Real Estate Investor · Sacramento · Member since 2011 · 15 posts · 0 votes
hello guys,
Sorry for such a rookie post. I did google around and didn't find too much help so I thought I would ask here. My parents home will be a short sale pretty soon. Is it possible for me to purchase the home. I have perfect credit and make good money. I do live in that house currently.
Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
13y
If you're thinking, "is there some way we can do a short sale and still let my parents stay in the house", then the answer is no. In exchange for eliminating this debt, they're going to lose the house and suffer significant damage to their credit. The lender has an actual monetary loss. So, both feel pain.
Now, you say something there that I don't fully agree with. Just because they're upside down isn't necessarily a reason to do a short sale. Everyone who buys a new car with a loan is probably upside down the minute they drive off the lot. Yet, they're happy with the car and their payments, so its just part of the deal. So, if you're parents were happy with the house when they bought it, were happy with the payment, and can afford to stay there, why sell at all?
For many folks, that's not a choice. They got in over their head with ARMs or other tricky loans and can no longer afford the house. Or someone lost a job. Or suffered an expensive medical problem. Or some other hardship. So, they're forced to sell.
And other folks decide they're so far underwater that they just don't want to spend a fortune making payments. So they do some form of strategic default and suffer the consequences of walking away from a debt. Opinions vary on the morality of that choice. I can see both sides, and for families that are deep underwater, the pain of a foreclosure or short sale may be acceptable vs. decades of high payments.
But just by itself, being underwater isn't really a reason to walk away.
Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 928 votes
13y
Mandeep -- it has to be an "arms length" transaction, can't involve a relative. The agents and parties to the transactions will have to sign forms attesting to this fact.
Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
13y
Nope. The short sale buyer will have to be an unrelated person. It has to be and "arms length" transaction. There are plenty of short sales out there. Buy a different one.
Real Estate Investor · Sacramento · Member since 2011 · 15 posts · 0 votes
13y
Thanks everyone for the responses.
Like the millions of others, my parents are upside down and I understand that they signed for it etc etc. And like millions others who have done a short sale, they are now in the process.
Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
13y
If you're thinking, "is there some way we can do a short sale and still let my parents stay in the house", then the answer is no. In exchange for eliminating this debt, they're going to lose the house and suffer significant damage to their credit. The lender has an actual monetary loss. So, both feel pain.
Now, you say something there that I don't fully agree with. Just because they're upside down isn't necessarily a reason to do a short sale. Everyone who buys a new car with a loan is probably upside down the minute they drive off the lot. Yet, they're happy with the car and their payments, so its just part of the deal. So, if you're parents were happy with the house when they bought it, were happy with the payment, and can afford to stay there, why sell at all?
For many folks, that's not a choice. They got in over their head with ARMs or other tricky loans and can no longer afford the house. Or someone lost a job. Or suffered an expensive medical problem. Or some other hardship. So, they're forced to sell.
And other folks decide they're so far underwater that they just don't want to spend a fortune making payments. So they do some form of strategic default and suffer the consequences of walking away from a debt. Opinions vary on the morality of that choice. I can see both sides, and for families that are deep underwater, the pain of a foreclosure or short sale may be acceptable vs. decades of high payments.
But just by itself, being underwater isn't really a reason to walk away.
Real Estate Investor · Sacramento · Member since 2011 · 15 posts · 0 votes
13y
Appreciate all info guys. They are underwater due to taking out a credit line on the house and being shafted in their business venture in a major way by a family memeber...out of this world.
Another question if you guys don't mind. Could someone pay cash for the property and then sell it to me without any consequences?