What is a Short Sale?

shortsale1

A Short Sale may be an alternative when you can’t pay your mortgage.

It is called a short sale because you do put your home up for sale, but the mortgage bank agrees to accept a buyer that will not be paying the full loan amount, an amount “short” of what is owed on the loan. The bank is “shorted” After the sale the Seller is usually able to walk away from the home without owing the bank the difference.

There are occasions where the bank will seek a deficiency judgment against the former owner, so be sure to have this discussion with your agent and work to include language in your closing that protects you against deficiency judgments.

Why would you opt for a “Short Sale” versus a “Foreclosure”?
Read more