How to Sell a House When It's Worth Less Than the Mortgage

DWAN BENT-TWYFORD, “The Queen of Short Sales,” is the country’s leading authority on buying and selling “underwater” properties. She runs popular boot camps for real estate investors and is a sought-after public speaker on real estate investing. She is also the coauthor of Short-Sale Pre-Foreclosure Investing, from Wiley.BILL TWYFORD is a successful real estate investor, speaker, author, motivator, and teacher.

• Downloadable Forms viiIntroduction ixHow Did So Many of Us End Up with Underwater Houses ixWhat Happened to Real Estate Prices? xEasy Money Home Loans xiiiWhen Lending GuidelinesLoosened—The Beginning of Our Current Problems xviiMeet the Authors xixAcknowledgments xxiiPart IOptions For “Underwater” Property OwnersChapter 1 Is Your Home Worth Less Than the Mortgage? 3How to Estimate the Value of Your Home 4What Banks Want 6Introduction to a Short Sale 7Other Options for Underwater Homeowners 8Chapter 2 What Happens If I Walk Away from My Property? 11Stop Making Payments, Move Out, Let the Bank Foreclose 11Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure 13How to Protect Yourself 14Your Losses Don’t Stop with Foreclosure 15Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act 19Chapter 3 If You Are in Financial Trouble, Deal with Your Emotions First! 25The Typical Mindset of People in Distress 25How It Feels to Be Trapped 31Putting Your Pride Aside—The First Step to a New Life 34How to Get Free from Your Property and Get on with Your Life 36Chapter 4 Aggressive First Steps to Get the Highest Possible Price 39Try to Sell the Property Yourself before Calling a Real Estate Agent 39Using a Real Estate Agent 41What If My House Is Underwater but the Payments Aren’t Late? 44Chapter 5 Try a Loan Modification: Negotiating a Lower MonthlyPayment with Your Lender 47Loan Modification 48Forbearance Agreement 52Chapter 6 Government Programs and Mortgage Relief Organizations 57Mortgage Relief 58Financial Relief 61Part IIShort Sales: How To Sell A House When It’s Worth Less Than You OweChapter 7 The Short Sale Solution 65When a Short Sale Won’t Work 67Short Sale Requirements 68Short Sales for Investment Properties 71How to Approach Your Bank 73How to Ace the Broker’s Price Opinion 75Chapter 8 How to Put Together Your Own Short Sale Package 79Requirements for Financially Distressed Homeowners 81Requirements for Solvent Homeowners 84Putting the Package Together 85Sample Contract for Sale and Purchase 85Sample Comparable Sales 86Sample Pictures of Disrepair 86Sample Net Sheet 87Sample Investor Letter 87Sample Repair List 87Making Sure Your Package Is Complete 88Sample Short Sale Package 89Chapter 9 How to Work with an Ethical Investor to Short Sale a Property 105What Should an Investor Do for Me? 106How to Negotiate with Investors 117Chapter 10 Closing Any Deal—What You Need to Get in Writing 123Get Everything in Writing from the Bank, Investor, or Real Estate Agent 124What to Expect from the Closing Agent 126Check Your Credit after the Deal Is Done 128Part IIIOther Options And Issues For Underwater HomeownersChapter 11 If Nothing Else Works, ConsiderBankruptcy 133Bankruptcy—How to Buy Time 135Will Bankruptcy Help or Hurt My Credit? 138Chapter 12 Temporarily Renting Your Home 143Section 8 Program 160Chapter 13 Don’t Go Broke Trying to Save Your House 165Don’t Go Broke 166Living with Negative Cash Flow 168Living with the Emotional Stress 172Chapter 14 How to Rebuild Your Credit 175Credit Repair Services 176Steps to Rebuilding Your Credit 181Formula for Paying Off Credit Cards 183Chapter 15 Is There Life after Financial Disaster? 187How Do I Avoid Disaster Again? 188Will I Be Able to Invest Again? 190Sharing Your Experience with OtherDistressed Homeowners 192Consider Becoming a Real Estate Investor 193Index 195