Short sale may be better option for home owners facing forelosure

Struggling homeowners will soon have more options to keep their homes out of foreclosure. There's a program aimed at making short sales easier and more attractive for both lenders and home owners.


A short sale is where the bank agrees to let a homeowner sell their house for less than what's owed. It allows struggling homeowners to better protect their credit, which can be damaged for 7 to 10 years with a foreclosure. But until now, short sales have been a cumbersome process - one that's turned many away from this viable option.

Philip Lueckenotto bought a home on Springfields west side as an investment opportunity, but then the real estate bubble burst and he started to sink. I was getting underwater, he said.

He knew selling the home wasn't an option. There was no way I was going to get what I paid for 2 and half years earlier.

Faced with foreclosure, Philip called his lender to refinance but was denied. Instead, his lender suggested he talk to a real estate agent about a short sale. A short sale is when lender agrees to take less than amount owed as full satisfaction of debt, said loss mitigation expert Jan Cole, with Carol Jones Realtors.

Instead of negatively impacting his credit for 7 to 10 years like a foreclosure, a short sale only hurts his credit for about 2 years. The theory is that everyone is a winner. The home owner walks away without a deficiency, the lender loses less and the person who buys it buys below market value, said Cole.

But Cole says it's a cumbersome process that can take as long as a year to complete, turning many potential buyers away. There's only about a 40% closing rate on short sales, she said.

The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program aims to help. Its a streamlined form, streamlined process, and less paperwork. It also sets a better stage of steps for lender to walk through, said Cole.

It also provides a $1000 financial incentive to banks willing to take a short sale. It doesn't sound like much, but if you're a lender with 100,000 loans, that's better than foreclosure, said Cole.

And perhaps most importantly, to the homeowner at least, it will provide them with $1500 to help them get back on their feet. For person living there, instead of letting it sell on court house steps, it would be an incentive to make them stick it out a little longer, said Lueckenotto.

The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program takes effect April 5 and right now only applies to government backed loans such as Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, but most experts agree that conventional lenders will soon follow.




In addition, it requires homeowners to first try and refinance the home or get a loan modification. If those are not options, then the bank will consider a short sale.

If you have a question about this program, go to our Ask an Expert message board where you can post a question for our real estate expert.

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