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CITY

Select a City: No Preference Alpharetta Atlanta Avondale Estates Canton Chamblee Cumming Dacula Decatur Doraville Duluth Dunwoody Holly Springs Johns Creek Kennesaw Lawrenceville Marietta Milton Mountain Park Roswell Sandy Springs Smyrna Snellville Vinings Woodstock Choose a property type: Residential Condo Commercial Land Lot

What is your price range? No Minimum $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $375,000 $400,000 $425,000 $450,000 $475,000 $500,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $1,750,000 $2,000,000 $2,250,000 $2,500,000 $2,750,000 $3,000,000 $3,250,000 $3,500,000 $3,750,000 $4,000,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 $5,500,000 $6,000,000 $6,500,000 $7,000,000 $7,500,000 $8,000,000 $8,500,000 $9,000,000 $9,500,000 $10,000,000 No Maximum $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $375,000 $400,000 $425,000 $450,000 $475,000 $500,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $1,750,000 $2,000,000 $2,250,000 $2,500,000 $2,750,000 $3,000,000 $3,250,000 $3,500,000 $3,750,000 $4,000,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 $5,500,000 $6,000,000 $6,500,000 $7,000,000 $7,500,000 $8,000,000 $8,500,000 $9,000,000 $9,500,000 $10,000,000

Number of rooms required? Beds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+ Baths 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+

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SUBDIVISION

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Choose a property type: Residential Condo Commercial Land Lot

What is your price range? No Minimum $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $375,000 $400,000 $425,000 $450,000 $475,000 $500,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $1,750,000 $2,000,000 $2,250,000 $2,500,000 $2,750,000 $3,000,000 $3,250,000 $3,500,000 $3,750,000 $4,000,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 $5,500,000 $6,000,000 $6,500,000 $7,000,000 $7,500,000 $8,000,000 $8,500,000 $9,000,000 $9,500,000 $10,000,000 No Maximum $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $375,000 $400,000 $425,000 $450,000 $475,000 $500,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $1,750,000 $2,000,000 $2,250,000 $2,500,000 $2,750,000 $3,000,000 $3,250,000 $3,500,000 $3,750,000 $4,000,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 $5,500,000 $6,000,000 $6,500,000 $7,000,000 $7,500,000 $8,000,000 $8,500,000 $9,000,000 $9,500,000 $10,000,000

Number of rooms required? Beds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+ Baths 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+

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SCHOOL

Enter a School:

Choose a property type: Residential Condo Commercial Land Lot

What is your price range? No Minimum $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $375,000 $400,000 $425,000 $450,000 $475,000 $500,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $1,750,000 $2,000,000 $2,250,000 $2,500,000 $2,750,000 $3,000,000 $3,250,000 $3,500,000 $3,750,000 $4,000,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 $5,500,000 $6,000,000 $6,500,000 $7,000,000 $7,500,000 $8,000,000 $8,500,000 $9,000,000 $9,500,000 $10,000,000 No Maximum $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $375,000 $400,000 $425,000 $450,000 $475,000 $500,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $1,750,000 $2,000,000 $2,250,000 $2,500,000 $2,750,000 $3,000,000 $3,250,000 $3,500,000 $3,750,000 $4,000,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 $5,500,000 $6,000,000 $6,500,000 $7,000,000 $7,500,000 $8,000,000 $8,500,000 $9,000,000 $9,500,000 $10,000,000

Number of rooms required? Beds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+ Baths 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+

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ZIP

Enter Zip Code Choose a property type: Residential Condo Commercial Land Lot

What is your price range? No Minimum $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $375,000 $400,000 $425,000 $450,000 $475,000 $500,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $1,750,000 $2,000,000 $2,250,000 $2,500,000 $2,750,000 $3,000,000 $3,250,000 $3,500,000 $3,750,000 $4,000,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 $5,500,000 $6,000,000 $6,500,000 $7,000,000 $7,500,000 $8,000,000 $8,500,000 $9,000,000 $9,500,000 $10,000,000 No Maximum $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $375,000 $400,000 $425,000 $450,000 $475,000 $500,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $1,750,000 $2,000,000 $2,250,000 $2,500,000 $2,750,000 $3,000,000 $3,250,000 $3,500,000 $3,750,000 $4,000,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 $5,500,000 $6,000,000 $6,500,000 $7,000,000 $7,500,000 $8,000,000 $8,500,000 $9,000,000 $9,500,000 $10,000,000

Number of rooms required? Beds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+ Baths 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+

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MLS #

Enter MLS Number: MLS Number: MLS Number: MLS Number:

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MAP

Select a Starting Point: No Preference Alpharetta Atlanta Avondale Estates Canton Chamblee Cumming Dacula Decatur Doraville Duluth Dunwoody Holly Springs Johns Creek Kennesaw Lawrenceville Marietta Milton Mountain Park Roswell Sandy Springs Smyrna Snellville Vinings Woodstock Choose a property type: Residential Condo Commercial Land Lot

What is your price range? No Minimum $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $375,000 $400,000 $425,000 $450,000 $475,000 $500,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $1,750,000 $2,000,000 $2,250,000 $2,500,000 $2,750,000 $3,000,000 $3,250,000 $3,500,000 $3,750,000 $4,000,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 $5,500,000 $6,000,000 $6,500,000 $7,000,000 $7,500,000 $8,000,000 $8,500,000 $9,000,000 $9,500,000 $10,000,000 No Maximum $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $375,000 $400,000 $425,000 $450,000 $475,000 $500,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $1,750,000 $2,000,000 $2,250,000 $2,500,000 $2,750,000 $3,000,000 $3,250,000 $3,500,000 $3,750,000 $4,000,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 $5,500,000 $6,000,000 $6,500,000 $7,000,000 $7,500,000 $8,000,000 $8,500,000 $9,000,000 $9,500,000 $10,000,000

Number of rooms required? Beds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+ Baths 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+

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Short Sales 101

If you are in the market for a home or are trying to find a way to sell your home and feel you are upside down, you might think that the best option is a short sale or a foreclosure. In subsequent posts, I'll get into more detail about foreclosures and if you want to skip this, you can go straight to our Atlanta foreclosures page or our Atlanta MLS page to search for short sales more specifically.

I'd like to go over short sales first because there is definitely more confusion over them, more contract issues and more complications with getting them closed than foreclosures. In my experience, they are more difficult than most other transactions right now. With all of that said, they can also represent an excellent value - but not all the time and not for all people. To buy or sell a short sale, you need to have time. Lots of it and often times it is an indefinite amount of time. They typically take 3-4 months to close, but, can take 9-12 months as one agent in our office has been working on one since 2008. At the time this is being written, it will be 10 months and still no answer on that one. The point is that if you want a short sale, you can forget the $8,000 tax credit, unless you don't really care if you get it because a guaranteed closing on a short sale prior to December 1st is impossible to guarantee. A short sale really is what it sounds like - the seller is trying to "short" his mortgage by asking the bank to accept less than what the seller owes. If you want a bank to accept less than paid in full it's going to take some time. Here's why:

Short sales have been around for a long time. That's not new. What is new is how it's being used by homeowners in a declining market and what constitutes a hardship. There are now more homeowners applying for a short sale than ever before and for many banks the prospect of foreclosure may be more expensive than the short sale so the bank may be inclined to accept a short sale.

About 18 months into the business I had my first experience with a short sale. My very first clients ever needed one because the husband died of Leukemia and she could no longer afford the house on her salary. To make things more difficult, they had a one year old baby shortly after they closed on their first home. It was a terrible situation and one that I spent a lot of time learning and researching how best to help her. I learned a great deal about short sales because of that very first one I put so much energy into. She applied for a short sale from the lender and was ultimately approved. The lender ordered an appraisal, the negotiator at the bank told me what their bottom line was and I listed the home at a price to achieve the bank's goal. Once we received an offer, we provided a HUD-1 (settlement statement) for the bank to review to make sure it met their bottom line and we closed a few weeks later. This was before the sub-prime mess and before the banks got flooded with short sales and foreclosures so the process was over in about 60 days start to finish.

The Process 

Today the process is very different and every lender has a different timeline and slightly different method. There is a cottage industry that has sprouted up with attorneys claiming to represent sellers to help get a short sale approved faster than can be done by the homeowner - I'm a bit skeptical, but, it's probably effective for some. It's just that there is no reason for it when a short sale expert real estate agent can easily handle it for you just as easily without injecting a third party into the process. There are also real estate agents who claim to be able to help other agents with just the short sale approval process - another middle man to me but maybe more effective as they are really just trying to help the listing agent get the short sale process moving more quickly. To be effective, you need bank forms and contact numbers that only come with experience in the short sale business. The number of short sales in the current market is so high that many lenders want an offer on a home before they will even consider a short sale. This is difficult for many to understand because you don't actually know for sure what defines a "hardship" so there can be uncertainty with whether a homeowner will ultimately be approved. With experience, we know what some things are that constitute a hardship, but, as a seller, you need real guidance on this. You will need to call me and talk about your specifics if you want me to explain what does and doesn't constitute a potential hardship.

The process is pretty straightforward. You work with the loss-mitigation department and typically fill out some financial forms from your lender and send them back. You are not likely to get anywhere until your paperwork is 100% complete. This part of the process can take a long time. A large institutional lender who has the loan of someone we are currently working with told us 3-4 months to hear if they would even be approved. You then need a loss mitigator  - a negotiator for the bank - to order a BPO (Broker Price Opinion) or an appraisal for the home. Then the lender will at least know what they are working with and can accept or reject an offer. This can take time and there is a bit more to the process, but, that's basically how it begins.

The Contract 

Then there are contract issues. They come from both sides of the transaction. A short sale really is a regular sale between a buyer and a seller that is contingent upon bank approval and binding when signed by the buyer and seller. It does not become binding when the bank approves it so what we see in practice is that many homes listed as short sales have such a compelling price that they illicit multiple offers. In a short sale scenario, a seller is not concerned with the net profit so often times they will sign all the offers and try to submit them all to the bank - this results in multiple buyers who may have a binding contract to purchase the home! A terrible mess to say the least.

As an expert in the field and with the help of an attorney, we have drawn up specific language to protect us as listing agents for short sales and for buyers agents for short sales to help protect all parties from mishaps from other parties and from ourselves sometimes :) but, they are not online somewhere and I am not going to post them online for all to see/take/share and add potential liability to myself if they aren't used correctly. You need a true expert to help you if you are buying or selling a short sale. Your family member in the business that is struggling in the bad market is the absolute last person to entrust this with.

Call Us

If you think it may be time for you to try and find a way out of a bad situation, call us and we will answer your questions and give you some honest advice on whether or not a short sale might be a realistic option. We aren't going to steer you one way or another. We need to know as much as possible in order for us to help you and us understand the entire situation. Just know that there is help available if you need it.

One Last Thing

Do not make the first phone call or inquiry about your position to your lender! They are under no obligation to accept a short sale so they are also under no obligation to answer your questions without finding out pertinent information which may cause them to decline you for a short sale. Call us or another professional first.

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Keller Williams Realty Consultants

695 Mansell Rd,Suite 120
Roswell, GA 30076
Office: (678) 287-4800
Direct: (404) 630.3187
Fax: (404) 704.0214