According to the Orange County Register, as many as 70% of homes listed in Portola Hills and 63% of homes in Ladera Ranch are distressed. This means that those listings are either foreclosures or short sales. If you are currently living in either of these communities and you are upside down on your mortgage, then you should consider the lessons learned by over half of your neighbors.

The market crash caught many by surprise. Suddenly, responsible people found themselves upside down facing insurmountable mortgage debt. These homeowners had two options: short sale or foreclosure. For some, it was tempting to ignore their morgage debt problem. They did so at their peril and ended up suffering through an avoidable foreclosure. Proactive homeowners understood that inaction was not a solution. These homeowners took action by short selling their home and settling their mortgage debt.

So why is a short sale the choice of proactive homeowners?

A Short Sale is the sale of real estate in which the sale proceeds fall short of the balance owed on the property's loan resulting in the lender forgiving debt in order to avoid foreclosure.  Unlike foreclosures, which force eveiction on the lender's terms and damage one's credit for up to seven years prohibiting one from obtaining a new home loan for four or five years, a short sale allows for a planned exit from the peropty and minimizes the impact to one's credit. On average, a homeowner can recover from a short sale in about two years.

The thing to know about Short Sales is that they are more complicated than standard sales as they require much negotiation with the bank and prospective buyers.  For a short sale to succeed, you need people with short sale expertise who understand the process and can push the sale through to completion.

If you think a short sale might be right for you, we recommend you work with Fitzpatrick and Prince Real Estate and Rasmussen Law Firm. They have a proven record of success having closed 90% of their short sales. Nationally, the average short sale closure rate is only 60%. Additionally, these companies have worked together on over one hundred short sales, they understand how the other operates, and can move quickly, together, to negotiate with the banks to close your short sale. Start the conversation today with Mark, Whitney, or Blake at Fitzpatrick and Prince Real Estate. Give them a call today: 800.880.9962