Short Sale Process

If you’re a REALTOR® seeking out homeowner who are looking to short sell their property, you may be wondering, “How do I start a short sale exactly?” You don’t need to worry when you use the professionals at Short Sale Cooperatives to represent you, as we help guide you through essential short sale process.

Homeowner Consultation & Follow-up

We reach out to your client to discuss their hardship, gather initial information, and pre-qualify them for a short sale, based on their specific bank’s guidelines. If they don’t qualify, we’ll let them know, saving you and them a lot of wasted time. However, we often do find that they qualified. We answer all their questions and help them understand the benefits of a successful short sale. If they’re not ready to move forward, we continue to follow up via telephone, co-branded email, and co-branded direct mail. Once they decide to move forward, we send them a complete startup package which includes all of the documents their bank will require.

Transaction Setup

Part A: Document Acquisition

You send us the signed Listing Agreement and the agent service agreement. We then gather all short sale documents directly from the homeowner.

Part B: Authorization & Verification

We submit the authorization form to the bank(s) and gather initial loan information from them. This is important to determining the type of short sale that we’ll be pursuing on your client's behalf. We confirm all information provided by the homeowner, check for foreclosure dates, confirm HOA dues, and perform a title search to check for unknown liens or judgments.

Part C: Valuation... short sale-style

Using a different formula for each bank and/or investor, we review the property and provide you with a projection of what the bank will think your listing is worth. This can often be very different from market value and will help avoid problems that come with over- or under-pricing.

FHA/Co-op Evaluation & Request

If the homeowner has an FHA loan, we begin the prequalification process. This program will speed up the process, and may allow your client to receive $750 to $10k at closing.

Offer Perfection

The executed contract between the buyer and seller is the most important document in a short sale. When an offer is received, we review every detail and manage all communication with buyer agents. We do not negotiate price or make the final decision as to which offer is submitted to the bank - that is your job. We simply address the details that can cause processing delays and then communicate rules set by the attorney or the bank. If you have an existing contract, we will almost always recommend some changes, and occasionally, it will need to be re-written entirely.

Contract Submission/Negotiation

We submit a comprehensive short sale package to the homeowner’s lender, formatted specifically for that bank. We don’t use a cookie-cutter approach; each package is different, depending on what works best for the bank, the investor, and the homeowner’s financial situation. Every package is completed by a seasoned short sale expert and then reviewed prior to submission.

Follow-up

This is where we excel above and beyond what an individual agent would have time to do. Each time we call the bank or make any sort of process with the transaction, we send updates to agents and/or clients, so everyone is always kept in the loop.

Closing Coordination

After we obtain written short sale approval from the bank, we continue to work with the homeowner, the buyer agent, and the closing attorney to ensure that all closing details are addressed, and the transaction is finalized without issue. You can be involved as little or as much as you'd like, but if you’d prefer to focus on other aspects of your business, you can be sure that we’ll handle every aspect of the short sale process, so you can go get more listings!

Homeowner Consultation & Follow-up

Transaction Setup

FHA/Co-op Evaluation & Request

Offer Perfection

Contract Submission/Negotiation

Follow-up

Closing Coordination

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