Hi all!

I hope all of you were able to enjoy the wonderful weather we had here this last weekend! I know I did!

I had a conversation this last week with a good friend of mine about short sales. She's in the military and is up to transfer sometime in the next year. Unfortunately, when she bought her current house, it was at the top of the real estate boom 2-3 years ago. Renting out the house was not an option, and she's well aware of the fact that to sell your home quickly, you have to price your home ahead of the market (meaning what the price will be 30 days from now--not yesterday or today), but to do that, she would have to price it lower than what is owed to the bank--which--as I've mentioned before, is called a short sale.

As any well-informed consumer does, though, she educated herself on the ramifications of short saling her home. She knows what she is and is not willing to do to sell her home. As it turned out, she decided it was worth it to come out of pocket and show up at the closing table with whatever was owed to the bank instead of doing a short sale. And believe it or not, in the 1970's it was not unheard of to bring money--as a seller--to get your home sold. Back then there was no such thing as a short sale.

Anyhow, so why did my friend decide this route? Because she didn't want to take the hit on her credit report. I found an excellent article that explains how much credit scores drop when doing a short sale, as well as a foreclosure, or deed in lieu of foreclosure (signing the deed over to the bank, give them the house, and walk away).

Making the decision between going into foreclosure and doing a short sale is like deciding if you want to get hit by a train or a bus. Hmmm. A foreclosure AND short sale will drop credit score ratings 200-300 points. Someone with an outstanding credit at 720 could see it drop to 420. WOW! So if I have "good" credit at 650, it can drop to 350--what a punch in the gut! I can't say I blame my friend for her decision! But either way, it is a personal decision for everyone, and only you know what the best option is for you. Make sure as a seller, you are informed about all of your options. Talk to an attorney if you have to.

If you would like to read the full article--which also discusses time frames before a lender will even consider giving you another house loan, go to

http://brokeragentpro.com/viewArticle.html?ArticleID=1147

As always, keeping you informed!

Valerie@ValerieSullivan.net