Cape Coral Florida's Real Estate Guide

If you've tried to negotiate your home loan with your lender unsuccessfully or are too far gone for that to be an option for you, the next option you have involves the sale of your home. What's important right now is protecting your credit by avoiding foreclosure at all costs.

Option II: Sell Your Home Quickly Through a Short Sale

A short sale is when an investor negotiates with the bank for a discounted rate on the home and you are able to get out of the mortgage. It seems like everybody with a little bit of money in the bank has latched onto the idea of investing in a short sale. Ultimately, it doesn't matter to you whether this is an investor's first of fiftieth short sale as long as the sale goes through. Be advised that you are much better off with an experienced investor. It is wise to get the help of a real estate professional with lots of experience in short sales so that they can connect you with quality investors. When interviewing potential investors, ask them how many short sales they've completed. There is so much that can go wrong with a short sale that it is highly advantageous to have a great real estate agent and experienced investor behind you.

A short sale occurs when the bank takes a percentage of the outstanding balance from an investor as satisfaction for the loan. The problem is that the bank wants this percentage to be as close to 100 percent as possible and many investors are under the false impression that they can get homes for 40 percent. It's a myth to believe that the bank does not want your house. It's true that banks didn't get into the loan business to control real estate. However, what's most important to a bank's shareholders is whether the loans are performing and whether the bank is going to make a profit that quarter. If your loan isn't performing, the bank is going to want to get you back on track with your loan or sell your house, but not at 40 percent.

Be prepared for the fact that even if you find an experienced real estate agent and short sale investor, a short sale might not work for you. The bank may just be plain stubborn and unwilling to accept any of the offers that you place on the table. Also, you could simply run out of time to get the sale transaction completed. If this is the case, you still have an option left that can keep you from foreclosure proceeding. Check back soon to find out what that is and how it might be able to help you!