Earlier this week a couple of days were spent sitting on less than comfortable chairs in the local Renton Holiday Inn just off of Grady Way. Why were we willing to spend numerous hours of butt-numbing time in a jam-packed meeting room? For the benefit of getting the Certified Distressed Property Expert designation.
All of us at Team Reba have been working in the realm of short sales for many months and years so the large influx of short sale and distressed homeowner status is not new to us, but this designation is and it’s one of the fastest growing designations in the USA. With default rates climbing along with the unemployment rate (thankfully not in direct relation) it’s worth it to know the proper way to handle a short sale if a client needs assistance in doing it to close on a sale of a property that they can no longer afford.
In many cases a short sale can be better than a foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, as I’ve mentioned in prior posts. Plus there are other good reasons not to allow a foreclosure to be completed on the courthouse steps – and that is the long term employment picture. The 2 biggest reasons that someone loses their home, or the ability to keep paying at the same level, is because of either job loss or medical bills – or both of them combined. If unemployment is the reason then the last thing you’ll want to add to this is a foreclosure since many companies do credit checks prior to hiring new employees. A short sale is not reported in the same manner as a foreclosure and the timeline of impact on a credit report is much shorter in time. Foreclosures can show up on a credit report from 7 to 10 years later. For people whose jobs include security clearances or access to financial records, a foreclosure can mean the loss of a job or of position.
If you are a homeowner who is getting behind on payments and you don’t qualify for a loan modification program, please contact us to see if perhaps we can help you with your situation.
If you’re a buyer who wants to look at purchasing short sale, foreclosure, or bank owned homes it helps to work with an agent who understands the way these specialized sales work, including the potential pitfalls and delays that may occur.
We’ve got experience on both ends of the spectrum and can provide excellent guidance throughout the process.
