User talk:Rick and Joyce Tietz

Hello: We are Rick and Joyce Tietz, Realtors Antioch, CA.

NOTHING SHORT ABOUT SHORT SALES! Get ready to sweat the small stuff to make a hardship deal go through. Desperate homeowners across the country are finding that getting a short sale approved can take six months or longer, and in many cases, these deals collapse due to a variety of complications. Knowing how to approach a short sale will increase your chance of success. We, The Tietz Team, had a short sale that took 6 months to close representing the buyer. We have listings that are short sales here in Antioch, CA and the Lenders are responding more quickly and some are easing up on Hardship Qualifications. A short sale occurs when a mortgage holder agrees to accept less than the balance due on a home because of a hardship. Many homeowners owe more than their home's value and because of that and the probability of having a 3 to 5 year arm that has suddenly reached the end of the lower rates and has graduated to higher rates they are facing foreclosures because they can no longer afford the mortgage payments. Understanding that this is just one scenario that has contributed to the problem there are many others. Borrowing money against their equity, when they had equity, balloon payments, interest only loans, just to name a few. Short sales and foreclosures accounted for one third of all US home sales in June, according to the National Association of Realtors. I suppose they are speaking about Short Sales and REO Sales. Here in Antioch, CA over 80% of sales are REO or Bank Owned sales but short sales are on the rise because of better Bank Communications. One snag involving short sales is the fact that there may be two liens, a first and second mortgage. If both loans are with the same bank the process becomes easier, if they are with two separate banks “Stay Away”. In many cases, second lien holders, such as home equity lenders, withhold approval taking their chances with a foreclosure proceeding.

Tips for a successful short sale • Make your financial hardship letter a compelling one. • Gather all required financial statements and other items and submit them with the offer. • Work with a Realtor that has short sale experience. • Find a buyer who is preapproved for a mortgage, same goes for an REO. • Make your offer as clean as possible, exclude a lot of contingencies from the buyer. This will kill the deal • Be patient and in Antioch, CA don’t expect an answer from the owners lender in less than 2 weeks.

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