One of the questions I get frequently is “When should I start a Short Sale? When should I start the process?, I’m going to miss my payments and should I wait a few months and then do the Short Sale?” Or “Should I start the Short Sale before I’m going to miss the payments?”
And first off, the answer to that is, start it as soon as you possibly can. My suggestion, if you ever feel you’re going to be missing your payments on your mortgage, is to start the process right away. Most people don’t understand that the Foreclosure process in and out itself, has typically been in designed California, to take place in about six and a half months. Short Sales themselves take about three or four months in my office to complete. So, if you wait three to four months of missing payments, then start a Short Sale, there is not a lot of time to get them done. You are racing against the Foreclosure. There are some banks who are putting policies in place that once a Foreclosure date is set, they will no longer entertain a Short Sale. Some of the Investors such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are setting guidelines to this as well.
So, my advice to anybody when they ask me that question is, start the Short Sale at the exact same time you miss the payments. A little bit about the process; we have to put the property in the market and it could take up to 30 days to receive an offer on your property. From there, it’s going to take another 30 to 60 days for the bank to come back with an answer on the Short Sale. Then, you are looking at another 30 days to get the escrow closed. The process in and of itself again can on average, takes 3 to 4 months. You want to start as quickly as you can, to afford yourself the highest probability of success, and avoiding that Foreclosure.
If you have any further questions give me a call.
Kurt Wannebo
San Diego Real Estate and Investments
www.shortsaleinsandiego.com
