The test that decides short sale or cash sale
People are told conflicting things about short sales by several parties who each have something to sell. Here is the version with nothing attached.
Equity means a cash sale. Being underwater means a short sale. That is the whole test, and it does not turn on your preference or on how good a negotiator you are. A cash sale runs on your timetable, because the money is already there. A short sale runs on the servicer's, because the servicer has to approve taking a loss before anything can close.
What your lender wants before approving a short sale
Expect adjournments, requests for documents you already sent, and a valuation ordered by the servicer that you will never see. That is the ordinary texture of a short sale rather than a sign yours is going badly.
A short sale also usually runs alongside a foreclosure that does not pause politely while the file is reviewed, which is why starting a short sale early matters so much. Begun late, the short sale and the sale date end up racing each other.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A four-bedroom on State Street. In Valley Stream, bought and paid for by us.
Valley Stream is roughly 40,634 people in Nassau County, ZIP 11580, and the housing stock is mostly cape cod, colonial, tudor. Around Green Acres Mall and Sunrise Highway, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Valley Stream stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We have been buying across Nassau County for 15+ years. We know what the Valley Stream Central High School District does to a resale price, which blocks still have oil tanks in the ground, and what a house like yours is actually worth here.
Helping Valley Stream owners through a short sale
We do not turn underwater sellers away. We have worked a great many short sales across Nassau and Suffolk, and we will work yours with you if that is what the numbers call for.
That means we make the offer, we help assemble the short sale package, we deal with the servicer's negotiator, and we stay in it through the adjournments. A short sale is slower and less certain than a cash sale and we will say so at the start. But an underwater owner with an experienced short sale buyer alongside them is in a far better position than one calling around for somebody willing to try.
How long a short sale takes against a cash sale
A cash sale on a Valley Stream house moves at whatever speed you want, because the funds are not conditional on anything. A short sale moves at the servicer's speed, and the servicer is being asked to approve a loss.
So the practical advice is the same on either route: start earlier than feels necessary. A short sale begun months before a sale date has room to breathe. The same short sale begun three weeks out is a race, and it is one you do not control.
How selling a house in a short sale in Valley Stream works
- 1
Start with the basics
Where the house is (11580) and a rough sense of its condition is all we need to begin. Call or use the form. Nothing needs fixing or clearing out beforehand.
- 2
We come and look at it
One visit, one person, usually under half an hour. On a cape cod or colonial of the age most of Valley Stream was built, we are mainly looking at the roof, the boiler and the electric rather than the kitchen.
- 3
A written offer within 24 hours
One figure, in writing, inside 24 hours. Not a range. Show it to a Nassau County agent if you want a second view; if the house is already in good enough shape to list, an agent may get you more, and we will say so.
- 4
Closing happens on your date
If you need it done quickly, it can be. If probate, a tenant or a move means waiting, we wait. What you skip is the 78 to 93 days a Valley Stream listing usually spends on finding a buyer and then on that buyer's lender.
Deficiency, credit and taxes: ask before you choose
Owners often ask which is worse for their credit, a short sale or a foreclosure. The honest answer is that it depends on how it is reported and on your wider picture, and a credit counselor can give you a better read on that than a buyer can.
What we can tell you is the transactional difference. A cash sale with equity behind it pays the mortgage off and you keep the balance. A short sale pays the servicer less than it is owed, on terms set out in an approval letter that an attorney should review before you sign it.
What you do not pay when you sell a house in a short sale
Each of the following comes with a retail listing of a house in a short sale, and none of it comes with ours.
- Agent commission
- $38,750 at 5% of the Valley Stream median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $15,500 on a $775,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- Everything a buyer would flag, paid for before you list none
- Cleanout and removal
- Dumpsters or haulers by the load, ahead of any viewing none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities across the 78 to 93 days it takes to find a buyer and then wait on their lender none
Start with the written payoff figure
Ask your servicer for a written payoff statement. Not the balance on the last statement, and not what you originally borrowed. The payoff includes arrears, fees and interest through the closing date, and it is the number that decides whether you are looking at a cash sale or a short sale.
It takes one phone call and you are entitled to it. Bring that figure to us and we will give you a written offer on a Valley Stream house alongside a straight read on which route it puts you on.
Common questions
Do you handle short sales in Valley Stream?
Yes. We have worked a great many short sales across Nassau and Suffolk over the years. A short sale is slower and lender-driven, so we will be honest up front about what yours looks like, but being underwater is not a reason we send anyone away.
How do I find out what I owe on the mortgage?
Call the servicer and ask for a payoff quote in writing, good through a date far enough out to be useful. Do not work from the balance on your monthly statement, because it leaves out the arrears and fees that the short sale question actually turns on.
Can I do a short sale on a Valley Stream house if foreclosure has already been filed?
Often yes. A filed foreclosure does not close off a short sale, it adds a clock. Servicers have discretion to adjourn a sale date when a credible contract is in front of them, though nobody can guarantee it. Get an attorney involved alongside us.
Which is better for me, a short sale or a cash sale?
Whichever one your numbers permit. A cash sale is better in almost every respect except that it requires equity. If you are underwater, a short sale is not a worse choice, it is the available route, and it can still beat letting a foreclosure run its course.
Will I walk away with money from a short sale?
Usually not, since the lender is already accepting less than it is owed. Some short sale approvals include a relocation allowance and some do not, and that is the servicer's call rather than ours. Ask an attorney to review the approval letter before you sign it.