someone with experience dealing with lenders – lenders who will try to obligate you to stay in your home at virtually any cost to you because your leaving represents a serious cost to them. A short sale attorney is someone who has experience navigating the process and who will be able to frame the negotiations from your position and know how to satisfy the lender’s needs to make a good effort at recovering the most they possibly can of the outstanding balance.