1-800-CashOffer Starts Short Sale Service
By Alton Gary Simpson
BrokerUniverse
September 12, 2007
DALLAS — A new service that helps home sellers and real estate investors to process and negotiate short sales with mortgage companies is now available. 1-800-CashOffer’s new Short Sale Service can help home sellers avoid foreclosure through a short sale — where homes are sold for less than the amount that a homeowner owes on the property and the mortgage company agrees to discount the loan. The implosion of the subprime mortgage lending niche and the downturn in the housing market has led to record levels of payment defaults and foreclosures. The latest MBA National Delinquency Survey noted that the rate of loans entering the foreclosure process in the second quarter of this year was the highest in the history of the survey, with the previous high having been set the previous quarter.
The ever increasing default rate is due to many homeowners whom have ARMs that have adjusted upwards with rising interest rates and found themselves unable to afford the higher payments. Other homeowners can no longer afford their mortgage payments due to job loss or other factors that have impacted their ability to pay. Some homeowners simply bought more house than they could realistically afford. Also, in many local markets, there are far more homes for sale than there are buyers, resulting in falling house prices and the inability to find a retail buyer for many houses. As a result of oversupply, a tightening mortgage market and lack of demand, many homeowners are discovering that they owe more on their mortgage than their homes are worth.
According to a press release from 1-800-CashOffer, these issues are placing many homeowners in a position where the best solution is to sell their home to a real estate investor who is willing to purchase it via a short sale. The home seller and investor complete a set of documents that are submitted to the mortgage lender, and the process begins to determine if the lender is willing to accept the amount offered for the house.
“Banks are dealing with skyrocketing foreclosures. They do not want to own houses, especially in a declining market. The short sale is a good solution for the lender, homeowner and investor, but the short sale process can take from a few weeks to several months,” said Jeremy Brandt, chief executive of 1-800-CashOffer. “The 1-800-CashOffer Short Sale Service facilitates the process and assists in the negotiations with the lender, helping to streamline the process to reduce the time and effort for both the seller and the investor.”
Dev Horn, vice president/general manager, 1-800-CashOffer said that the company was responding to the needs of real estate investors by offering their new Short Sales Service. He added that feedback from real estate investors indicated that they would do more short sales if they received help from the company. “The whole idea is to give investors what they need to focus on their core business — to help them really devote their attention to buying and selling houses,” he said.
Mr. Horn concluded that the service provided by 1-800-CashOffer was a “win-win” situation for lenders, real estate investors and distressed home sellers. Real estate investors, who may be disinclined to do the heavy lifting of negotiating short sales with lenders, are able to concentrate on buying and selling real estate. Lenders who don’t want to become landlords are able to settle delinquencies without the expense of going through foreclosure proceedings. And distressed home sellers are also able to settle their debt obligations without having to enter foreclosure, which would leave a more substantial blemish on their credit history than a short sale.