Home Closing Process

This is the 3rd tip of “10 Questions You Should Ask About Florida Short Sales” eBook, which is available as a FREE download.

This is a very frequent question, and its analysis is a bit complex because “cost” is such a broad term. Later in the eBook, we will look at Promissory Note requirements, cash contributions and association dues as potential “costs” of completing a Naples short sale. For this section, let’s simplify things a bit and look at standard transaction or closing costs and what you should expect to pay (or not pay).

With regard to ordinary closing costs, a short sale should cost you very little. Here’s why. In a short sale, the lender will agree to absorb many of the ordinary closing costs that are customarily the seller’s responsibility. In our experience with Florida short sales, lenders will usually agree to absorb at least the following closing costs:

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Not sure if you are on Bank of America’s email list, but if you are not – I wanted to share with you this great news!

Here are some of the Frequently Asked Questions:

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First of all, I love the HousingWire news feeds.  If you aren’t subscribed to a RSS feed or aren’t keeping tabs via Twitter, you should.  Check out www.housingwire.com.

This article was posted at HousingWire on Monday by Kerri Panchuk:  ”Survey Shows First-Time Homebuyers Growing Weary of Short Sales”.  In it, the author cites a recent survey that indicates a slide in the percentage of first-time homebuyers who have acquired short sales – from 54.1% in November 2009 to 39.7% in August.  We are all aware of the technical challenges of short sales; but the payoff in dealing with and overcoming those challenges is, according to the report cited, that “short sales . . . generally sell at prices 27% lower than non-distressed properties . . . .”  I got to thinking that if this is true  – that a buyer could expect a 27% discount by buying a short sale – then it would be nuts to “grow weary” of them.  Nuts, unless of course these first-time homebuyers are entering into short sale transactions with poorly set expectations.

Having orchestrated over 700 short sales over the last three years, we understand just how wrong things can go when expectations are not set properly.  So here are a few pointers mostly from a buyer’s agent’s perspective which should go a long way toward helping to manage your buyer’s expectations and toward helping them hang in there to take advantage of the short sale savings.

There is no substitute for good old-fashioned homework and reconnaissance when it comes to making an offer on a short sale.  To wit, you should know or try to find out:

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Congratulations! Your short sale offer was approved!

We want you to know that as a short sale realtor, you’re in good hands with Winged Foot Title. We believe in exceptional service without exception.

As you know, there are three main ingredients to a successful short sale.  They are

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When we begin to counsel our clients about the short sale of their homes, one of the questions that we get asked frequently is “Is it possible to sell my home as a short sale and not have a deficiency judgement placed against me?” The answer is Yes! It has happened before in the past. However, that’s certainly not the norm.

Not too long ago, I was quoted in a Florida Weekly article regarding lenders pursuing borrowers for the deficiency judgment. Here is the actual article:

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There has been a substantial amount of buzz in the real estate industry lately about MARS.  No, not the red planet; although the market has been rather other worldly.  MARS is the acronym for “Mortgage Assistance Relief Services”, a set of real estate-related services now defined and regulated by the Federal Trade Commission.  The Final Rule, which became effective on December 29, 2010 was published in the Federal Register on December 1, 2010 at Vol. 75, No. 230, pages 75092 to 75144.  It has REALTOR® associations scrambling to ensure that their members are compliant (see, e.g., the Florida Assn. of Realtors Legal Center Hot Topics page), lest they run afoul of the rule in their short sale negotiations and subject themselves to scrutiny and civil penalty.

All of this buzz convinced me to take a closer look at the rule as it relates to our title insurance-related short sale services.  As far as I know, neither our national nor state (FL) title industry associations have issued any advisory opinions on the new rule regarding mortgage relief.  This is understandable.  The rule is pretty complicated; and either an over- or an under-reaction by the associations could cause issues for their members.  But since Winged Foot Title provides short sale title solutions, I thought it worth our while to look at the rule more closely.  So without going into too much annoyingly detailed analysis, I would like to explore the rule a bit and explain what Winged Foot Title is doing to prepare and to react.

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So you are probably here because…

…you are going through a short sale or are interested in learning more about them.

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For your education and entertainment, here is a Winged Foot Title scary but true story…

This is the 12th step in our series: “12 Things You Should Know to Survive a Short Sale.”

…that you should always keep in mind while dealing with a short sale:

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That’s right, Winged Foot Title has gotten a…

…short sale approval in only 8 days!

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To make matters even more confusing for you, on top of all the paperwork and addenda you have to deal with in a short sale…

This is the 11th step in our series: “12 Things You Should Know to Survive a Short Sale.”

…you must also be mindful of where you’re standing while it’s happening.
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