Mike Sikorski MBA GRI CRS

HEADLINE: Mike Sikorski launches website and marketing plan specific to homeowners facing foreclosure hardship in the Port Charlotte real estate market

Port Charlotte, FL - Mike Sikorski, a Port Charlotte real estate broker, has developed a marketing strategy and website that is focused on assisting distressed homeowners find information and investigate options to avoid the foreclosure process. As an expert in short sales, a real estate transaction option that banks will consider instead of foreclosure with specific guidelines, Mike Sikorski is determined to provide essential knowledge to homeowners in Port Charlotte facing this unfortunate circumstance.

Visitors to ShortSellYourHome.net will find information regarding the process of foreclosure, what effects foreclosure has on a homeowner, and ways to prevent the foreclosure process from continuing. The website features easy-to-understand informational tools such as a list of frequently asked questions, a glossary of terms and free reports as well as resources that allow the homeowner to get their questions addressed in a confidential manner. In addition, the website offers the homeowner information regarding short sales, often a viable solution to foreclosure that can save a distressed homeowner from the damaging effects foreclosure has on their credit.

"I feel that it is important in today's economic conditions for homeowners to know that they have options other than the foreclosure route," says Mike Sikorski. "Statistics show that 50% of homeowners facing this stressful situation often ignore the issue and that doesn't have to be. There are options such as a short sale, especially if the homeowner works with an experienced REALTOR® to provide them assistance in showing the lender the hardship situation and other real estate documentation."

Mike Sikorski new website provides visitors with a description of how the short sale process works, how it compares to a foreclosure, and how a homeowner may be able to qualify for a short sale.

For more information about foreclosures and short sales in Port Charlotte, please feel free to visit the website at www.ShortSellYourHome.net or to contact them directly at 941-875-1203 and by emailing Info@ ShortSellYourHome.net.

Go to www.ShortSellYourHome.net/FreeReports for your free, no obligation reports on the benefits of short selling your home!

Mike Sikorski launches website and marketing plan specific to homeowners facing foreclosure hardship in the Port Charlotte real estate market

Port Charlotte, FL - Mike Sikorski, a local real estate broker specializing in the marketing of homes by short sale, has developed a marketing strategy and website that is focused on assisting distressed homeowners find information and investigate options to avoid the foreclosure process. As an expert in short sales, a real estate transaction option that banks will consider instead of foreclosure with specific guidelines, Mike Sikorski is determined to provide essential knowledge to homeowners in Port Charlotte facing this unfortunate circumstance.

Visitors to www.ShortSellYourHome.net will find information regarding the process of foreclosure, what effects foreclosure has on a homeowner, and ways to prevent the foreclosure process from continuing. The website features easy-to-understand informational tools such as a list of frequently asked questions, a glossary of terms and free reports as well as resources that allow the homeowner to get their questions addressed in a confidential manner. In addition, the website offers the homeowner information regarding short sales, often a viable solution to foreclosure that can save a distressed homeowner from the damaging effects foreclosure has on their credit.

"I feel that it is important in today's economic conditions for homeowners to know that they have options other than the foreclosure route," says Mike Sikorski. "Statistics show 50% of homeowners facing this stressful situation often ignores the issue and that doesn't have to be. There are options such as a short sale, especially if the homeowner works with an experienced REALTOR® to provide them assistance in showing the lender the hardship situation and other real estate documentation."

Mike Sikorski's new website provides visitors with a description of how the short sale process works, how it compares to a foreclosure, and how a homeowner may be able to qualify for a short sale.

For more information about foreclosures and short sales in Port Charlotte, please feel free to visit the website at www.ShortSellYourHome.net or to contact them directly at 941-875-1203 and by emailing Info@ ShortSellYourHome.net.

Quoting from an article that I read in the real estate section of the Sarasota Herald Tribune, "an executive with Bank of America (seated as a panelist at the National Association of Real Estate Editor's Spring Journalism Conference), pointed out with an apparent degree of satisfaction, that 86% of its mortgage borrowers continue to pay on time". I guess in the eys of this executive, that the 14% of mortgage borrowers who are suffering some type of financial distress in making their monthly mortgage payments on time, is acceptable. Interesting observation, considering Countrywide Financial is mostly responsible for originating the toxic mortgage loans that represent a large portion of this acceptable delinquency.

The new federal guidelines designed to speed up the short sale process, otherwise known as the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, will likely pressure banks and mortgage lenders to provide the one-answer homeowners and their real estate professionals do not want to hear: NO!

Pressuring banks, credit unions, and mortgage lenders into a timeline of 10 days to process a short sale is completely unrealistic, especially since the federal government has failed to address the root causes of the lengthy delays of the short sale process in the first place.

Most of the delays in getting short sales approved are largely due to lender inefficiency and government bureaucracy.

Loss Mitigation Specialists charged with reviewing and approving most short sale requests by their respective bank, credit union, or mortgage lender are woefully undertrained in even the most basic underwriting skills, as well as inundated with hundreds of short sale requests. Banks, credit unions, and mortgage lenders would be better served to hire experienced mortgage loan underwriters, using underwriting guidelines set forth by Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, to process their short sale requests. Increased staffing of these specialists would also be a huge plus to improving the short sale process.

Mortgage loans guaranteed or insured are another reason for the lengthy delays in the short sale process. The Veterans Administration (VA), Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and the United States Department of Agriculture, charged with guaranteeing or insuring mortgage loans, often have the final say in whether or not a homeowner will be approved for a short sale of their home. Anyone who has dealt with the federal government already knows the pain-staking processes one has to go through to accomplish even the smallest of tasks. There are simply too many hurdles to overcome in a reasonable period in getting a response on a short sale from these loan guarantors/insurers. A streamlined process of communication between banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders, and their respective loan guarantors and insurers would go a long way in speeding up the short sale process.

Last, differentiating between homeowners who qualify for a short sale, and those who do not, also delays the short sale process. Homeowners having little or no difficulty in making their monthly mortgage payments, but still request a short sale of their home simply because their saddled with more debt than their home's equity can support, are hindering the short sale process for those homeowners in true financial distress from getting their short sale request approved. Setting a minimum standard for homeowners to qualify for a short sale, as well as discouraging those homeowners fully capable of making their monthly mortgage loan obligation from applying for a short sale would certainly improve the process of helping those homeowners truly in need of assistance.

Everyone wants a faster short sale approval process, but identifying and recognizing the root causes of the delays of the short sale process should be addressed before truly meaningful timelines for getting a short sale approved can implemented or even suggested.

Mike Sikorski MBA, GRI

Licensed Real Estate Broker

MLS of Florida Realty Corporation

22079 Kimble Avenue

Port Charlotte, Fl. 33952

(941) 206-6000

Mike@FloridaRealty.net