The test that decides short sale or cash sale
People are told conflicting things about short sales by several parties who each have something to sell. Here is the version with nothing attached.
Equity means a cash sale. Being underwater means a short sale. That is the whole test, and it does not turn on your preference or on how good a negotiator you are. A cash sale runs on your timetable, because the money is already there. A short sale runs on the servicer's, because the servicer has to approve taking a loss before anything can close.
What a short sale actually involves
A short sale needs three things: a hardship documented well enough for the servicer to act on, a buyer credible enough that the file does not collapse partway, and patience. Short sale approval is measured in months rather than weeks, and it moves at the servicer's pace.
What a short sale is not is fast, and it is not something a buyer can force. What a buyer can do is arrive with a clean contract, answer every request the same day, and stay in it when the file goes quiet for three weeks. That is most of what separates a short sale that closes from one that stalls out.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A house on Edward Avenue. A house on Sipp Avenue. Both in Medford, bought and paid for by us.
Medford is roughly 24,247 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11763, and the housing stock is mostly ranch, hi-ranch, cape cod. Around Route 112 and Horse Block Road, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Medford stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We have been buying across Suffolk County for 15+ years. We know what the Patchogue-Medford School District does to a resale price, which blocks still have oil tanks in the ground, and what a house like yours is actually worth here.
Helping Medford owners through a short sale
If you have equity, we are the simple route: a written cash sale number, a closing date you choose, no repairs, and no financing to fall through.
If you are underwater, a short sale is the route and we can work it with you. We know what a Suffolk County servicer wants in the package, roughly how long short sale approval takes, and where these files usually stall. We also bring in the attorneys and HUD-approved housing counselors we have used for years when a situation needs them, and we do that whether or not the house ends up being ours.
How long a short sale takes against a cash sale
The median house in Medford sold for $585,554 and took about 25 days to go under contract, then another 45 to 60 days waiting on the buyer's mortgage. That is 70 to 85 days in total, for a house that was ready to show on day one. A cash sale skips both of those waits, because there is no lender to satisfy on the buyer's side. A short sale adds a wait of its own at the front, which is the servicer's review.
That ordering matters when a foreclosure sale date already exists. A cash sale can often be closed inside the window. A short sale usually needs the window extended, and servicers have discretion to adjourn when a credible contract is in front of them. Nobody can guarantee they will.
How selling a house in a short sale in Medford works
- 1
Start with the basics
Where the house is (11763) and a rough sense of its condition is all we need to begin. Call or use the form. Nothing needs fixing or clearing out beforehand.
- 2
We walk through it once
A single visit by one person, normally under thirty minutes. With a ranch or hi-ranch built when most of Medford was, the roof, heating and electric matter far more to us than the kitchen does.
- 3
You see the number
Within a day you get our offer as one written figure. Get a Suffolk County agent's opinion alongside it if that helps. For a house that could go on the market as it stands, listing may come out ahead, and we will tell you if so.
- 4
Closing happens on your date
If you need it done quickly, it can be. If probate, a tenant or a move means waiting, we wait. What you skip is the 70 to 85 days a Medford listing usually spends on finding a buyer and then on that buyer's lender.
After the closing on a Medford short sale: what to ask about
The paperwork at the end of a short sale is where the real terms live. The approval letter says what the servicer will accept and, crucially, what it reserves the right to do about the rest.
Have an attorney read it. That single step is the most valuable thing most short sale sellers do, and it costs a fraction of what getting it wrong costs. We are glad to tell you what we typically see in these letters, but what applies to you is a legal question and belongs with your attorney. The tax treatment belongs with a CPA for the same reason.
What you do not pay when you sell a house in a short sale
Listing a house in a short sale the usual way brings each of these costs with it. Selling to us brings none of them.
- Agent commission
- $29,278 at 5% of the Medford median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $11,711 on a $585,554 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 across the 70 to 85 days it takes to find a buyer and then wait on their lender none
Start with the written payoff figure
The worst outcome here is spending two months on the wrong route, and that happens when people guess at the payoff instead of asking for it in writing.
One call to the servicer settles half of it. One visit from us settles the other half. From there the choice between a short sale and a cash sale usually makes itself, and we will be straight with you about which one your Medford house is in.
Common questions
Do you handle short sales in Medford?
We do. A short sale is a different animal from an ordinary purchase, and we have taken plenty of them through to closing in Suffolk 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 Medford 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 Medford 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 Medford 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.