Difference Between Foreclosure and Short Sale

Almost 740,000 US homes entered into foreclosure during the 2nd quarter of 2008 and the number of US foreclosures has almost doubled over the years. There are many explanations as to why people are having trouble keeping up with their mortgage payments such as the loss of a job or illness keeping them out of work. Whatever the reason is, it's time to take action.

A foreclosure is a legal procedure in which a lender, normally a mortgage lender obtains a court order stating a termination of a mortgagors equitable right of redemption. A foreclosure is when a financial institution repossesses your home due to a failure to keep up with mortgage re-payments. If this were to happen you lose your property, all your rights to the property are terminated and you are evicted from the property, which is then sold onto someone else.

Many people often feel that they have no alternative to a foreclosure when they have missed mortgage payments when in some circumstances you may be in a position that means you don't have to suffer the effects of a foreclosure. One of the first aspects that you need to look at when you are facing the prospect of a foreclosure is to decide whether a foreclosure will actually help your financial problems. If your money problems are temporary such as you have lost your job but it's only a matter of time before you get one again then you should try everything to avoid a foreclosure; however your debt may be so large that a foreclosure is the only way out of it. Evaluate your situation and you may find you can get out of a foreclosure.

If you are one of the many people who are worried about the prospect of foreclosure or maybe you are facing a foreclosure, well have you considered the option of a short sale?

A short sale is when a lender accepts a discount on a mortgage as a way of avoiding possible foreclosure; it is when a lender accepts less than the total amount of money that is due to them for the sale of a property. The process of a short sale is a unique arrangement where the financial institution that is involved and the home owner work together to sell the property before it becomes another foreclosed property.

An example of a short sale is if a homeowner is facing a foreclosure and they have an existing first mortgage of $400,000 then you write an offer to the lender for $320,000, which is then accepted as full payment for the loan. There is one aspect that people are always left thinking about in the case of a short sale, which is why are lenders taking less than what is owned to them? Basically it saves your lender in the long run; this is because the foreclosure process in Michigan is very costly for a lender. Lenders do not want to become property managers; lenders want to lend money. While the house is left vacant, the pipes may freeze throughout the cold winter months, the house could be vandalized, and usually the home will sell for much less than what it could sell for in the short sale process. Also lenders to not like to have excess inventory and bad loans on their books, meaning if they see an opportunity where they can sell the property without a huge loss they will do it.

If you are facing the prospect of a foreclosure I urge you to look into the route of short sale, you never know it could just be the answer you are looking for.

by MARK Z