Two questions:  1 – Do you have CitiMortgage as your mortgage lender?  2 – Do you realize that if you sell now, you can take advantage of the tax benefits AND get money from your lender to do so?

Another lender is jumping on board the Short Sale Streamliner and getting into the cash back game.  In an effort to get as much bad debt off their books, CitiMortgage is offering an average of $12,000 to homeowners that decide to start and complete a short sale on their home.  AN AVERAGE.  This might mean more or less, depending on your property and situation.  What does this mean for these borrowers?

It means that cash is given back at the successful closing of their property.  It means that homeowners will be able to capitalize on the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act and NOT have to owe the IRS additional tax money for completing this short sale before the deadline.  It also means that even though a homeowner may have lost equity, or downpayment money on their property, they can at least get SOMETHING out of the situation instead of hanging on for dear life, hoping that the market will rebound in the next 15 years so they can cash out.

The beauty of the situation with CitiMortgage is that they are beefing up their staff to streamline the process of short sales and decrease the time line for approvals.  With limited staff, each individual rep was handling too many files, and many things get lost in the land of confusion with too much going on.  According to the article, they only have 16% of the delinquent loans in their short sale program.  This incentive for cash back SHOULD certainly increase that number significantly.

They true key to a successful short sale is getting all parties involved on board.  Homeowners:  Get your documents prepared quickly.  Buyers:  Get an offer in on the property and STAY IN THE DEAL.  Agents:  Make sure you keep your clients on board at all times.  Lenders:  Get more efficient and timely with the decision on the offer.

With all these pieces coming together in unison, deals will get done.  It’s great to see lenders offering incentives for homeowners to take action.  If lenders can follow the likes of CitiMortgage and the other lenders that have started this trend before them, we can diminish the amount of distressed assets on the market and turn this real estate market back upright.

http://www.housingwire.com/2011/06/16/citimortgage-paying-borrowers-12000-after-a-short-sale