Loft Living LA is here for you and your family. Facing financial hardship or coming to terms with a bad investment is not only emotion-ally stressful but can be confusing. How do you know which is the best path to take in or-der to get back on track as quickly as possible?

What is a Short Sale?

A short sale occurs when a lender agrees to ac-cept less than the amount owed against the prop-erty because there is not enough equity available to pay off the balance owed to all mortgage lien holders and pay associated closing costs, in-cluding Title, past due Home Owner Association Fees, Escrow and Real Estate commission fees.

What is a Foreclosure?

A foreclosure occurs when your lender repos-sesses your home because you have defaulted on your mortgage or home equity line of credit. You default by failing to make your interest and principal payments on time. Foreclosed property is often sold at auction allowing the lender to re-cover some or all of the outstanding debt.

Please note that each circumstance is unique and we encourage you to consult a tax or le-gal professional for specific tax or legal advice.

Advantages of a Short Sale • Regain control by having our Short Sale Spe-cialist negotiate with your Lender(s) on your be-half. This allows you to make informed choices that will benefit you and your family.

• Loft Living LA does not charge a fee to the property owner at any time for processing a short sale. All real estate commissions are paid by the participating banks.

• Less damaging to credit scores than a fore-closure. • Sellers can get out from under a burdensome mortgage and reduce their debt while limiting the impact on their credit rating.

• A short sale allows a Seller to responsibly honor their debts. During a Short Sale, the condo is marketed by a local, experienced Short Sale Residential Specialist to secure the maximum selling price and favorable closing terms, thus satisfying the largest portion of the mortgage debt.

• As local, Downtown Specialists, we are famil-iar with solutions to overcome common trans-actional issues pertaining to a Downtown Loft Condo sale including H.O.A. lawsuits, and Live/Work lending challenges which could cause further delays and ultimately lead to your condo being foreclosed-upon.

Disadvantages of a Foreclosure

• Loss of control - in a foreclosure, the bank is in charge of all aspects of the process and you fol-low their timeline for the sale of your home.

• A foreclosure is one of the most damaging oc-currences on your credit report. It is estimated that the seller’s credit score may drop 250-280 or more points after a foreclosure and the fore-closure will stay on your credit report for at least seven years. This means the effects of a foreclo-sure are likely to stay with you for a long time, perhaps even after you get back on your feet financially.

• If the seller intends to borrow money for a home or other major purchase, it is estimated they may have to wait up to 36 months or more before they can attain a reasonable interest rate from a lend-er for any type of purchase.

• Condos normally sell far below market rate at public auctions. Allowing your property to sell far below market rate at a public auction could incur severe tax penalties for select condo loft owners. In some cases, individuals have to file for bank-ruptcy protections in efforts to stop harrassment from collection agencies who attempt to col-lect debts for investment groups, Home Owner Associations, or other groups your bank may have sold debts to in efforts to cap their losses.

Keller Williams Realty. DRE#01780236 1308 Factory Place, Loft 112, Los Angeles, CA 90013. 213-891-9345 Visit http://www.LoftLivingLA.com or Ted@LoftLivingLA.com

Do You Owe More Than Your Condo is Worth and Don’t Know

What to Do? 1 out of 7 Condo owners

aren’t paying their mortgage.

Learn more about the Short Sale option hundreds of Downtown condo owners

have taken to regain control of their lives.

213-891-9345 (Ask for Ted or Drew)

Keller Williams Realty DRE#01780236

1308 Factory Place, Loft 112, Los Angeles, CA 90013. 213-891-9345 Visit http://www.LoftLivingLA.com or Ted@LoftLivingLA.com

BE CAUTIOUS WHEN CHOOSING A LOAN MODIFICATION OR RE-FINANCING COMPANY? Be aware of any agent or company who requires mon-ey up front, as this is illegal. Many companies trick clients by claiming these fees were charged in efforts to get a refinance to go through. When the refinance doesn’t work out, they sell your condo in lieu of a suc-cessful refinance. Many of these companies know you will not be able to refinance up front, but trick you into thinking you’ll be awarded a refinance. Instead, you only get into further financial trouble by postponing the inevitable as you wait for the restructuring of your debt which they never intended to resolve in the first place.

IS THE SHORT SALE YOUR BEST OPTION? When conducted properly, a short sale almost al-ways works. Short sales are serious and must be negotiated, conducted and documented in a way that requires skill sets most real estate agents lack.

If you are currently attempting to negotiate a loan modification, you may need a back up plan. You also need to know more information about what has been happening to hundreds of other Downtown property owners who have been waiting for some type of loan modification to come through. Call us for more infor-mation. We can easily process your short sale expedi-tiously, confidentially, and with integrity.

In California there are currently no deficiency judge-ments allowed for purchase money loans. However, if you have refinanced, either for cash out or a change in rate and term, you may be held responsible for the deficiency. A short sale MAY help you to avoid this.

Short sales are less detrimental to credit reporting than foreclosure.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR SHORT SALESThe main qualification for a short sale is that you owe more on your home loan than it is worth. Secondly, you must be suffering some sort of financial hardship. Many lenders have dropped the required hardship ex-planation, however. Financial hardship can include many things, such as:- Loss of Employment or Reduced Hours- Major Illness or Medical Expenses- Divorce- Increased Bills- Higher Living Expenses- Investment Loss

While some lenders do not require a hardship expla-nation, other lenders will require at least some expla-nation of why you cannot pay your mortgage. Some lenders have very lenient rules about what they con-sider to be a hardship. Give us a call at 1-213-891-9345 and we can discuss what type of hardship require-ments your lender has, and what you can do if you think you do not have a valid hardship.

A common misconception about short sales is that you have to be out of money to qualify. Having cash sav-ings in the bank, or even situations where you are cur-rently making more money than you have in the past will not necessarily disqualify you from a short sale. CAN I DO MY OWN SHORT SALE?No. In California, you need a licensed and experienced agent to perform a short sale. Most Real Estate Agents do not have the knowledge or skill to perform a success-ful short sale, which is why many agents refer home-owners to us. Loft Living LA has a fantastic success rate, and a reputation for being the best in the industry. WHAT ARE POSSIBLE INCOME TAX RAMIFICATIONS? Many important factors regarding tax implications of a short sale can be found in the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007. The act in summary allows most homeowners to waive paying federal income tax on debt forgiven through a short sale. Please seek the advice of a tax accountant to clarify your situation.

Keller Williams Realty DRE#01780236 1308 Factory Place, Loft 112, Los Angeles, CA 90013. 213-891-9345 Visit http://www.LoftLivingLA.com or Ted@LoftLivingLA.com