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What Are Santa Monica Short Sales?

When the housing market collapsed in 2008 the emergence of Santa Monica short sales became commonplace in real estate. Even after all these years, people still wonder what Santa Monica short sales have to offer both buyers and sellers alike.

Santa Monica short sales are when, because of financial loss or an upside down mortgage, sellers are unable to pay for a home. The bank would rather cut their losses so they will choose to put the home on the market as a short sale. It essentially means that in order to avoid foreclosure of bankruptcy, a lender will sell the house short of the amount of liens and other debts owed on the property.

For sellers, Santa Monica short sales can allow a home owner to get out of a home they can no longer pay for without the credit damage that comes from bankruptcy or foreclosure. Because the lender is able to get back a significant amount of the home’s value from the sale, they will usually allow the seller to be free of further legal ramifications concerning debt to the house.

For buyers, Santa Monica short sales offer homes at under market value. It means that you can get more home for your money. When working with a short sale, it is vital that you work with a real estate agent because they are the legal advocate between the lender and the buyer. There is a significant amount of paperwork when working with short sales and the wait time can be very long when working with Santa Monica short sales.

Still, if there wasn’t a real advantage to purchasing Santa Monica short sales, they wouldn’t still be such a popular form of real estate. If you have wondered if purchasing a short sale would be right for you, talk to you real estate agent for more information on Santa Monica short sales.