Short Sales are becoming increasingly popular for those with no where left to turn. The foreclosure dilemma has grown tremendously in 2008 and still rising. It was up 54% in April alone. There are tons of companies who offer support but which are the right ones? Which ones are looking out for their client and which ones are really in the game to help? A short sale is a sale of a house in which the proceeds fall short of what the owner still owes on the mortgage. Many lenders will agree to accept the proceeds of a short sale and forgive the rest of what is owed on the mortgage when the owner cannot make the mortgage payments. By accepting a short sale, the lender can avoid a lengthy and costly foreclosure, and the owner is able to pay off the loan for less than what he owes. This will keep the homeowner out of bankruptcy and causing minimal damage to the homeowners credit. Choosing the company that has the best system for handling the lenders is most important.

Negotiating with lenders can be a long grueling process. There are never any guarantees with Short sales. Banks need to make the right decisions as to which road will cost them the least money. They are likely to accept the short sale because their alternative is foreclosure which will lead to the property being auctioned. Banks are not in the real estate brokerage business and have very limited resources when it comes to unloading a foreclosed property. So selling it below market value in a short amount of time is more appealing than auctioning it for way below market value at an auction. Traditional brokerages are not very experienced in the short sale process. So finding and agent or a broker that specializes in short sales and experience negotiating will help assure a smooth transaction. Homeowners need to make sure the company they are working with has worked on short sales before and has had success. After all, Talk is cheap.

For those who are not in foreclosure yet and are simply looking for the most cost efficient route to saving some of the equity on their home there are companies who offer alternative marketing options rather than going through a traditional brokerage. FSBO(for sale by owner) and flat fee mls companies offer these kind of services. Hundreds have popped up over the past few years. Many of these companies that you will find on the internet are not actual brokerages. They are merely referral companies that take a little off the top and refer you to a brokerage that does offer this kind of service. In the process of a referral much of the information about the services can be misconstrued and diluted. This causes the consumer to be unaware of what they are stepping into. Make sure any companies you find that claim to put you on the MLS (multiple Listing Service) actual do. You will get far more for your money than purchasing from a bottom feeding referral companies not to mention you will be supporting more ethical law abiding companies.

The biggest bottom feeder of them all is forsalebyowner.com. If you are going strictly "for sale by owner" they are probably the best outlet for internet exposure but that is not saying much. Realtor.com still holds about 80% market share of those searching for housing on the internet. The other 20% is mostly divvied up through local broker websites and other websites that have information fed to them from Realtor.com.The only way to get on realtor.com is to get on the MLS. the only way to get on the MLS is through a brokerage that offers these kinds of services. Forsalebyowner.com claims to offer MLS listing services but in reality they are the biggest referral company out there. Charging roughly $500 to list you on the MLS and then they refer you to a company that will give you their bare bones package offering minimal photos and other limited services. On a side note the legality of a company taking money in a real estate transaction when they are unlicensed is in serious question. That's a whole other article. The moral of the story is shop around before working with anybody. Make sure they are a licensed brokerage and support the people who want to work hard for you.

For more information about short sales/FSBO/Flat fee MLS please check out the following website. You can get comprehensive answers to many of your questions free of charge.

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