With all the foreclosures and short sales out there you would think that people who could not previously afford homes would be scooping them up. That is happening to some extent but there is still a key obstacle to making these homes affordable and it’s the property taxes. While prices have come down considerably in some cases property taxes have not. To give you an idea of the magnitude of the problem let me give you a few examples I have stumbled on over the past few months:

• 2124 Dewey Ave. in Evanston is a 2 flat with a list price of $250,000 and annual property taxes of $14,416. That compares with other similarly priced 2 flats with property taxes in the range of $4,000.
• 6412 Gray Hawk Dr. in Matteson is a townhouse with a list price of $114,900 and annual property taxes of $6,794. This compares to other similarly priced homes with property taxes in the range of $2,000 or less.

In general, property taxes may be high because the previous owner didn’t/couldn’t apply for the homeowner’s exemption or the assessed value is just way too high given the current market. If property taxes are too high by $4,000 per year that is equivalent to an increase in the purchase price of $62,000 at a 5% interest rate, which prices many people out of the market for these homes.

Of course, someone could buy these homes and then try to get the taxes fixed – appeal the valuation or apply for the proper exemptions. Alas, we are dealing with the government here and consequently the process is convoluted and there are no guarantees. For instance, there are rules about how long you need to live in a place before you can apply for the homeowner’s exemption and it could be 1 1/2 years before you can get anything done. Similarly there are numerous different processes for appealing your valuation and some of them are only available to you during certain times of the year. I tried talking to these people and it was like something from Alice In Wonderland – the white knight was talking backwards. Something about this board and that board and the county and the township and the window and I should call this other number – and plenty of attitude for someone who works for me. Bottom line: you can go months without getting any tax relief. And then, as I said earlier, there are no guarantees. You could be stuck with high taxes the rest of the life of your home. It’s a huge risk for people.

So these homes just sit and sit.

Suppose you read my earlier post on why you should consider a short sale. What needs to happen in order to pull it off? Here is a short overview of the process.

Get The Right People Involved

It definitely helps to have a realtor involved in this process because there is a lot of back and forth, coordination, and information transfers. It’s really helpful to have someone handle all that for you – especially if they’ve been through this process before. A realtor can also help convince the bank that the property value warrants a short sale.

You will want to consult with an attorney because they can be helpful at several steps in this process, starting with getting your lender’s attention. One way to get your lender to consider a short sale is to stop paying your mortgage. However, I hear that is no longer the only way to get their attention and I wouldn’t recommend doing this without first consulting with an attorney. Then you will want your attorney involved again later in the process when your lender presents you with different settlement options so that you can understand the implications of them. For instance, you can sign a 0% interest note for the deficiency or the bank can just forgive the debt. Each of these alternatives has specific implications for your credit history, your future liabilities, and your taxes. You will probably want your attorney negotiating the terms of your deal for you, though your realtor will negotiate the offer with the lender.

Because of the tax consequences you’re also going to want to involve your accountant. For instance, under certain circumstances, when a sale is completed, you may receive a 1099 C from the lender that documents how large the deficiency was. As debt forgiveness, this would normally be taxable except that there is the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 that provides for this phantom income to not be taxable if the debt forgiveness is related to your principal residence and the debt is forgiven during 2007 – 2009.

Contact The Lender

Once you believe your lender is ready to consider a short sale someone needs to contact the lender to start the process. This is something your Realtor can actually do for you. The first step is to figure out who to talk to and to document the process. In general, you want to be dealing with the Loss Mitigation department, not customer service. They can outline the steps and the required documentation.

Prepare The Documents

Before the lender will have any discussions with your realtor that are specific to your case they are going to want to have an authorization on file that explicitly gives your permission for the lender to talk to the realtor. After that, the lender will need a short sale package on file. Every lender has a different process but in general the following documents are required in the short sale package:

• Copy of the listing agreement with any amendments
• A hardship letter, written by you, explaining your circumstances that require a short sale. If there is any supporting documentation such as medical bills or termination letters, those should be included.
• Financial information request form, which provides a summary of your income and expenses
• Copy of pay stubs
• Copy of income tax return
• Copy of property tax bills

Pricing The Property

Once your lender is in receipt of your short sale package and they have been authorized to talk to your realtor your realtor should call your lender to discuss pricing and the lender’s process for responding to offers. This is where a realtor can really add some value by figuring out what the lender’s targets are and how flexible they are. In addition, by understanding the process your realtor can set the appropriate expectations with potential buyers and possibly even expedite the response. The last thing you need is a realtor who just lets fate take its course.

Next Time

In another post I’ll cover what happens after an offer is made. In the meantime, if you would like some additional perspective on the short sale, check out this Atlanta based realtor’s blog.

Short sales have become huge. Lawrence Yun, the eternally optimistic NAR economist, now estimates that short sales and foreclosures comprised 35 – 40% of all nationwide real estate transactions in October. They’re certainly becoming more common throughout the Chicago area – even in the more upscale neighborhoods. That’s one way to deflate a real estate bubble.

So what exactly is a short sale?

A short sale is a home sale where the proceeds of the sale are not going to be sufficient to pay off the mortgage. Consequently, the sale contract requires the bank’s approval. Exactly how a short sale is executed and how the payoff shortfall is resolved is something I’ll address another day.

So why should a seller pursue a short sale?

First and foremost a seller will want to consider a short sale when it becomes clear that they are not going to be able to sell their home at a price which will allow them to pay off the mortgage in its entirety and they don’t have the money to make up the difference. While the decision to conduct a short sale should only be reached after seeking appropriate legal and tax advice, generally it is seen as preferable to going through foreclosure. It can certainly be resolved faster, since it can be pursued prior to the lender completing the foreclosure process. The other way that it is seen as preferable to foreclosure is that it is believed to have less of a negative impact on your credit record, though I find conflicting information on exactly what the difference is:

• The NAR refers its members to the CBS News site (isn’t it odd that the supposed authorities on real estate refer people to CBS?), where they claim:

While in both cases, short sale and foreclosure, the delinquent mortgage will negatively affect their credit rating, at least short sellers avoid having a “debt discharged due to foreclosure” on their credit reports. Mortgage and credit experts say that, after bankruptcy, having a foreclosure on your credit report is the worst result and will reduce your credit score by over 250 points. You could also have to wait up to three years to qualify for a mortgage at a reasonable rate.

Short sales show up on a credit report as a “pre-foreclosure in redemption” status and can result in a credit score reduction of 100 points or less. After the sale, the mortgage may show up as “discharged.” People who successfully complete a short sale may also qualify for a mortgage at a reasonable interest rate in as little as 18 months. So, if buying a home is a future goal, then a short sale is the better option for many.

• Unfortunately, About.com indicates that the credit score impact is the same on a short sale as it is on a foreclosure, though they seem to agree with the CBS report on the other aspects of the differences.

And why should a buyer pursue a short sale?

Short sales can offer great values because the property is heading towards foreclosure, which is an expensive process for the lender. Consequently, the rational lender should be willing to accept a bargain price. Of course, we do not live in a rational world. If we did we wouldn’t be deflating the housing bubble right now. I hear countless stories of banks turning down short offers one day to only end up foreclosing many months later for even less money than they originally turned down.

Then there are the realtors who don’t even want to mess with short sales because it often takes forever to get an answer from the lender and sometimes commissions get cut. In fact, one national, discount real estate brokerage will not “support short sales” because “the chance of success is extremely low.” While there are elements of truth in all these concerns it’s not really right to short change a buyer by ignoring 40% of their opportunities.

Of course, the less that rationality prevails in the short sale world the better the values are for the rational players. I know of some exceptional values out there right now.