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        <title>Denver Real Estate Blog</title>
        <link>http://www.denversrealestate.com/blog/tags/short-sale/</link>
        <description>Denver real estate topics including local metro Denver community news and events.</description>
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            <guid>http://www.denversrealestate.com/blog/bruce-swedal-earns-prestigious-designation-to-help-homeowners-in-danger-of-foreclosure.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.denversrealestate.com/blog/bruce-swedal-earns-prestigious-designation-to-help-homeowners-in-danger-of-foreclosure.html</link>
            <author>bruce@bruceswedal.com (Bruce Swedal)</author>
            <title>Bruce Swedal Earns Prestigious Designation to Help Homeowners in Danger of Foreclosure</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
BRUCE SWEDAL EARNS PRESTIGIOUS DESIGNATION TO HELP HOMEOWNERS IN DANGER OF FORECLOSURE

BRUCE SWEDAL of RE/MAX SOUTHEAST, INC. 3600 S YOSEMITE ST. SUITE 150, DENVER, CO 80237 has earned the prestigious Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation, having completed extensive training in foreclosure avoidance and short sales. This is invaluable expertise to offer at a time when the area is ravaged by &ldquo;distressed&rdquo; homes in the foreclosure process.

Short sales allow the cash-strapped seller to repay the mortgage at the price that the home sells for, even though it is lower than what is owed on the property. With plummeting property values, this can save many people from foreclosure and even bankruptcy. More and more lenders are willing to consider short sales because they are much less costly than foreclosures.

In Colorado, more than 30,177 homes are in some stage of foreclosure. It is happening in all price ranges. Local experts say that even high-priced homes are not immune.

&ldquo;This CDPE designation has been invaluable as I work with sellers and lenders on complicated short sales,&rdquo; said Swedal. &ldquo;It is so rewarding to be able to help sellers save their homes from foreclosure.&rdquo;

Alex Charfen, founder of the Distressed Property Institute in Boca Raton, Fla., said that Realtors such as Bruce Swedal with the CDPE designation have valuable training in short sales that can offer the homeowner much better alternatives to foreclosure, which virtually destroys the credit rating. These experts also may better understand market conditions and can help sellers through the emotional experience, he said. 

The Distressed Property Institute opened in January 2008 and provides training on-site and online. The CDPE is the premier designation for Realtors helping homeowners in distress and handling short sales.

&ldquo;Our goal is to educate as many people as possible so we can help as many homeowners as possible,&rdquo; Charfen said.

For more information about CDPE designation, please visit CDPE.com.
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:02:46 -0600</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.denversrealestate.com/blog/what-is-a-short-sale.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.denversrealestate.com/blog/what-is-a-short-sale.html</link>
            <author>bruce@bruceswedal.com (Bruce Swedal)</author>
            <title>What is a short sale?</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ To put this in basic terms a real estate short sale is when the proceeds from sale fall short of the loan balances which encumber the property. This happens when a home owner (borrower) can no longer pay the mortgage against their property. The lender may decide that selling the property short with a moderate loss is better than either pressing the home owner or foreclosure options. Foreclosure can mean larger costs to the bank and a less desirable credit report outcome for the borrower. A short sale does not necessarily release a borrower from the deficiency/remaining balance of the debt or the obligation to repay that deficiency.Short Sale ProcessFor a short sale to occur the mortgage lender needs to agree and facilitate the discounting of the loan balance against the encumbered property because of a financial hardship on the part of the home owner. This allows the home owner the ability to sell the property for less than the outstanding loan balance, turning over the sales proceeds to the lender. The reason for doing a short sale can make sense for both sides, the lender incurs smaller financial losses and the borrowers incur less damage to their credit. Selling a property short is usually faster and less expensive than foreclosure. Borrowers should be careful, because a short sale does not extinguish the deficiency balance unless that is stated clearly in the lenders offer of acceptance.Most lending institutions have a loss mitigation department to test for qualifying conditions and process transactions which could end in a short sale. The timing, criteria and willingness to process short sale transactions really does vary between lenders. The lender will order a Broker Price Opinion, an appraisal or both to establish value when evaluating offers.A Notice of Default need not be issued in order for a bank to accept a short sale request and lenders are slowly becoming more willing to work with short sales. Short sales are being used to help borrowers in financial hardship avoid foreclosure in cases where they owe more than their home is worth.Approvals and ConditionsIt is common for a short sale to require many approvals and conditions. There may be a first and second mortgage on the home which would mean that both lenders would need to approve the short sale, each likely would have their own set of conditions. Other junior lien holders such as an HOA, tax liens and mechanics liens also have the ability to object to a short sale. If there was mortgage insurance that company may also be a part of negotiations if required to pay out a claim. It is a complex process requiring specialized knowledge. There is a high rate of short sales that fail with the home ending up in foreclosure when not properly managed.The rate of short sale failure also varies by the lending institution. In 2009 the lender with the highest failure rate and longest approval time was Bank of America. Smaller, local banks tend to process short sales faster.Differentiation is ConsentAn easy way to understand the differences between short sales and foreclosures is through consent. A foreclosure is the forced sale of a home by the lender while in a short sale both lender and borrower are mutually consenting to the sale. That mutual consent in a short sale process is tenuous at best. Negotiations can be ongoing even while the property is for sale. The home owner may decide to refinance and stay or become uncooperative with the bank and force them to foreclose. On the other hand, the bank may also change their mind or not approve the price agreed to by buyer and seller.Short Sales and CreditShort sales can and do have an adverse effect upon a borrowers credit score. It is recorded as a kind of settlement. However, this effect is less than the effect that a foreclosure would have on a credit history. The effect on credit is also not as long lasting as a foreclosure would be. Through a short sale credit scores can be restored in as little as eighteen months with the ability to obtain a new mortgage in one to three years. In cases where the borrower is current when the short sale occurs, better results are achieved.During the short sale process lenders will occasionally forgive the deficiency debt and care should be taken to understand exactly how that deficiency debt will be treated. Lien holders to the property other than the lender are not as likely to forgive that outstanding debt. After completing a short sale the borrower should also take care to ensure the lender has updated mortgage balances to zero for credit reporting. ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Sun, 11 Apr 2010 17:15:15 -0600</pubDate>
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