Selling Home for Less Than is Owed

[rnatalli]

My wife and I are selling our condo for about $6k less than what we owe the bank. So we're losing that $6k and having to pay the realtor's commission out-of-pocket. My assumption is that the closing/bank attorney will likely contact me in advance after obtaining payoff figures from our bank and let me know the dollar amount I need to bring to the closing table via certified check or money order. So I search around to find out if this assumption is correct and the only information I can find relates to short sales, walking away, bankruptcy, and foreclosure. I mean, WTF is there any advice out there on how a responsible person is supposed to do this? We want to pay the bank what's it's owed for crying out loud!

 

[just-some-guy]

i am not a pro on this stuff. but i would say, that if you have the cash now, just pay it towards the principal. depending what you pay, you could bring it down to where you are not "upside down".

either way, you are going to have to pay it. i figure doing it sooner would make things easier. and very well could save you a few bucks to boot.

 

[TLS Guy]

My wife and I are selling our condo for about $6k less than what we owe the bank. So we're losing that $6k and having to pay the realtor's commission out-of-pocket. My assumption is that the closing/bank attorney will likely contact me in advance after obtaining payoff figures from our bank and let me know the dollar amount I need to bring to the closing table via certified check or money order. So I search around to find out if this assumption is correct and the only information I can find relates to short sales, walking away, bankruptcy, and foreclosure. I mean, WTF is there any advice out there on how a responsible person is supposed to do this? We want to pay the bank what's it's owed for crying out loud!

Either the tittle company or the attorney who does the closing will tell you how much you owe the bank, the realtor, your share of this years taxes and any specials owing. You will need to bring a certified check to the closing. Then you are done.

The check is often higher than you think. Any specials have to be paid at closing.

If you can't put the funds together then the sale can not go through.

 

[tjf120]

You can call the closing company ahead of time and have them do a closing cost estimate for you, so you don't have the issue the poster above mentioned - having it cost more than you think.

That estimate will layout who owes what to whom, so I'd do that first.

Is it one of the big title companies (american etc)?

 

[armaraas]

I'm sorry to hear that, it sucks having to go through that process. We sold a few years back for $25k less than what we paid, minus realtor commissions on top of that. I believe if I remember correctly the realtor and/or title company worked with us to make sure we had the final figure of what we needed to bring to closing. We ended up having to borrow from a relative to cover until we could take out a loan to pay them back. And we brought more money to the closing than the buyers. The buyers want the house, the realtors want the commission, and the bank wants their money...they'll make sure you know what you need to bring to ensure the sale goes through.