Explore Properties at Southern California: Citibank and Mortgage Servicers Now Offering Distressed Property Owners Big Money to do Short Sales

Citibank is now offering some distressed homeowners up to $35,000 to encourage them to AVOID FORECLOSURE and SHORT SALE their property (certain terms and conditions apply).

Citibank is like some other major mortgage loan servicers (Bank of America, Wachovia and Chase Bank) who offer incentives and payment to sellers for them to participate in a SHORT SALE as opposed to letting their homes go to foreclosure.

Lenders and their servicers would rather participate in a SHORT SALE than foreclose on a property.

Lenders usually lose and spend lots of money on foreclosure processing, then they must keep property on their books as non-performing, then part of shadow inventory to be cleaned and cared for according to government regulations, and eventually spending even more money to list and sell bank owned properties.

Short sales now account for 25% of the liquidation of distressed properties (during this summer of 2011).

However, SHORT SALES continue to present challenges for owner/sellers and their agents: (a) short sales take lots of time, sometimes from 3 to 12 months waiting for lender approval or not, (b) investors fight with each other over whether or not to approve short sales, (c) servicers and their negotiators are swamped with applications, and (d) servicing agents don't always get their own investor procedures right.

Distressed property owners should always AVOID FORECLOSURE and hire an experienced real estate agent in their local area to advise about alternatives and try a SHORT SALE.

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Source of some information is Melissa Zavala, real estate blogger, Carlsbad, CA ~ www.ShortSaleExpeditor.com. This is not the providing of legal or income tax services. If you are a distressed property owner, you should consult with a lawyer and/or income tax professional about avoiding foreclosure and whether a short sale is right for you.

Harrison K. Long - solutions for real estate and business - REALTOR® and broker associate, GRI - Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - 949-854-7747 (phone) - ExploreProperties@gmail.com (email) - CA DRE 01410855 - SFR short sale and foreclosure resource certified by the National Association of REALTORs® - also now serving as an appointed director at California Association of REALTORs®.