In today's economy, many homeowners find themselves in financial hardship requiring help. In most cases, short sales are the answer.  With foreclosures rising, inventory at still-high levels, and home sales sluggish, many homeowners are asking for help.  If a homeowner can no longer make their mortgage payments and the home is now worth less than is owed on it, foreclosure may not be the only opiton. A "short sale," in real-estate terms, is the sale of a house in which th sale price is less than what the homeowner owes on the mortgage.  A short sale presents an opportunity for a homeowner suffering from some kind of hardship, which has cause an inabilitiy to pay his mortgage, to negotiate a release of the mortgage balance owed in exchange for the proceeds generated from a Buyer's offer.  Both the homeowner and lender gain from this short sale process, because the lender avoids the time and expense of Foreclosure, while the homeowner preserves credit worthiness and avoids a lawsuit from lien holders.

The beauty of short sales is that they can be a win-win-win-win- situation for the seller, buyer, lender, and Realtor.  Here's how:

• The seller gets out of the mortgage liability without facing bankruptcy/foreclosure, and the associated blemish on credit
• The buyer purchases the home at a reduced price, as short sale listings are aggressively priced to sell
• the lender agrees to a loss it consider minimal without a costly Foreclosure and being saddled with an unsalable property
• The Realtor ear a commission that they may otherwise have not pursued, and can stay busy in a normalizing market

While it may seem surprising that lenders would agree to accept less than what is owed, the lenders benefit from the process too.  The last thing lenders want is to own real estate, pay taxes and utilities, pay a Sheriff commission, maintain a property, make repairs to a property, and have to re-market the property to Buyers.

The law firm of Rothamel, Kessler, Dubois, Attorneys at Law can help. They specialize in hardship cases and have the experience to help homeowners through a difficult time.

Please visit their website at www.RothamelBratton.com.