August 2026 - Pinnacle Real Estate Group

August 13, 2026 Michele Scherger Comments Off Florida Real Estate FAQs

What should I know before buying a short sale house?

Buyers should expect a longer timeline, typically three to ten weeks for lender approval after a complete offer package is submitted, along with as-is condition and additional paperwork compared to a standard sale. The lender, not the seller, ultimately approves price and terms.

Buyers who’ve only purchased homes through standard sales often go into a short sale with the wrong expectations, and that mismatch, more than anything about the transaction itself, is what creates frustration. Knowing what’s actually different going in changes the experience considerably.

The timeline is a real constraint, not a negotiating point

Once an offer is accepted by the seller, it still has to be submitted to the lender for review, and that review, generally three to ten weeks depending on the file’s complexity, runs on the lender’s schedule. Calling repeatedly to push for a faster answer doesn’t speed up the process and occasionally slows it down by adding noise to an already busy file.

Market conditions affect competition, not lender speed

With inventory across much of the Treasure Coast having grown and days-on-market having lengthened compared to a few years ago, buyers generally have more breathing room to consider a short sale without feeling rushed by competing offers. That said, the broader market shifting toward more balanced or buyer-favorable conditions has no effect on the lender’s own internal review timeline, which moves at the same pace regardless of how hot or cool the surrounding market is.

As-is condition and extra paperwork are standard, not warning signs

Short sales sell as-is, with no repair negotiation regardless of what an inspection finds, and require signed affidavits confirming there’s no undisclosed relationship between buyer and seller and no side agreements outside the contract. Both of these are routine parts of nearly every short sale closing in Florida, not signs that something unusual is happening with a particular transaction.

Expect three to ten weeks of lender review after offer submission, separate from the rest of the closing timeline
Property sells as-is, with no repair credits available regardless of inspection findings
Standard short sale affidavits are routine paperwork, not a red flag

Considering a short sale purchase, or have questions before you write an offer? Call or text Michele Lee Scherger at 561-309-2950 for guidance specific to the listing.

August 10, 2026 Michele Scherger Comments Off Florida Real Estate FAQs

Can I get help with moving costs after a short sale?

In some cases, yes. Relocation assistance may be available to help with moving expenses, depending on the loan type, timing, and how the sale is structured. Eligibility isn’t automatic, and most homeowners don’t know to ask about it.

Relocation assistance is a benefit that exists in some short sale programs specifically to encourage a smooth, cooperative move-out, since a vacant, well-maintained property in good condition through closing benefits both the lender and the eventual buyer.

What determines eligibility

Whether relocation assistance applies, and how much, depends on the specific loan investor’s guidelines and the servicer’s own program. Government-backed loans through FHA, Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac have historically offered structured relocation incentive programs under certain conditions, while privately held loans vary entirely by servicer. There’s no universal rule that applies across every short sale, which is exactly why this needs to be checked file by file rather than assumed.

Why most homeowners never find out about it

Relocation assistance generally isn’t volunteered. A homeowner who doesn’t specifically ask about it, and an agent who doesn’t specifically check for it on a given loan program, can close a short sale without ever knowing whether it was available. This is something an experienced short sale agent should be reviewing on every file as a matter of course, the same way they review hardship documentation or comparable sales.

If you’re considering a short sale, ask directly and early whether relocation assistance applies to your specific loan. It’s a meaningful benefit in the right circumstances, and knowing about it before negotiating the rest of the sale terms generally produces a better outcome than discovering it after the fact, if it’s discovered at all.

Have a question about your own situation? Call or text Michele Lee Scherger at 561-309-2950. As a Certified Short Sale Expert, she can walk you through what applies to your loan, your lender, and your timeline.

August 7, 2026 Michele Scherger Comments Off Florida Real Estate FAQs

Will the bank fix anything before I sell my house in a short sale?

No. Short sales are sold strictly as-is, and the lender will not pay for repairs or issue a credit for them. Buyers can still complete an inspection and walk away under an inspection contingency, but there’s no repair negotiation with the lender or seller.

This catches some sellers off guard, especially after putting off maintenance during a financially difficult stretch, and it catches some buyers off guard too, when an inspection turns up issues they assumed could simply be negotiated away.

Why the lender won’t negotiate condition

The lender’s entire focus in a short sale is recovering as much of the outstanding loan balance as possible from a property it doesn’t own and never lived in. It has no stake in the home’s condition beyond what that condition does to the sale price the market will support. Once a price is approved based on the property’s as-is condition, there’s no mechanism in the approval for the lender to then absorb the cost of repairs a buyer’s inspector finds afterward.

What this means for sellers

A homeowner doing a short sale doesn’t need to invest in repairs or staging the way a typical seller might. The lender’s valuation already accounts for the property’s actual condition when setting the approved price, so spending money the seller likely doesn’t have on cosmetic fixes rarely changes the outcome.

What this means for buyers

An inspection in a short sale serves a different purpose than it does in a standard sale. It’s not a negotiating tool, since there’s no one positioned to grant repair credits. It’s purely a decision-making tool: a buyer who finds serious issues can use the inspection contingency to walk away from the deal entirely, but they can’t use it to renegotiate price or extract concessions. Buyers should budget for the home’s actual condition as part of their offer from the start, rather than counting on post-inspection adjustments.

August 4, 2026 Michele Scherger Comments Off Uncategorized

Do I have to pay taxes on a short sale in 2026?

The federal tax exclusion for forgiven mortgage debt on a primary residence expired on January 1, 2026, after repeated extensions since 2007. Unless Congress passes a new extension, mortgage debt forgiven in a 2026 short sale is generally taxable income by default.

This is a genuinely important update, and one that a lot of short sale information still circulating online hasn’t caught up to. For close to two decades, the assumption that short sale debt forgiveness is tax-free has generally held. As of right now, that assumption no longer holds automatically.

What changed and when

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 originally excluded forgiven mortgage debt on a primary residence from federal taxable income. It was set to expire repeatedly over the years and was extended each time, most recently covering debt forgiven through December 31, 2025, or forgiven later under a written agreement signed before that date. No further extension has been passed as of now, so debt forgiven through a short sale closing in 2026 is, by default, treated as ordinary taxable income unless another exception applies.

Ordinarily, when $600 or more of debt is cancelled by a creditor, the IRS treats that amount as income to the borrower, reported on a Form 1099-C. That’s the rule the now-expired exclusion was specifically carving an exception out of for primary-residence mortgage debt.

The exceptions that still exist

An insolvency exception remains available: if a homeowner’s total liabilities exceed their total assets at the time the debt is cancelled, the cancelled amount can be excluded from income to the extent of that insolvency, claimed using IRS Form 982. Borrowers who file bankruptcy are generally presumed insolvent for this purpose and typically avoid the tax altogether through that route.

What this means for someone considering a short sale this year

It doesn’t mean every short sale closing in 2026 results in a tax bill. It does mean the old assumption, that forgiven mortgage debt is automatically tax-free, can no longer be relied on without checking. Anyone considering a short sale on their primary residence in 2026 should talk to a tax professional before closing, not after, so they understand whether the insolvency exception applies to their situation or whether they should plan for the forgiven amount as taxable income.

This is a genuinely important and very current change (confirmed: MFDRA exclusion expired 1/1/2026, no extension as of this writing) — strong candidate for its own featured post, since most other short sale content online is still describing the old, expired rule. Worth checking again closer to publish date in case Congress acts.

August 1, 2026 Michele Scherger Comments Off Florida Real Estate FAQs

If my house sells for less than I owe, do I have to pay the difference?

Not necessarily. Many lenders agree to a deficiency waiver as part of the short sale approval, meaning they agree in writing not to pursue the borrower for the remaining balance. This should always be confirmed in writing before closing.

The gap between what’s owed and what the home actually sells for is called a deficiency, and whether a homeowner remains liable for it afterward is one of the most important, and most overlooked, points in any short sale negotiation.

How Florida law treats deficiency timing differently by exit type

Florida law gives lenders a limited window, generally one year from a foreclosure sale or deed in lieu, to pursue a deficiency judgment on an owner-occupied home of up to four units. That one-year deadline is specific to foreclosure sales and deeds in lieu, where a certificate of title is issued and starts the clock. Short sales don’t involve a certificate of title in the same way, and Florida appellate courts have held that the one-year deadline doesn’t apply to them. The result is that a lender pursuing a deficiency after a short sale may have substantially longer, potentially up to the general five-year statute of limitations on a written contract, unless the approval letter specifically waives that right.

Why the written waiver is the whole point

This is exactly why negotiating a deficiency waiver into the short sale approval matters so much. Without it in writing, a homeowner who closes a short sale believing the matter is fully resolved could, in theory, face a deficiency claim years later, well after they’ve moved on and rebuilt their finances. With a written waiver as part of the approval letter, the lender has formally given up that right, and the matter is genuinely closed.

Not every lender includes a deficiency waiver automatically. It’s something an experienced agent should be negotiating for on every file, and it’s worth a homeowner specifically asking about and reading carefully in their approval letter before signing off on a sale.

Confirm this deficiency-waiver framing with current case law before publishing — this is a real and fairly recent appellate distinction (short sales vs. foreclosure sales/deeds in lieu) and worth a quick second check, ideally from an attorney source, since it carries real legal weight.

Month: August 2026