Have you wondered if a short sale is better for you than going into foreclosure? If so, you are one of millions of Americans and tens of thousands of Phoenix dwellers who have pondered this question. The difference between a foreclosure and a short sale is based on many many variables including:

• Are you protected by Arizona’s anti-deficiency statutes?
• Will you have an IRS obligation?
• What decision, short sale for foreclosure, will have the least effect on your credit?
• Do you qualify for a short sale?
• Short sales can have out of pocket expenses that you may or may not want to participate.
• And many other questions that vary from person to person.

You may be wondering where you will find the various answers. Truth be told, they come from different sources. Some can be answered by a Realtor who has specialized short sale training while others are best answered by attorneys and tax professionals. WARNING: Even though warned not to, some real estate agents are offering tax and legal advice… be very wary as they are not trained in IRS tax code or privy to the latest legal rulings and issues. Use the right person for the right advice.

In an effort to provide some insight into what is better, a short sale or foreclosure, we have a link to an article provided by Fidelity National Title of Arizona. Before we give you the link we will once again say that real advice comes from real professionals. Even though the Fidelity National Trust article has great information, some of the conclusions do not take into account laws specific to Arizona such as our anti-deficiency statues and the overall feel, in our opinion, is pro short sale.

The FNT Article: Differences Between a Foreclosure and a Short Sale?

As you can tell, the difference between short sales and foreclosures is somewhat dependent on a homeowners situation. We, the Urban Team, have attended well over a hundred hours of specialty training, workshops and lectures and we still point people to attorney’s and tax professionals for specific answers. That said, we’d be happy to help you with your questions and point you to pros when we are outside our expertise.

The Urban Team
7600 N. 16th Street, Suite 100
Phoenix, AZ 85020
602-234-5777
Ron@UrbanTeamAZ.com