The test that decides short sale or cash sale
People are told conflicting things about short sales by several parties who each have something to sell. Here is the version with nothing attached.
Equity means a cash sale. Being underwater means a short sale. That is the whole test, and it does not turn on your preference or on how good a negotiator you are. A cash sale runs on your timetable, because the money is already there. A short sale runs on the servicer's, because the servicer has to approve taking a loss before anything can close.
The short sale process in Suffolk County, honestly described
The servicer will want a hardship letter, financial statements, tax returns and bank statements, the contract, and a settlement statement showing exactly what they net. The package matters more than people expect. A short sale file that arrives incomplete goes to the back of a long queue.
We have put enough short sale packages together to know what gets asked for before it is asked for. Nobody can promise your servicer approves it. What we can do is make sure the short sale is not the one that fails on paperwork.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A three-bedroom on Palm Street. A three-bedroom on Easton Street. A house on Venetian Boulevard. All of them in Lindenhurst, all bought by us.
Lindenhurst is roughly 27,148 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11757, and the housing stock is mostly cape cod, ranch, hi-ranch. Around Wellwood Avenue and Montauk Highway, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Lindenhurst stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We know which of these streets take water, where the older systems fail first, and what the Lindenhurst Union Free School District does to a resale price.
Helping Lindenhurst owners through a short sale
Most people arrive at the short sale question already tired. They have had one conversation with the servicer and come away less clear than before.
The first thing we do is establish which route you are actually on, which takes one call rather than a month. Then we tell you what usually happens next. A cash sale, a short sale, or a modification worked with a housing counselor are all real outcomes here. None of them costs you anything to explore, and we will point you at the right one even when it is not us.
How long a short sale takes against a cash sale
The short sale timeline is the most underestimated part of this. Owners hear that a short sale is an alternative to foreclosure and assume that means it is quick. It is a genuine alternative, and it is not quick.
So weigh the clock alongside everything else. A cash sale closes on a date you know in advance. A short sale can be the better route when you are underwater, and it still ends when the servicer decides it ends rather than when you do.
How selling a house in a short sale in Lindenhurst works
- 1
You tell us about the house
An address in 11757 and a rough idea of condition. Two minutes on the phone or the form. We do not need photographs, a clean house, or anything fixed first.
- 2
One short visit
One of us comes by once, usually for less than half an hour. On a cape cod or ranch like most of Lindenhurst, what we look at closely is the roof, the boiler and the wiring, not the finishes.
- 3
We put a figure in writing
You have a written number within 24 hours, a single figure rather than a "somewhere around". Feel free to check it with a Suffolk County agent. When a house is ready to list as it is, listing can beat us, and we would rather you knew.
- 4
The date is up to you
Close quickly, or set a date months ahead to fit probate, a tenant or your own move. Either way there is no 76 to 91 days of a Lindenhurst listing looking for a buyer and waiting on a mortgage approval.
What a short sale leaves behind, and what a cash sale does not
A cash sale where the mortgage is paid in full closes the matter cleanly. A short sale is different, because the lender is accepting less than it is owed, and what happens to the shortfall afterward is not automatic.
Some short sale approvals waive the deficiency and some reserve the right to pursue it, and forgiven debt can carry tax consequences. We are not going to state either as settled fact for your situation. Ask an attorney about the deficiency language in the short sale approval letter, and ask a CPA about the tax side, before you sign anything.
What you do not pay when you sell a house in a short sale
Every line below is a cost of listing a house in a short sale the retail way that simply does not arise here.
- Agent commission
- $33,000 at 5% of the Lindenhurst median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $13,200 on a $660,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- The work it needs to show well, out of your pocket first none
- Cleanout and removal
- Paid per load, before a single buyer walks through none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities for the 76 to 91 days of finding a buyer and waiting on their mortgage none
Start with the written payoff figure
Everything on this page comes down to two numbers: what the house is worth and what the payoff is. Get the second one in writing from the servicer, and we will put the first one in writing for you at no cost.
If the gap favors you, a cash sale is simple and quick. If it goes the other way, we will talk you through what a short sale involves and whether yours looks like one worth starting. You are not obliged to sell to us to have that conversation, and plenty of people do not.
Common questions
Do you handle short sales in Lindenhurst?
We do. A short sale is a different animal from an ordinary purchase, and we have taken plenty of them through to closing in Suffolk County. Tell us the payoff figure and where the file stands and we will tell you what we think.
How do I find out what I owe on the mortgage?
Ask the servicer for a written payoff statement. It is your right to have one and it takes a phone call. That figure, set against what the house is worth, is what decides between a short sale and a cash sale.
Can I do a short sale on a Lindenhurst house if foreclosure has already been filed?
A short sale and a foreclosure frequently run at the same time, and the short sale has to outpace the calendar. It can be done and we have been through it. Tell us where the Lindenhurst case stands, and speak to an attorney the same week.
Which is better for me, a short sale or a cash sale?
Whichever one your numbers permit. A cash sale is better in almost every respect except that it requires equity. If you are underwater, a short sale is not a worse choice, it is the available route, and it can still beat letting a foreclosure run its course.
Will I walk away with money from a short sale?
A short sale is about clearing the debt rather than producing proceeds. If there is equity, you are not in a short sale at all, which is the first thing worth checking. Get the written payoff before you assume it either way.