Short Sales & REO

Although the name Short Sale seems appropriate, they are merely referring to a Lender agreeing to sell the home for a price less than what is owed on the property, and our process may take 30 to 60 days. A  Short Sale will affect your credit rating even if you have not been late with your mortgage payments.  We advise our clients not to waste time and call their bank or work with our experienced agents who understand the short sale process and introduce your home for sale. A Short Sale may be your best option to avoid a foreclosure.  Other options may be available to save your home.          

A Foreclosure may happen when you have not made any payments to the Lender and the Lender takes back the property.  This usually happens 6 months after you have not made any payments.  The effects of a foreclosure on your credit can be very negative and it will usually stay on your credit for 7 to 10 years. A Short Sale may be an option if the lender agrees to accept the offer presented to them.  A short sale is usually agreed upon because the costs associated with a Foreclosure are very high.  It is important to place your home for sale as soon as possible to avoid a foreclosure on your credit.  

Overall a foreclosure is detrimental to your credit. In fact, in many ways it is easier to re-establish your credit from a bankruptcy or a short sale than a foreclosure. In a bankruptcy your FICO is often frozen until you complete the bankruptcy. This isn't the case with foreclosure. Your FICO score gets damaged every time another payment is missed. You are at the mercy of the foreclosure sale so you can have several missed mortgage payments show up on your credit report. This is very difficult to get removed since it isn't an error like many other items that are falsely reported to your credit report. This is also called a "hard return" because it doesn't get removed like inquiries or collections older than 12 months. Target REO Homes has credit counseling programs they may refer you to help work on repairing your credit.