Selling Your Home Fast When Foreclosure is Approaching

Newspaper and television reports would have everyone believe that 90% of homeowners have either been foreclosed on or are currently facing foreclosure.  That simply is not true! However, if you happen to be facing foreclosure you no doubt tried to sell your home or are trying to sell. When you’re facing foreclosure the goal is not just to get the home sold, but quickly.  We are now in a buyer's market, so homes take a longer than average time to sell. So what are you to do when faced with such a situation? Get aggressive, and get your home sold fast!

As the seller, you control three factors that influence whether your home sells quickly that’s pricing, marketing and condition. Here are some easy steps and insider secrets to make your home fly off the market in record time!

Pricing Your Home

1. Don’t Salvage equity that does not exist. You must get clear on your goal: Are you trying to squeezes out dollars by holding out for the highest price, or are you trying to avoid the seven-year credit mark that a foreclosure will leave?

2. Don't Price your home over the market.  If you'd like to get your home sold, make sure you price it aggressively and that means low. If you overprice your home some buyers won't even look at it because it will appear to be out of their price range. Other buyers will focus on seeing properties whose sellers seem more realistic and motivated about selling. If that happens your home will sit on the market longer than it should..

3. Get realistic about your homes value. Have your real estate professional prepare a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) that shows recently sold, similar homes in your neighborhood. To sell it fast, take the sales prices (not the list price) from the most recently sold homes in your area, and then go down 10 percent or so from there to get your list price. When a home is priced slightly under others, it seems like a bargain.

4. Make sure you have an accurate understanding of how low you can go. Unfortunately, a buyer is not going to pay a premium price for your home just because that's what you owe. If you owe more than your home is worth, talk to your lender and agent, complete a short sale application and ask your lender to give you some indication of how low a sale price they will accept. An adjustment in list price may have to be made (don't forget to take closing costs into account and realtor fees); a little known fact is that your Lender typically pays the closing costs and Realtor fees in a short sale transaction. Remember a short sale may blemish your credit but it won’t hurt as badly as a foreclosure!

By  Sonda Hilario