By now most of us know what a short sale is; when a home owner owes more on their home than it is worth. For example, a Dallas home seller bought a home in 2006 for $285,000 with a mortgage of $270,000. Now that homeowner needs to sell to take a job in Arizona. When the homeowner contacts a local Dallas Realtor to determine the value of his home he learns that comparable homes are only selling for $250,000. With the value at $250,000 and the mortgage at $270,000 the homeowner is considered "upside-down" on the property. For the owner to be able to sell his home he would have to bring $20,000 to the closing table. But what if he doesn’t have $20,000 to bring to the table? The amount he can sell the home for is $20,000 "short" or what he owes to the bank on his mortgage. Will his home be added to the growing list of Dallas Foreclosures?

If you aren’t in a Dallas short sale situation yourself you probably know a friend, neighbor, family member or co-worker that is. Short sales are the fastest growing segment in the real estate market today and they will be with us for many years to come. A short sale is a viable option for many homeowners that either can’t afford the payments on their home or if they are forced to sell to relocate or for any other reason. In most cases a seller will fare better short selling their home than just walking away from it and allowing it to go to foreclosure.

What will all of these short sales do to the values of Dallas real estate? Certainly, they will add to the home inventory levels putting some downward pressure on real estate values but for the most part they will not have a major negative impact on values. How can this be the case, you say. Many banks that use to accept drive by BOP (broker price opinions) are now ordering a full fledged appraisal to determine the value of a home before agreeing to short sale it. These profession appraisals will help keep Dallas real estate values firm as we work through these challenging times. If you need to sell your home, take your time and to investigate all of the options that are available to you and choose the best one and get started.