How can I get out of my underwater mortgage? If my mortgage is underwater and the home is in disrepair, can I let the bank foreclose and move on? Q: I am a widow in my 70s and my mortgage is underwater. In addition, the house is in need of much repair. Can I just [...]
How does a short sale work for a buyer? This reader wants to know if they need an attorney to bid on or buy a real estate in a short sale. Q: Do I need an attorney to bid on or purchase a short sale real estate condominium? A: In some parts of the country, [...]
Making the most out of the sale of an underwater investment property can be difficult, especially in a competitive housing market. Here’s how to get started. Q: I bought a home as an investment for $450,000 with several partners back in 2006. We intended to buy it, knock it down and redevelop the property. That [...]
Speeding up the short sale process: Is it possible? The answer depends on the lender, the seller, and the real estate market. Q: I’ve been reading a lot of your columns about short sales. Why do short sales take so long to complete? How can I make the short sale process go faster? A: Short [...]
When your short sale is a foreclosure in sheep’s clothing, what can you do to make sure you don’t lose any of your deposits? Here’s what I suggest. Q: I read with interest your definition of a short sale in a recent column in the real estate section of our paper. We have a contract [...]
Your listing broker isn't legally responsible for knowing about a tax lien, but they should be aware of qualities that will make a home harder to sell. Q: We placed a contract on a home that should never have been listed in the first place since it had over $150,000 in tax liens. Am I [...]
After the housing bubble burst and the recession hit, many homeowners had trouble paying their bills. Some lost their homes, while others opted to sell their homes in a short sale. This gave buyers a great opportunity to purchase homes at less-than-fair market value. In a short sale, the lender agrees to accept less than [...]
Getting a new mortgage after a short sale or foreclosure is now possible for many Americans who lost their homes during the housing crisis. Even if you've gone through a foreclosure or a short sale, you can still buy a home. Here’s some good news: Hundreds of thousands of Americans who lost their homes in the housing [...]
Ilyce Glink explains how to avoid paying taxes on forgiven mortgage debt if you've done a foreclosure or short sale in Real Estate Minutes. If you go into foreclosure or complete a short sale, you could wind up owing tens of thousands of dollars to the IRS on your forgiven debt. But there’s a way [...]
In order to remove your name from a VA loan, you have several options: strategic default, short sale, foreclosure or bankruptcy. Q: I’ve read about strategic default and bankruptcy, and I’m a bit confused as to which is the better option for me. I have a VA loan on my house in Georgia, that I [...]
