If you are asking these questions then a short sale might be for you:

* Are your payments too high?
* Has the value of your property value dropped?
* Are you ready to just let the house go?

Well, before you walk out the door, let's talk about the choices you have to save your home...

An astounding statistic I heard today was that 60% of all owners in trouble have no idea about how to contact their lender to work out their financial problems if possible. There is help!

The truth is that you can sell your house even if you're "upside down" (meaning you owe more money on it than it's worth) but you'll need to get help from an agent and your bank. If you owe $500,000 on your home but your market will only bear $400,000 in a sale right now you either need to come up with the extra $100,000 or your lender needs to agree to take a loss on what you are "short".

Because of the decline in prices in our market and the large volume of inventory currently putting enormous downward pressure on price, the short sale is becoming more and more common as lenders realize it's cheaper for them to handle the problem before it goes to foreclosure. We are all taking classes and learning very quickly how to handle these issues because they are so prevalent. Don't feel you are alone. There is help for you!

What's in it for the lender? Even though they take a loss from short sales, their losses are much less than if they went through the foreclosure process and then have to sell the property from their REO group. For example, a lender may lose $25,000 with a short sale, but if the same house went through foreclosure, the bank may lose $75,000. So short selling is really to their benefit, because it helps them mitigate their final losses.

So we know short sale is better for the lender, but why is a short sale better than a foreclosure for you? Here's five reasons why a short sale is an advantage over a foreclosure.

1. Lower Income to Report to the IRS

If you think that walking away will solve all your problems, I'm sorry to tell you there's much more to it! If you're upside down and the lender has to take a loss, they will require you to report your loss to the IRS as income for which you generally have to pay tax ( "phantom income"). So it's in your best interest to help the lender incur the least loss possible. Talk with a tax professional before you embark on this so you understand your exposure.

2. Your Credit Rating Will be Better

You don't get out without damage, unfortunately. A short sale will hurt your credit and subtract about 200 points from your credit score. It remains on your credit report for 7 years. But a foreclosure subtracts about 400 points from your credit score and can stay on your report for 10 years and causes much more damage. Even renting is difficult when there's a foreclosure on your record. It's worth taking all neccessary measures to avoid it.

3. You Will Have Peace of Mind.

If you can sell your home through a Realtor® you'll be able to set the time frame for selling and moving, not a pending foreclosure date. You have time to make plans and decide where you'll be living next. We all like to know we've paid our debts and this helps you feel better that you've made every effort to help the lender.

4. You May Minimize the Fraud

Don't get taken by someone who will fast talk you out of your home and make your situation even worse. There are far too many fraudulent scams that will take away whatever choice you have in your situation. Signing documents that include quitclaim deeds or allowing a group to take over your deed so you can "rent back" your home is a recipe for further disaster.

5. We Can Help Get You Through This

Realtors®are trained marketers who know how to sell homes. Once the process is begun with the lender the Realtor® will do her job and get the home sold. We know how to talk with lenders and we are expert at paperwork (and there's a lot of paperwork involved.) Our job is to get you to the next stage of your life, not to judge you or your financial problems. If you are facing problems in making your payments, call me and let's talk about your options. You have plenty...