Which one applies to a Hempstead house like yours
The difference between a short sale and a cash sale is who has to say yes. In a cash sale, you and the buyer agree a price and the mortgage is paid off out of the proceeds. In a short sale there is a third party at the table, because the servicer has to accept less than the full balance, and servicers have discretion about that.
We have worked short sales across Nassau and Suffolk for years, and straightforward cash purchases far more often than that. Tell us the payoff on a Hempstead house and we will tell you which conversation you are actually in.
The short sale process in Nassau County, honestly described
The servicer will want a hardship letter, financial statements, tax returns and bank statements, the contract, and a settlement statement showing exactly what they net. The package matters more than people expect. A short sale file that arrives incomplete goes to the back of a long queue.
We have put enough short sale packages together to know what gets asked for before it is asked for. Nobody can promise your servicer approves it. What we can do is make sure the short sale is not the one that fails on paperwork.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A six-bedroom on Princeton Street. A five-bedroom on Flint Avenue. A three-bedroom on Carolina Avenue. All of them in Hempstead, all bought by us.
Hempstead is roughly 59,169 people in Nassau County, ZIP 11550, and the housing stock is mostly colonial, cape cod, tudor. Around Fulton Avenue and Main Street, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Hempstead stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We know which of these streets take water, where the older systems fail first, and what the Hempstead Union Free School District does to a resale price.
How we work a Hempstead short sale with you
Most people arrive at the short sale question already tired. They have had one conversation with the servicer and come away less clear than before.
The first thing we do is establish which route you are actually on, which takes one call rather than a month. Then we tell you what usually happens next. A cash sale, a short sale, or a modification worked with a housing counselor are all real outcomes here. None of them costs you anything to explore, and we will point you at the right one even when it is not us.
Timelines: short sale, cash sale, and a listing in Hempstead
A cash sale on a Hempstead house moves at whatever speed you want, because the funds are not conditional on anything. A short sale moves at the servicer's speed, and the servicer is being asked to approve a loss.
So the practical advice is the same on either route: start earlier than feels necessary. A short sale begun months before a sale date has room to breathe. The same short sale begun three weeks out is a race, and it is one you do not control.
How selling a house in a short sale in Hempstead works
- 1
You give us the address
The street address in 11550 and a sentence or two about the condition, by phone or the form. No photos needed, and nothing has to be cleaned or repaired first.
- 2
We come and look at it
One visit, one person, usually under half an hour. On a colonial or cape cod of the age most of Hempstead was built, we are mainly looking at the roof, the boiler and the electric rather than the kitchen.
- 3
A written offer within 24 hours
One figure, in writing, inside 24 hours. Not a range. Show it to a Nassau County agent if you want a second view; if the house is already in good enough shape to list, an agent may get you more, and we will say so.
- 4
You pick the closing date
Fast if you need fast, or months out if you are waiting on probate, a tenant, or somewhere to move to. Either way you skip the 102 to 117 days a listed Hempstead house spends finding a buyer and then waiting on that buyer's mortgage.
Deficiency, credit and taxes: ask before you choose
Owners often ask which is worse for their credit, a short sale or a foreclosure. The honest answer is that it depends on how it is reported and on your wider picture, and a credit counselor can give you a better read on that than a buyer can.
What we can tell you is the transactional difference. A cash sale with equity behind it pays the mortgage off and you keep the balance. A short sale pays the servicer less than it is owed, on terms set out in an approval letter that an attorney should review before you sign it.
What you do not pay when you sell a house in a short sale
Each of the following comes with a retail listing of a house in a short sale, and none of it comes with ours.
- Agent commission
- $33,000 at 5% of the Hempstead median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $13,200 on a $660,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- Whatever the house needs, paid up front none
- Cleanout and removal
- Charged by the truckload, and done before the first showing none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities through the 102 to 117 days a listing takes to sell and close none
The one call to make before choosing between a short sale and a cash sale
Ask your servicer for a written payoff statement. Not the balance on the last statement, and not what you originally borrowed. The payoff includes arrears, fees and interest through the closing date, and it is the number that decides whether you are looking at a cash sale or a short sale.
It takes one phone call and you are entitled to it. Bring that figure to us and we will give you a written offer on a Hempstead house alongside a straight read on which route it puts you on.
Common questions
Do you handle short sales in Hempstead?
We do. A short sale is a different animal from an ordinary purchase, and we have taken plenty of them through to closing in Nassau County. Tell us the payoff figure and where the file stands and we will tell you what we think.
How do I find out what I owe on the mortgage?
Ask the servicer for a written payoff statement. It is your right to have one and it takes a phone call. That figure, set against what the house is worth, is what decides between a short sale and a cash sale.
Can I do a short sale on a Hempstead house if foreclosure has already been filed?
A short sale and a foreclosure frequently run at the same time, and the short sale has to outpace the calendar. It can be done and we have been through it. Tell us where the Hempstead case stands, and speak to an attorney the same week.
Which is better for me, a short sale or a cash sale?
It is not really a preference. If a Hempstead house is worth more than the payoff, take the cash sale, because it is faster and simpler. If it is not, the short sale is the route, and we can work it with you.
Will I walk away with money from a short sale?
A short sale is about clearing the debt rather than producing proceeds. If there is equity, you are not in a short sale at all, which is the first thing worth checking. Get the written payoff before you assume it either way.