One question that always comes up on “how to do a short sale on my house”? We’ll try to respond here without a lot of elaboration:
First, no, you don’t need a lawyer. A Brokerage Firm such as ours can negotiate the Short Sale on behalf of an owner without the need for an attorney. As a firm however, we do place our in-house counsel on your case so that we are working both with the Bank and the Court at the same time. Yes, you got it, many times the right hand (bank) doesn’t know what the left hand (lawyers) is doing.
That being said, make sure that the law firm knows what the bank has negotiated with you and that they are not still pursuing the legal claim while you are negotiating the short sale or loan modification with the bank.
Next you can try to sell your home by owner, but the bank requires a valid FARBAR contract plus specific documents from the buyer so they can determine if the buyer will be accepted by them.
The bank takes 37 days to approve a short sale. If the bank doesn’t approve it, then you will have a foreclosure in your credit which lasts 10 years on your credit. You may also have problems with your citizenship status if you are not a lawful permanent resident.
The whole process is not difficult, but complex and one slight mishap and all of your work was a waste of time.
What we do at Victor Bao PA is that entire negotiation with your bank and we place our in-house counsel on your case to slow the legal and court proceedings by filing continuations and answering the banks complaint as we find a buyer and negotiate for a reduction in your debt with the bank.
The key is going to be to stop the Court proceedings while you find a qualified (not having a relative buy your property without being fully qualified). and moving quickly with HUD statements, inspections, opinions of price the bank will approve, etc.
It is heavy paperwork and takes time. Cross your T’s and dot your i’s as they say.
Call us if you have any questions at (786) 546-2778.