773-732-3100     Direct Chicago Short Sale

What is a Short Sale?

A short sale is a choice for homeowners who can no longer keep up with their mortgage payments. It is a favorable option to a foreclosure. A short sale occurs when a lender agrees to release the lien against the home for less than the mortgage balance including penalties and fees. Some lenders will not accept short sales or discounted payoffs when it makes more sense financially for them to foreclose.

The Short Sale transaction requires working with skillfull and knowledgable short sale experts who can successfully negotiate with sometimes lengthy and discouraging discussions with the lender. We have extensive experience negotiating short sales with various lending institutions.

Chicago downtown short sales and foreclosures are emerging as borrowers are in the need to sell and they cannot clear what they owe on their homes. The Chicago Association of Realtors 2011 economic forecast predicts market demand will continue to create Chicago short sale opportunities. We have seen an increased inventory of Chicago Short sale listings over the past few years.

What about a loan modification to avoid foreclosure or Short Sale?

Here's the problem and things you should know about loan modifications

1. Banks in the majority of cases will modify only the mortgage payments and interest rates. They will not reduce your mortgage balance.
2. Banks are willing to help homeowners by reducing their mortgage payments and mortgage interest rates for a short term.
3. Banks will forgive some of the money you owe from payments you didn't make in the past, but they will add it to the principle balance or work out a payment plan for you to pay the money back.
4. Qualifying for a loan modification is almost like applying for a new mortgage refinance or a home loan.
5. During your loan modification operation, the banks may tell you that the foreclosure process is on hold, but the truth is they can still foreclose on your property.

Loan modification is restructuring your existing mortgage. You can be in limbo for months while the banks are trying to decide to modify your loan and you are in risk of foreclosure during the process.

When you close your property in a short sale, you can walk away debt free, start over, and can qualify for a new loan in 18 months in the majority of cases.

The White House is getting involved in Short Sales

The white House has stepped in to help families who can't get loan modification, forcing the banks to consider a short sale prior to foreclosure.

The federal government 's new program called Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA) designed to stop foreclosures. This program is aimed at speeding up the process, regulations, paperwork, and giving incentives to banks and homeowners.

The short sale process in the past was slowing down our road to recovery. In many cases banks were forcing homes into foreclosures that could have been saved. That was fueling the foreclosure market and contributing to a downward spiral in market values. This new legislation for short sales is giving us new hope.