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Category: Short Sale Programs

Make Your Decision Easier By Using The Short Or Stay Calculator

January 27, 2012

Hello there Shawn Polston here with Tucson Short Sales and 520 Short Sales thank you for checking out my blog today. I work with Keller Williams Realty in the Tucson area and my team and I specialize in short sales. I update my blog frequently to provide relevant content to homeowners looking to avoid foreclosure. If my blog is helpful today, or if you would like more information, take a minute to browse my website or contact me directly to discuss your options.

For my blog topic today I wanted to discuss a very common question that is very important to anyone considering a short sale. When I speak with a distressed property owner they always want to know what their home will be worth once the housing market improves and gets back to normal. It is a difficult question for anyone to answer but I have a new service on my website that gives homeowners a good idea of their homes current and future value. This service is called the Short or Stay Calculator and with some basic information about your mortgage this calculator can give you a snap shot of when your home will no longer be underwater. By simply entering your mortgage balance, current address, and roughly what your monthly mortgage payment is the Short or Stay Calculator will provide your homes value in different recovery scenario’s. The Short or Stay Calculator will show your homes value with slow, medium, or aggressive appreciation. The calculator will also show your continued cost of ownership in order to understand if it makes sense to stay in your current residence.

If you have any questions about the short sale process or the Short or Stay Calculator please give me a call and we can set up a free consultation. My team and I are committed to helping Tucson residents avoid foreclosure and make the best real estate decision available. Thank you for time today and I hope to hear from you soon.

To try out my new short sale calculator, click on http://tucsonshortsalecalculator.com/

Should I Pay My HOA Fees If I’m Facing Foreclosure or Short Selling?

December 23, 2011

Hi, Shawn Polston with Tucson Short Sales; we are your leading short sale team in the Tucson area. I wanted to talk to you today about homeowner’s associations and what happens with them in the event of a short sale or a foreclosure.

As a member of an HOA, you are obligated to pay the dues. If you do not pay the dues, the HOA has two options to pursue these unpaid dues. The first of these options is that they can formalize the lien against your property and attempt to foreclose it. The problem with this option is that there’s usually a mortgage on the property, and if they put a lien on it, they actually have to pay off the mortgage before they can foreclose on the property. Simply put, if the house is worth less than what the mortgage is, the HOA is not going to do that.

The other option that the HOA has is to pursue you personally. They can do this even after a foreclosure. A few of my clients have come to me a few weeks before their foreclosure date, they haven’t paid their HOA dues for the past few years and now there’s an enormous HOA lien on their home. The lenders in short sales, generally speaking, are receptive to paying that lien. But, sometimes, they aren’t because the lenders know that if they foreclose on the property, the HOA loan gets wiped away from the property and the HOA’s only recourse is to come after you personally.

Typically I recommend my clients that no matter what happens with the property, they need to keep paying their HOA dues because it could come back to haunt you. If you keep your dues current, it’s going to help you in getting a short sale done. I’d love to talk to you more about this subject, or anything related to short sales or foreclosures, so please give me a call today.

What You Need to Know About the 2012 Short Sale Tax Changes and the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act

December 20, 2011

Hi, this is Shawn Polston with 520shortsale.com where we are Tucson’s leading short sale team. I wanted to talk to you about something that I’ve been getting a lot of questions about lately. That is an eminent change to the tax code in the way forgiveness of debt is going to be handled with both short sales and foreclosures. After you complete a short sale, the lender is required by the IRS to issue a 1099 for the amount of debt forgiven. One common misconception is letting a house go to foreclosure changes that. It actually doesn’t. Instead it increases the amount of the 1099 typically. Typically the lenders have more costs associated foreclosures they also sell the properties for less than what we sell them for in the short sale. Back in 2007 President Bush put into place the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness act which covers you in certain situations. This can cover people from any tax liability on that 1099. In 2010 it was renewed by President Obama and it’s scheduled to go away at the end of 2012. The reason this is important is my typical short sale process takes from 3 to 6 months to complete. Sometimes it takes more or less time.

If you’re in a situation where you’re trying to decide if you should walk away from that house or you do a short sale, it’s taking the average lender 12 to 15 months to foreclose. One of the reasons I’m bringing this up is that by just simply walking away from the house you could miss out on the enormous tax savings that you’d have and get a 1099 for the foreclosure that you’re going to have significant tax implications on. I can’t tell you for sure if you would have tax implications, because a CPA has to look at your situation. The mortgage debt forgiveness act is pretty straight forward and you can read about it at IRS.gov. I’ll put a link to it on my website as well.

I’m sure you have other questions so don’t hesitate to call me or fill out the short sale request form. I really look forward to speaking with you and helping you out. Again, this is Shawn Polston with 520shortsale.com where we are Tucson’s leading short sale team.

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About Shawn Polston

Shawn has been a Realtor since 2006. Prior to becoming an agent Shawn and his wife were active real estate investors. Shawn takes his education seriously; he’s taken over 200 hours of continuing education classes, to keep up-to-date on current laws and trends. Shawn is a member of the Arizona Association of Realtors Master of Real Estate Society and a Graduate of the Realtor Institute. He is also a HAFA certified Short Sales and Foreclosure Specialist in addition to being a National Association of Realtors Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource.

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