The Colorado Springs Real Estate Connection would like to introduce another great article from our friends at Bring the Blog. This article explains exactly what a short sale is.

A “Short Sale” is when a home seller sells his home for a leser amount than what is owed on his mortgage, and the mortgage lender agrees to accept the lesser amount in lieu of a full payoff.

By way of example, a Short Sale may be appropriate for a home seller whose mortgage balance is $250,000 but whose home wouldn’t sell for more than $220,000.  Rather than pay the $30,000 difference to the lender at the time of sale, the seller enters into an agreement with the lender by which all sale proceeds are paid to the bank and the deficient balance is forgiven.

Read Also: Why a Colorado Springs Short Sale is a Great Alternative to Foreclosure

Short Sales are a preferable alternative to foreclosure but the process still harms both parties. For one, the seller is penalized with a derogatory tradeline on credit for not fulfilling a mortgage obligation. And, two, the lender is forced to take a loss on a mortgage loan.  Versus an executed foreclosure, however, Short Sale damages are relatively limited on both sides.

Read Also:  Colorado Springs Foreclosure and Short Sale Information

For this reason, Short Sales are sometimes considered “the economical alternative” to default.

The process of getting a Short Sale approved varies from lender-to-lender and can be time-intensive. Home sellers should not go at it alone — speaking with a real estate agent about the proper protocol is usually the best place to start.  And sellers should be aware of how a Short Sale on their credit can impact future borrowing.

Current Fannie Mae guidelines prevent short-selling homeowners from obtaining new mortgage financing for a period of 2 years.

For more information on buying a Colorado Springs short sale, or if you are facing foreclosure and want to know if you qualify for a short sale, please contact the Wagner iTeam: 719.434.7525

We are  Certified Distressed Property Experts and know what it takes to buy or sell a short sale in Colorado Springs.

There are 4 ways that a home seller in Colorado could choose to sell their home:

1. Exclusive Right to Sell with an agent
2. Exclusive Agency with an agent
3. Open Listing with multiple agents/offices
4. For Sale By Owner with NO agent

An open listing is basically an agreement between the home seller and multiple agents to get their home sold. Whoever sells it first, gets the commission. The major issue with this is that a property can only be active in the MLS with one agent at a time, so there is no incentive for the 2nd or 3rd agent to even enter into such agreement.

If you decide to sell For Sale By Owner you are opting to sell your home without the assistance of an agent. (Hint: most home buyers DO work with agents, so co-op’ing something to a Buyer Agent would definitely get you more buyer traffic, and a better chance at selling.)

Now, the first two listing agreements are the most common and also the most misunderstood:

Exclusive Right to Sell

An Exclusive Right to Sell agreement is when a home seller signs an “exclusive” agreement with an agent. The agent represents the interests of the home seller and gets paid the agreed upon commission at time of successful close, regardless of the source of the Buyer.

In most cases, the home seller agrees to pay the listing agent X% commission*. If the Buyer is represented by another agent, then that X% commission is split between the listing agent and the Buyer Agent.

*Note: Commissions are always negotiable and are decided between the agent and client at time of signed listing agreement.

This is the most common form of listing agreement in Colorado, as it takes most of the marketing, negotiating, selling and closing responsibility OFF the homeowner.

Read More: Colorado State Exclusive Right to Sell Contract

Exclusive Agency

An Exclusive Agency Listing Addendum is used when the listing agent agrees to EXCLUDE the home seller from the “source” of the Buyer. Basically, if the home seller is the one who finds and secures the home buyer, the listing agent will not get paid.

Per the Exclusive Brokerage Listing Addendum:

“This Seller Listing Contract does not apply to a Sale of the Property to a buyer procured solely by Seller without the assistance of Broker or any other person (Seller Sale).”

This addendum is usually used with former FSBO home sellers who may already have a few potential home buyers interested in the home before they listed with an agent. Or, when a home seller has the potential to sell it to a friend or family member, but lists with an agent “just in case” that buyer doesn’t work out.

Hopefully these explanations will clear things up next time YOU enter into a listing agreement.

For more information on listing your Colorado Springs home with a Realtor®, contact us today: 719.434.7525

The basis of most mortgage lending is credit scoring.  In general, the higher a person’s credit score, the lower his offered mortgage interest rate.

Despite the many credit scoring models in use today, however, just 3 are relevant to American homeowners:

• The Equifax BEACON^® score
• The Experian Fair Isaac Risk Model
• The TransUnion EMPIRICA^®

Generically, these scoring models generate what are commonly known as “FICO” scores.

FICO scores are measurements of probability.  The higher a person’s credit score, by definition, the less likely a person is to default on his home loan.  This is one reason why credit scoring has added importance lately — mortgage lenders are very careful about what they’re lending and to whom.

Notably, minimum FICO thresholds have been added to all types of mortgage loans.

FICO scoring has 5 main components as listed above.  Payment history and credit capacity are two of the largest pieces, but a myriad of other factors contribute to a credit score, too.  For example, the longer your reported history of managing credit, the more favorably your credit score will respond.

The myFICO.com website does a terrific job with credit education, explaining in plain language the ins-and-out of credit scoring and ways to boost your score.  It also makes a free, 20-page PDF available for download.

Whether you’re a homeowner or lifetime renter — consider it required reading.

[Information provided to the Colorado Springs Real Estate Connection courtesey of the mortgage and real estate professionals at Bring the Blog.]

Click here to view the embedded video.

This video talks about the current market, affordability, Buyer’s Markets and if/how/when to sell your home.

The Colorado Springs MLS calculates how many days a property has been "on the market". Days on market are calculated from the date the listing was placed in the MLS until a ratified (all signatures) contract is accepted or the property sells.

When does the Colorado Springs MLS "Days on Market" clock start and stop?

The "Days on Market" clock starts ticking the minute a home is entered into the Colorado Springs MLS system. If a contract is accepted, the listing agent will mark the property as either:

• UC: Under Contract but Still Showing. This usually means that the contract is not solid, or they are awaiting inspections. The "Days on Market" clock continues to count days when a property is marked UC.


• P: Pending. This means that the property is under contract and set to close. The "Days on Market" clock stops ticking the day the property is marked "P".

Once a home for sale in Colorado Springs SELLS, the agent will mark it in the MLS as "S" for Sold and supply a date that it sold. The MLS will count all the days that it was on the market from the first day it was entered to the day it was marked as "P" (pending) or the date it closed – if the "P" was never used.

What if a sales contract does not wind up closing?

If a home goes under contract and is marked as "P" (pending) in the MLS, but the deal winds up not going through, the listing agent will re-mark the home as "A" – Active. The Colorado Springs will retro-act all the days that it was listed as "P" (pending) to give a better picture of how long the home has been for sale.

When does the "Days on Market" Clock re-start?

If a property has been Sold, Expired or the listing contract has been cancelled for more than 30 days, the "Days on Market" clock will fall back to zero. This 30 day rule is designed to keep agents from removing and re-entering properties to (fraudulently) show a lower "days on market" number.

However, if a property has just been withdrawn "W" from the Colorado Springs MLS (meaning, the listing contract was not cancelled), the "Days on Market" clock will continue to run. Homes for sale can be just withdrawn from teh MLS for a variety of reasons. The most common reasons I have heard are a family illness where the home will not be shown until the family member recovers, the homeowners are repainting or doing major fix-ups that would make showings difficult, or they are moving out and want a week or so of no showings.

In any case, the Colorado Springs MLS keeps detailed records of all activity, regarding "days on market". So, if you are ever interested in knowing how long a property was on the market either recently or in the past, you can.

Posted By: Mariana Wagner – Colorado Springs Real Estate Agent – Wagner iTeam
The Wagner iTeam is a power team of Keller Williams Realty,
specializing in Colorado Springs Real Estate, Monument Real Estate,
Custom Home Builders in Colorado Springs and Springs Urban Life.
(719) 434-7525

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."
~Albert Einstein