Southwest Florida Title Insurance & Real Estate Blog

Short Sales can be overwhelming, to say the least. But as soon as we go over some…

This is the 1st step in our series: “12 Things You Should Know to Survive a Short Sale.”

…basics, you’ll be able to talk short sales with Donald Trump.

You’ve probably noticed that the word “foreclosure” has become an increasingly popular word in our vernacular these days.

You might have experienced or heard from a friend or neighbor who’s gone through a foreclosure about the fear, anxiety, and frustrations associated with distressed sales.

What are distressed sales?

They are urgent sales of assets, in this case real estate, because of negative conditions, often because a home owner is no longer able to make payments on their mortgage.

Nationally, they make up nearly 50% of the market. Locally that percentage is larger.

That’s a huge number!

With that kind of percentage, you’ll probably want to get familiar with what a sale of a distressed property is, even if it’s just for the sake of a new conversation piece.

Distressed sales are seen most often in two forms:

• Real Estate Owned (“REOs”) – which you can find out more about here www.wingedfoottitle.com, and
• Short Sales.

A simple explanation of what short sales are is this:

When a property becomes a distressed property like we discussed above, it becomes beneficial to both borrower (homeowner who can’t pay the mortgage loan) and the lender (the bank) to avoid foreclosure.

Foreclosure involves hefty fees from the bank, and extensive credit damage to the borrower. So, in the case of a short sale, the lender and borrower will agree to sell the property off as fast as possible with a moderate loss instead of a much greater loss to both sides.

This is just the peak of the iceberg on short sales!

“12 Things You Should Know to Survive a Short Sale” is a FREE eBook that is available for immediate download at www.WingedFootTitle.com.

If you have any real estate or short sales questions – please don’t hesitate to contact us, or call us at (239) 985-4142. We service all of Southwest Florida including: Fort Myers Estero, Bonita Springs, Naples, Cape Coral, Pine Island, Punta Gorda, and Port Charlotte; and are licensed and able to service the entire state of Florida.

– Chris