Lynn Pineda-Coral Springs REALTOR, Short Sale Specialist

Act now and avoid foreclosure.

Times are really tough. Unemployment rates have reached double digits. More and more families are

struggling to make ends meet. Many of you in Coral Springs and surrounding Broward County cities

need to sell your homes but you owe more than what your home is worth. What do you do?

• If you have sufficient income your Lender may qualify you to have your loan modified. Whereas, some of you may not qualify for a loan modification. If you don't qualify for a loan modification, you can consider selling your home as a Short Sale.

Where do you begin in considering a Short Sale? Who can help you? What's involved in a Short Sale?

(a simplified summary follows)

First, you will need to list your home for sale with a Realtor. You will want a Realtor who specializes in Short Sales, like I do. I found a need quite some time ago when many individuals and families were struggling to make ends meet and were facing the devastating possibility of losing their home to foreclosure. I chose to play an active part in helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. I have a very high success rate in gaining Short Sale approval from homeowners Lenders.(Read some of my prior posts here)

Second, your Realtor will find a Buyer for your home.

Third, a complete Short Sale package will be submitted to your Lender to include financials and a hardship letter gathered from you by your Realtor, the Buyer's offer and a market analysis.

Fourth, your Lender will review the Short Sale package submitted

Fifth, an appraisal value (called a BPO; Brokers Price Opinion) will be completed and placed on your home and compared against the Buyers offer.

Sixth, a final review of all will determine an approval or decline of the Short Sale offer. Counter offers may be involved in which case I, as your Realtor, will go back to the Buyer's Realtor to get them to agree to counter offer.

Seventh, once all parties agree to the sale and closing occurs. Closing typically takes place within 30 days.

Eighth, you now move on to better days ahead and know that the possibility exists that within two years you could be in a position to buy again through FHA financing guidelines if you remain in a favorable position going forward with your credit.

Ninth, remember don't lose hope with your situation, act now.

Tenth, Call me as I'm here to help you avoid foreclosure and to help you sell your home as a Short Sale.

How many times have you heard the popular phrase, "That's our Policy"?

Don't you just love it when they are so willling to please?

Don't you want to just tell them where to take their policy?!

Are policies meant to be cast in stone or do they allow for venturing into a gray area? Sure we all have policies but if I didn't allow for a little gray area I wouldn't get too far.

I'm bringing this up due to recent encounters with Associations and Attorneys. I will say that not all Associations and Attorneys behave in this loathsome way.

On a number of recent short sales that I'm handling, Lenders have requested "proof" of past due association fees.We know that an estoppel letter comes when a Title Company requests it for a cost of $100-$200 prior to closing that will detail the payoff amount to Associations and will include Attorney fees and late fees. However, I have not gained Lender approval to close yet and the Lenders are no longer taking my word for what I put on the estimated HUD that notes the $ amount needed to be paid to an Association at closing. Now, this has always been my policy to put an amount on the estimated HUD; why should I have to venture outside of my policy for Short Sale preparation? Well, I'm going to venture into the gray area because I have an ultimate goal: close sale and save homeowner from foreclosure. Let's move on.

So I've been contacting Associations and Attorneys handling such delinquent accounts to obtain a written statement of past due fees. Immediately, they jump into estoppel letter mode. I explain that "no" we aren't at that point yet as the homeowners Lender is still reviewing to provide an approval on the sale but I will need an estoppel at a later date when we're getting ready to close after the short sale has been approved. Well, we can't give you that without paying for the estoppel letter. I pause, take a deep breathe, and go back to "no" I'm not in need of an estoppel letter as we're not ready to transfer any property yet as the sale has yet to be approved. I just need a statement of the account. They respond,"..no, we cannot provide that without a payment of an estoppel fee..." HELLO.....are you listening? I'm wanting to scream out. They go on, "....well that is our policy..." Back and forth they're sticking with their policy as they have such blinders on that they're not seeing the ultimate goal that benefits everybody; let's do what we can so everybody can collect their monies and close the sale.

Finally, I advise that I'll have the homeowner contact them and they will be required to provide the homeowner with a statement of their account. You could have avoided all of this turmoil by looking outside of your Policy and realize that in life there are gray areas and a gray area isn't a bad thing....it's a good thing really!! Could you imagine if everybody stuck to their policies and exceptions were not made; many such decisions could be a matter of life and death. I hope those who stick to their policies are never put up against the wall when they need somebody to go outside of their policy to help them.

Have you been going back and forth with your Lender trying to get your loan modified? Have you sent in all of your required financial documents for them to consider modifying your loan, such as:

• Pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns, income & expense statement, hardship letter and any other document that they have requested.

You might have even had to send the above documents several times as they sometimes do not reach the appropriate party. Now, after all the back and forth, your Lender indicates that you don't qualify for a loan modification. Now what? Is the next step foreclosure? HOLD ON....wait a minute.

If you've been trying to get a loan modification that doesn't work out as you so wanted to stay in your home yet your current financial distress simply won't allow you to stay in your home, there is another option that lessens the impact that a foreclosure can have on your well being. Consider a Short Sale when the loan modification won't work.

Short Sales have been helping many individuals and families avoid foreclosure. What should you expect when you sell your home as a Short Sale? Let's go over some things that you may encounter and some things that you want to encounter:

1. You'll want to work with a professional Real Estate Agent who specializes in Short Sales. This can make all the difference in a successful closing. Ask questions of who you hire to sell your home. Make sure they know their stuff. How many Short Sales have they closed? How many active Short Sale listings do they have?
2. Your cooperation with your Realtor is critical. When they ask for documentation make sure that you promptly respond.
3. It can be a lengthy process. A critical component in the Short Sale transaction is that all parties communicate on an ongoing basis particularly with the Buyer. Buyers often lose their patience because nobody tells them what is going on. If they're in the know on the progress they'll be less likely to cancel the sale. When your Realtor speaks with the Buyer's Agent, your Realtor will need to insist that all of the information be relayed to the Buyer.
4. Even if you have a pending foreclosure having been served with papers, you have time to stop foreclosure. I've been able to stop a foreclosure that had a sale date established at the court house steps when an offer was received just a few weeks before. So don't ever think you don't have time. If you have someone on your side fighting for you, we can fight up to just days before the auction sale date. Never lose hope.
5. Simplified, your Lender(s) will review your financials, the Buyers offer and an appraisal that they have completed to determine whether they will approve the sale.
6. Some Buyers will cancel their interest in buying your home and your Realtor will have to find a new Buyer. Unfortunately, this is a casualty of Short Sales when Buyers simply throw in the towel, but don't you throw in the towel. Remember as I said above, Never lose hope.
7. Expect the possibilities of counter offers to go back and forth between your Lender(s) and the Buyer. Counter offers are not always a given as often your Lender(s) will accept the Buyer's original offer.
8. Your goal is to have your Lender(s) to approve the sale. Again to reach this goal, #1 plays a very important role.
9. Once written approval is received, the Buyers will typically have 30 days to gain their financing and close, unless of course if your offer is a cash offer you won't have to worry about the financing, always nice.
10. You will now need to plan for your move. Hopefully, you will have saved for the cost of making the move to your new home and to your new Chapter in your life. You don't have to be fearful of the change as better days are likely ahead. Again, please Never lose hope.

"Once you choose hope, anything's possible" ... Christopher Reeve

"You've gotta have hope. Without hope life is meaningless. Without hope life is meaning less and less" ... Author Unknown

"Hope is grief's best music" ... Author Unknown

"Some see a hopeless end, while others see an endless hope" ... Author Unknown

"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope" ... Martin Luther King Jr.

I've been working with a young family who like so many have come across tough times unable to make ends meet to make their mortgage payment. We listed their home for sale and pretty quick we received an offer on their home as their home is lovely. It was a Short Sale and I submitted the Short Sale package to their Lender, Bank of America, at the end of August and on October 27th received written approval from them. I was very pleased with the prompt approval from BOA! I had to go back and forth with BOA to gain approval but no problem as that is part of what I do as being a Realtor who specializes in Short Sales here in South Florida. I go back and forth until I get an approval.

The point of this post however, is that when I called the Seller and told her that her Short Sale was approved, she cried. And.....to top it off it was her Birthday! Goosebumps ran up and down my arms. She said to me that this is probably the best birthday present that she can remember and it was cause for a celebration.

I know there is a lot of talk that a Short Sale being approved really isn't time for a celebration yet Sellers who have experienced such hardship and choose to view it as a positive outcome really can celebrate. So I guess you'd say that they're viewing their situation as being thankful, that they can now move forward looking forward to much brighter days. So yes, a Short Sale can be celebrated as my homeowner did that day. They have a lot to be thankful for and will survive. After all, there are a lot of people who have things much worse to contend with.

A virtue is a character trait or quality valued as being good

(as defined by Wikepedia)

How important is this? Does it really matter? I'd say sure it does. Think about it. Does it mean perfection? No, who is perfect? Yet we certainly can try to do the right thing. What is the right thing?

What are your virtues to live by. Everybody seems to have virtues to live by. Have you ever questioned the virtues that some live by? Or for that matter, those that you live by? Consider a few of these virtues as defined by Wikepedia:

Honesty: Honesty is speaking truth and creating trust in minds of others. The quality or condition of being honest; integrity. Truthfulness; sincerity.

• How can this trait make a real difference in your Real Estate business? How many more customers will want to do business with you if you're honest with them? Trust is a must in Real Estate as in life.

Generosity: Generosity is the habit of giving without coercion. Generosity can also be spending time, money, or labour, for others, without being rewarded in return. Consider anothers needs instead of your own.

• We're taught that it is better to give than receive. When you're feeling like you have a mountain to climb try giving of yourself.

Patience: Patience is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties

• Wow, how prevalent is the need for this today? Rather during these tough economic times or while negotiating that ongoing Short Sale.

Update to Post: Alexander Harb of Active Rain and the Group Christianity and Real Estate thought that it would be a good idea to include a Bible verse that includes a virtue that I touched on here. I particularly like this one:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law" Galatians 5:22-23, NIV

What we believe to be the right thing can vary from one person to another. Sometimes when we lose our patience, consider not being totally honest or keeping fortunes all to ourselves, we definitely lose our way. When you wake up again, dust yourself off, you'll feel better being back on track. I know there are times that I've gotten off track and getting back on track brings a greater sense of peace. Is it peace that we seek? I always pray for peace....as there's nothing like it!