“Homeowners who are struggling to make their mortgage payments must have more options available to them to avoid foreclosure,” said National Association of Realtors^® President Richard Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif. “Short sales can benefit not only the homeowner in question, but also buyers, lenders and the surrounding community. With their established lender relationships and insights into complicated real estate transactions, Realtors^® can add real value for both sellers and buyers interested in short sales.”

A short sale is a transaction in which the seller’s mortgage lender agrees to accept a payoff of less than the balance due on the loan. The lender often receives a higher amount of the remaining loan balance than it would from the sale of the property after a foreclosure. This helps support home values in the surrounding community. Short sales also help homeowners maintain some level of credit.

According to Freddie Mac, of homeowners who have loans that enter into the foreclosure process, 50 percent did not have any contact with the lender before foreclosure began. One of the most valuable services Realtors^® can provide to clients who may be facing a foreclosure is guiding them through the lender’s short sale process and facilitating communication, according to session panelists Michael and Stacey Spikes of America’s Home Rescue.

“The process for short selling an FHA loan is different than the process for shorting a Veterans Administration or conventional loan,” said Stacey Spikes. “Knowing the type of loan the seller has, and understanding the proper steps for short selling that loan and the order of those steps, is critical.”

Homeowners who are having difficulty making their mortgage payments and who may be considering a short sale must generally meet three qualifying criteria: they must be behind on their payments, be able to prove a legitimate hardship, and have little or no equity in their home.

While a typical real estate transaction involves two real estate professionals, a seller, a buyer, and the buyer’s lender, a short sale can include all of these parties in addition to the seller’s loan servicer, housing counselor, junior lienholders, mortgage investors and mortgage insurers. In addition to the number of parties involved, Realtors^® say there are many reasons for the difficulty in completing a short sale. These include burdensome paperwork, appraisals that do not consider the sellers’ duress or number of foreclosures in the community, over-burdened loss mitigation departments, and the complications created by second mortgages.

NAR has created a working group to examine the problems and difficulties surrounding short sales and to educate its members on how to best work with their clients through this process. NAR is also reaching out to its partners in the housing and mortgage industry to encourage adoption of principles and practices to streamline the short sale process.

“Short sales give many families in financial difficulties the possibility of salvaging their credit and avoiding the embarrassment of a foreclosure,” said Gaylord. “Realtors^® across the country stand ready to help, and NAR will work hard to ensure that short sales are a viable alternative to foreclosures whenever possible.”