Short Sale Market is Active

»Foreclosures Provide Opportunity

Whether your someone with a property in distress, or a buyer looking to purchase a property under value, the foreclosure market provides a great avenue to meet your real estate needs. If your a property owner looking to get out from under debt and overdue taxes, a short sale will benefit you greatly as opposed to giving the property back to the bank, or declaring bankruptcy. Your credit score will not be impacted nearly as greatly, thus your ability to regain positive credit history will be shorter.

For investors, banks often times elect to accept an offer on a property in distress well below the market value in order to mitigate their losses. For someone with the ability to put money down and gain financing in today's financial market, there are properties in distress that you should be considering. You need an individual who knows how to work with the banks and other brokers in order to successfully transact a short sale.

»The Short Sale Process: Seller

As a seller involved in a short sale you have to work with an agent that knows how to prepare a short sale package and communicate effectively with the loss mitigation department for the banks. Especially in south Florida, right now banks are taking longer and longer to pursue foreclosure actions due to the falling real estate market. This gives the seller a longer amount of time to conduct a short sale. If your house is worth less than your mortgages, and you are falling behind on your mortgage payments, HOA or COA fees, property taxes and other debt due to economic stress, it makes sense to short sale your house before the bank takes it over so you can deal with all of the creditors at once and settle your debts effectively.

After the short sale is approved by the bank, or banks if there are multiple mortgages, the banks still have the option to either come after the seller in court and obtain a deficiency judgment, or to write the loss off and issue a 1099 to the seller for the amount as income. As a seller, if you are issued a 1099, and are insolvent, then you need to contact a CPA to fill out IRS Form 982. There is a possibility that you won't be taxed on the gain. If you have do not have significant assets it is more likely a bank will not pursue you for a judgment. However, all banks have different policies, and they change all the time based on their current financial situations. If your facing foreclosure contact Harris Gilbert directly at (786) 371-4431 so we can attempt to short sell your property and potentially save your credit history.