www.LanaCole.net

SvetLana Cole - Full Time Licensed broker with "Charles Rutenberg Realty"

3135 Book Rd, Naperville, IL 60564

“Equal Housing Opportunity”

Cell 630-447-8382


Short sale - If your home is worth less than what you owe on it, you can still sell your home and not pay the difference, if you contact us soon enough.



"A short sale is a sale of a real estate in which the proceeds from the sale fall short of the balance owed on a loan secured by the property sold." Source :[Encyclopedia www.wikipedia.org]


In other words: "The house is worth less than what is owed on it, but it gets sold anyway, with the bank's permission."

When is it time to consider a short sale?

The "perfect" time to start thinking about a possibility of a short sale is right when you are behind in your mortgage payments about 1-2 months and there is a slim possibility of you catching up on them.

Why should you do a short sale? And what are the advantages of a short sale over foreclosure?

• A short sale is a good way to pay off your mortgage, even though you don't have enough money to pay it off, and the house is not worth enough to pay it off. You are left with no debt to the bank at the end of a typical short sale process (And no house, by the way).

• A short sale is not as bad on your credit report as a foreclosure is.

• You control much of the short sale process. In a foreclosure, it feels like the bank controls your whole life, and they are not friendly about it, even if their representatives and their lawyers seem friendly when you talk to them.

How does the process of a short sale go and how do you participate in it?

You call me and list it like a normal home sale. I do an awful lot of work beyond what is done in a traditional home sale. You get an offer sooner than average, but it takes the same amount of time overall, as a traditional sale these days, due to the delays caused by the mortgage banks. To complete the short sale, you need to show the mortgage bank the same things you showed them when you applied for your mortgage, such as your most recent tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements, etc. You need to fill out a financial statement form, which takes the place of the credit application that you used for the mortgage application. You also need to write down the reason that you got behind in your mortgage.



What is an average time for a Bank/Lender to approve your short sale?

Between two months and seven months. Banks vary.

Here is an approximate time line list of some banks:

  • National Citi - 4,5 to 5 months.
  • Chase bank - 4 to 5 months.
  • Country Wide (has 3 levels of negotiators) - 3 to 4 months.
  • Wells Fargo - 3 to 3,5 months.
  • Citi Bank - 1,5 to 2 months.

Local, small banks are usually a bit faster to work with.

What if the bank won't approve my short sale?

There are other ways to help you, and I also know lawyers who can help.

There is so much more information to give on this very sensitive topic these days.

I will be glad to do so, please do not hesitate to book an appointment with me to discuss your personal situation and to get more info.