Jonathan Swanson earns North Carolina Short Sale Specialist Certification

Jonathan Swanson with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty in Wilmington, NC recently earned his North Carolina Short Sale Specialist certification. The Certified Short Sale Specialist (CSSS) Seller agent designation is the first and only short sale designation specific to the state of North Carolina.

Many North Carolina homeowners find themselves owing more on their properties than they could sell for today. As a CSSS designee, Swanson is a real estate professional that is dedicated to helping these homeowners. Swanson understands the short sale process, transactional entities, and who the true short sale decision makers are. He can also identify predatory servicing tactics and guide the consumers to the appropriate NC state regulatory agencies if necessary.

Melanie Cameron earns North Carolina Short Sale Specialist Certification

Melanie Cameron with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty in Wilmington, NC, recently earned her North Carolina Short Sale Specialist certification. The Certified Short Sale Specialist (CSSS) Seller agent designation is the first and only short sale designation specific to the state of North Carolina.

Many North Carolina homeowners find themselves owing more on their properties than they could sell for today. As a CSSS designee, Cameron is a real estate professional that is dedicated to helping these homeowners. Cameron understands the short sale process, transactional entities, and who the true short sale decision makers are. She can also identify predatory servicing tactics and guide the consumers to the appropriate NC state regulatory agencies if necessary.

Making an Offer on a Short Sale? What You Need to Know

Are you looking to buy a new home? Are you thinking that now's a great time to find bargains? That's true, but it pays to know a little about the seller's situation before you make an offer.

If a home is being sold for below what the current seller owes on the property—and the seller does not have other funds to make up the difference at closing—the sale is considered a short sale. Many more home owners are finding themselves in this situation due to a number of factors, including job losses, aggressive borrowing against their home in the days of easy credit, and declining home values in a slower real estate market.

A short sale is different from a foreclosure, which is when the seller's lender has taken title of the home and is selling it directly. Homeowners often try to accomplish a short sale in order to avoid foreclosure. But a short sale holds many potential pitfalls for buyers. Know the risks before you pursue a short-sale purchase.

You're a good candidate for a short-sale purchase if:

You're very patient.
Even after you come to agreement with the seller to buy a short-sale property, the seller’s lender (or lenders, if there is more than one mortgage) has to approve the sale before you can close. When there is only one mortgage, short-sale experts say lender approval typically takes about two months. If there is more than one mortgage with different lenders, it can take four months or longer for the lenders to approve the sale.

Your financing is in order.
Lenders like cash offers. But even if you can’t pay all cash for a short-sale property, it’s important to show you are well qualified and your financing is set. If you're preapproved, have a large down payment, and can close at any time, your offer will be viewed more favorably than that of a buyer whose financing is less secure.

You don’t have any contingencies.
If you have a home to sell before you can close on the purchase of the short-sale property—or you need to be in your new home by a certain time—a short sale may not be for you. Lenders like no-contingency offers and flexible closing terms.

If you're serious about purchasing a short-sale property, it's important for you to have expert assistance. Here are some people you want to work with:

Experienced real estate attorney.
Only about two out of five short sales are approved by lenders. But a good real estate attorney who's knowledgeable about the short-sale process will increase your chances getting an approved contract. Also, if you want any provisions or very specialized language written into the purchase contract, a real estate attorney is essential throughout the negotiation.

A qualified real estate professional.*
You may have a close friend or relative in real estate, but if that person doesn’t know anything about short sales, working with him or her may hurt your chances of a successful closing. Interview a few practitioners and ask them how many buyers they've represented in a short sale and, of those, how many have successfully closed. A qualified real estate professional will be able to show you short-sale homes, help negotiate the purchase when you find the property you want to buy, and smooth communications with the lender. (All MLSs permit, and some now require, special notations to indicate that a listing is a short sale. There also are certain phrases you can watch for, such as “lender approval required.”)

Title officer.
It’s a good idea to have a title officer do an initial title search on a short-sale property to see all the liens attached to the property. If there are multiple lien holders (e.g., second or third mortgage or lines of credit, real estate tax lien, mechanic’s lien, homeowners association lien, etc.), it's much tougher to get that short sale contract to the closing table. Any of the lien holders could put a kink in the process even after you’ve waited for months for lender approval. If you don’t know a title officer, your real estate attorney or real estate professional should be able to recommend a few.

Some of the other risks faced by buyers of short-sale properties include:

Potential for rejection.
Lenders want to minimize their losses as much as possible. If you make an offer tremendously lower than the fair market value of the home, chances are that your offer will be rejected and you’ll have wasted months. Or the lender could make a counteroffer, which will lengthen the process.

Bad terms.
Even when a lender approves a short sale, it could require that the sellers sign a promissory note to repay the deficient amount of the loan, which may not be acceptable to some financially desperate sellers. In that case, the sellers may refuse to go through with the short sale. Lenders also can change any of the terms of the contract that you’ve already negotiated, which may not be agreeable to you.

No repairs or repair credits.
You will most likely be asked to take the property “as is.” Lenders are already taking a loss on the property and may not agree to requests for repair credits.

The risks of a short sale are considerable. But if you have the time, patience, and iron will to see it through, a short sale can be a win-win for you and the sellers.

* Not all real estate practitioners are REALTORS®. A REALTOR® is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and is bound by NAR’s strict code of ethics.

Note: This article provides general information only. Information is not provided as advice for a specific matter. Laws vary from state to state. For advice on a specific matter, consult your attorney or CPA.

Reprinted from REALTOR® magazine with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.

Real Estate Professionals Earn NAR Short Sales and Foreclosure Certification

Real estate professionals with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty recently earned the nationally recognized Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource certification. The National Association of REALTORS® offers the SFR certification to REALTORS® who want to help both buyers and sellers navigate these complicated transactions, as demand for professional expertise with distressed sales grows.

REALTORS® that recently earned the SFR certification are Jennifer Buske and Karen Schwartz from Sea Coast Realty’s Wilmington, NC office, Bill Feige from Sea Coast Realty’s Topsail Island office in Surf City, NC, and Rene Hunter, Pam Rainey, and Susie Rollyson from Sea Coast Realty’s office in Southport, NC.

According to a recent NAR survey, nearly one-third of all existing homes sold recently were either short sales or foreclosures. For many real estate professionals, short sales and foreclosures are the new “traditional” transaction. REALTORS® who have earned the SFR certification know how to help sellers maneuver the complexities of short sales as well as help buyers pursue short sale and foreclosure opportunities.

“As leading advocates for homeownership, REALTORS® believe that any family that loses its home to foreclosure is one family too many, but unfortunately, there are situations in which people just cannot afford to keep their homes, and a foreclosure or a short sale results,” said 2009 NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth. “Foreclosures and short sales can offer opportunities for home buyers and benefit the larger community, as well, but it’s extremely important to have the help of a real estate professional like a REALTOR® who has earned the SFR certification for these kinds of purchases.”

The certification program includes training on how to qualify sellers for short sales, negotiate with lenders, protect buyers, and limit risk, and provides resources to help REALTORS® stay current on national and state-specific information as the market for these distressed properties evolves. To earn the SFR certification, REALTORS® are required to take one core course and three Webinars. For more information about the SFR certification, visit www.REALTORSFR.org or call 1-877-510-7855.

Upside down? Underwater? Short Sale & Other Options

If you owe more on your home loan than you could sell your home for today, then you're "upside down" or "underwater." What are your options?

Explore Alternatives
Consider whether or not you really need to sell your home. Can you wait a few years to sell? Could you move in with friends or family & rent out your home? The ideal time to sell your home is not while you're "upside down," so explore your alternatives.

Loan Modification
First, call your mortgage company and try to get a loan modification done. A loan modification will adjust your rate lower & make your payments lower.

Short Sale
If a loan modification isn't possible or isn't enough to keep you out of danger, short sale is always an option. A short sale is when your lender or mortgage company agrees to accept less than the amount you owe on your home. In some cases, the lender forgives the difference. In other cases, you must make arrangements to settle the remainder of what you owe.

Real estate professionals advise that you should contact a qualified agent that has experience working with sellers that are in upside down loans. Not all real estate professionals have experience with short sale situations. This is imperative, so make sure to ask when interviewing an agent to market your home.

Bankruptcy & Foreclosure
Short sale is a much better option than foreclosure & bankruptcy. A short sale can reduce your credit score by about 120 points & it will be 2 years until you are able to qualify for another loan. Foreclosure will lead to a 250-point to 300-point drop in your credit score & then it will be 7-12 years until you are able to qualify for another loan. Bankruptcy will lead to a 350-point drop in your credit score & it will be 12 years until you are able to qualify for another loan.

Get Help Before It's Too Late
"By all means, try to get out. That's the key," says one Sea Coast Realty sales associate. "I've seen so many houses that were short sales & now they're foreclosed on. It's because they're not getting what they need to get done. It's all about time."

For more information, please visit www.seacoastrealty.com or find us on Facebook.

Short Sales Explained

Alex Paen, a sales associate with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty, has lots of experience with short sales.

What is a short sale? How does it work? Could one be right for your situation? Our expert explains it all.



For more information, please visit SeaCoastRealty.com or find us on Facebook.