Question:
“I have two questions about doing a short sale. First, we have a leaky roof. Is it possible to just disclose that and sell as is? Second, what’s the cost to hire you to handle everything? We definitely want your expertise, but we’re short on money.”
Answer:
I’ve got good news on both your questions.
First, you can definitely still sell without fixing the roof. As you said, we’ll just disclose it. If the leak is obvious, that may prevent a buyer from getting a mortgage and require us to sell cash only.
Either way, we’ll get less for your home than if your roof was in good shape. So we’ll make sure your current bank is aware of that and take it into account when they tell us what price they’ll agree to.
Second, you won’t be paying me anything to sell your home. Either the bank says “no” (very unlikely), in which I don’t get paid.
Or they say “yes,” in which case they indirectly pay the realty fee and all other costs by discounting their loan for those items to be paid.
There’s also a good chance your bank would pay you a few thousand dollars of “relocation” funds. This is often $3,000 and can even be in the tens of thousands.
