Big Bucks From Short Sales!

A lot of the banks are offering incentives to sell your property short.  $6,000, $20,000, some even say $40,000.  But not everyone has been able to get their hands on the big money from the banks to sell their property short, so, let’s clear the air on this big short sale incentive that is offered by Chase (and also Citi and SPS, and others.)

I do not work for a bank and never have, everything I say here is based on my own experiences working with banks and closing short sales.

Qualifying for the incentives

Here’s the meat and potatoes of it, Chase is a servicer, and while they likely

service many of their own loans, they also service loans for other investors (e.g., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and many private investors as well). There are certain guidelines that loans need to meet in order to qualify for the big incentive. Not all loans at Chase meet these guidelines, and the employees at Chase (once your short sale package hits the bank) will tell you whether your seller’s loan will qualify for the incentive.

I’ve seen a seller with a purchase price of $145,000 receive $20,000 at closing. I’ve also seen a seller with a purchase price of $700,000 get an incentive of $35,000 at closing and of course everything in between from zero to $6k.  Usually the sellers receive a letter in the mail that offers them the incentive.

The bottom line is that there are many moving parts in a short sale, so the bank that has the loan does not necessarily mean you will get money.