The psychology of a short sale vs. a foreclosure when it comes to leaving your home can be phenomenal. A foreclosure can be completely devastating, depressing and debilitating. You get a sense of first thinking you will find a way out. As time passes you can get overwhelmed with a feeling of hopelessness as reality sets in.

I’m constantly taking training on what’s happening in the market, how to get things done, and how to get things done so the client comes out the winner, or at least as much as possible. I decided after what had happened to us that I didn’t have the stomach to be an REO agent. These are the agents the bank hires to get people out of the house, clean it up and get it ready to go on the market. The ones that were in charge of the home we were living in, like most, are very nice while they are trying to get you out as fast as possible. Once they have you locked out, it becomes a different story, and they can become ruthless. While I know they were doing their job, there were things they could have done to allow us to retain more of our belongings. As most REO agents they were just too busy to care about us. They had more families than just ours to get out.

While a short sale is not an ideal situation either, as I was taking some training about short sales yesterday something was said that definitely caught my attention. As it was explained in the training, a foreclosure happens to the homeowner. Unless they have enough cash to cure the sale, odds are the bank will proceed all the way to the courthouse steps. With a short sale at least the seller retains a little control over what is happening. This is where the difference in the psychology between a foreclosure vs. a short sale comes in. A short sale is actually a much more pro-active move giving the seller a little less damage to their credit and a little better environment in which to leave their home. A homeowner is a participant in the process from start to finish vs. it just happening with or without him/her.

If I can answer any questions or help in any way, please feel free to leave a comment below or contact me directly.