Short Sale? Don't Trust Listing and Selling Your Home with Just Anyone!

Read this before you have an attorney or just any Realtor list & process your short sale. See why Keller Williams Realty Lancaster teamed-up with Significa Corp is your best option for avoiding foreclosure & selling your home. Why would you go anywhere else? 

• Significa has 7 years’ experience in successfully closing short sales. 
• We specialize in processing short sales. It is our full time business. 
• We provide attorney services included in our short sale program at no cost to the homeowners.
• We have a staff of 18 dedicated and trained people servicing the customer.
• We successfully close 90% of our short sale transactions.
• We have documented systems and manuals in place for the short sale process.
• We offer personalized service and weekly updates to all parties in the transaction.
• We have a detailed S.O.P. (Standard Operating Procedures) and accountability for all of our roles in our short sale process.
• We offer a training program with certification and we are considered the leaders in our industry. We also offer a Continuing Education Course for agents.
• We use leading technology to process our short sales.
• We have extensive relationships with most lenders in the country and are able to escalate a file immediately We can by-pass the bureaucratic channels when necessary.
• We have processed and closed over 300 short sales.

Short Sales - helping you avoid foreclosure... it's what we do...it's all we do... Significa Corp. - Contact me today to learn more and see how our team of professionals can help you!

Will My Bank Allow Me to do a Short Sale If I’m Current on My Mortgage Payments?

This is one of the questions I get asked most frequently. Here is the answer.

Not all short sales involve sellers who are delinquent on their mortgage. Some banks will consider a short sale for a person who is current on their mortgage if there is a legitimate hardship and a documented decline in property values.

Some banks have a policy whereby they will only consider a short sale if the borrower is behind on their payments. This policy can be viewed as absurd, especially if property values have dropped dramatically in the area. On the other hand, why would a creditor want to consider taking less money when someone keeps paying them per their original loan agreement?

A technique used by some people who want to minimize their damage to their credit while also having a short sale approved is to deliberately pay their mortgage late, but no more than 29 days late. When a bank receives their mortgage payment 30 or more days late, they inform the credit bureaus. For someone who is looking to borrow money, especially via a mortgage loan, in the next two years, a single instance of being 30 days late can prevent them from obtaining the loan they desire.

A person could choose to not pay their mortgage on time, which after a few days (typically the 6th of the month or later) causes the bank to treat the loan differently than if it were paid on time. The bank may send the file to their loss mitigation department once the loan is delinquent. The bank will call the borrower, and may send mail, offering options and assistance. One of the options may be a short sale.

Of course, the technique to prevent a 30-day report to the credit bureaus involves the borrower paying their mortgage plus the late fee just before the end of the month. That way the loan never goes 30 days behind, but the bank starts offering options to the borrower. That action may trigger the bank to consider a short sale or loan modification.

Some banks unfortunately have the policy whereby the borrower must be at least three months behind before they’ll consider a short sale. If that’s the case, then the homeowner must make a decision whether they should stop paying the mortgage. In some cases, it may be the best option for a person to stop paying the mortgage. That is a decision that should be made only after consulting various professionals, such as an attorney, and weighing the pros and cons.

The first thing one should do is call their bank to express difficulty in paying the mortgage or selling the house. Many banks will mail a short sale package to the borrower if asked. Some banks will reveal their precise policy on how to qualify for a short sale, while other banks will provide nebulous answers.

If you are considering a Short Sale, contact me and let our team of professionals assist. We are here to help you and help keep you out of foreclosure!

Money After the Short Sale? Maybe.

In the vast majority of short sales, the seller does not receive any money.  The bank and perhaps some other creditors lose thousands of dollars, and so they will not permit the seller to receive any proceeds from the sale.

You may have to pay…

In some cases, the seller may be expected to pay some money at closing.  In most cases where the seller has to contribute something, the amount the seller pays is just to make up the difference on pro-rated taxes, a higher-than-expected water/sewer bill, or some other shortfall that appears at the last minute.  For example, if the mortgage lender agrees to take a minimum of $132,655.17 and the closing costs are a little higher than expected, the lender will likely be unwilling to take less than the precise amount they stated.  Therefore, the buyer, seller, real estate agents, or other parties must contribute in some way to make up the shortfall.  In some cases, the buyer will refuse to pay more, stating that they will not pay for the seller’s costs.  In such situations, the seller may have to bring some money to closing to cover extra closing costs.  Typically that amount would be fairly low, ranging from a few dollars to a couple thousand dollars.

You may even have to promise…

In some short sales, the mortgage lender may stipulate that the seller must contribute some amount of money or the lender may ask the seller to sign a promissory note to pay back some of the remaining debt.  The mortgage company must declare any such stipulations in their short sale approval letter, so the seller would know well in advance.  In most short sales these days, the mortgage company does not expect the seller to contribute any money as it may be apparent that the seller does not have any funds to give.

But, you may receive money…

In some short sales, the seller may be given some money at closing or upon post-settlement move-out.  The federal government’s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program provides $3,000.00 for eligible sellers.  Loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) may grant $750.00 to $1,000.00 to the seller as a moving incentive.  Some mortgage lenders, like Bank of America and Chase Home Finance, offer to pay $3,000.00 up to $25,000.00 to sellers at closing if they cooperate with the short sale of their property.

The real benefit.

Sellers in a short sale should expect to receive no money at closing.  If they do qualify for a special short sale program, then they should be grateful to receive what little money they do.  The greater financial benefit to the seller is that they will no longer have to maintain a property they cannot afford.

For more information, contact me and see how our team of professionals can help!

Good News for Homeowners Underwater on their Mortgages

While not a done deal yet - the first step has been taken to extend the much needed Mortgage Debt Relief Act past the end of this year to 2015.

Extending the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act?

Homeowners who qualify have not had to pay taxes on the debt forgiven by a lender in a short sale transaction. This Act is scheduled to expire at the end of the year and this would dramatically impact anyone that has to sell their home when the amount paid is less than what they owe on their mortgage.

As the attached article states; extension of this Act has been included in the budget. It's believed that both sides recognize the necessity of extending the Act to help millions of homeowners. We'll be watching this closely as it moves through the process and keeping you advised.

Contact me to learn more about how our team of professionals can help you if you find yourself in a short sale position.

Short Sale? Lancaster County has a New Solution with Keller Williams & Significa Corp!

Underwater on your mortgage? Want to avoid foreclosure? Need to sell? 

Significa Corp and Keller Williams Lancaster have teamed up to offer a short solution to home owners that need to sell and/or are looking to avoid foreclosure! Significa works with you, the seller, and your agent to provide the knowledgeable and experienced expertise necessary to get your home listed and sold. In addition to your agent, you'll work with the Short Sale Director who will counsel you through the entire process. Significa, America's Short Sale Solution, will provide you with an Attorney to advise and review contracts. They also provide you with a Processor and a Negotiator to work directly with the lender to get your home sold and protect your best interest. The banks have these resources and you need them too!

Significa has a proven track record in successfully closing short sales and helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. We help create certainty for people in transactions that are inherently uncertain! Your agent does what they do best - list your home and find you a qualified buyer. We do what we do best  - negotiate and close the short sale of your home in a timely manor.

Now you have a team of professionals on your side! Why would you go any where else?


Contact me to learn how our team of professionals can help you during this difficult time.

Kevin Rowley
Short Sale Director
Significa Corp & Keller Williams Realty Lancaster
1630 Manheim Pike
Lancaster, PA 17601
717-735-1145 (o)
717-945-3326 (c)
Kevin@KRowley.com