Guest writer - J. Byron Wyndham, Real Estate Attorney, blogs on “Short Sales”

Blue Ridge Georgia Real Estate is pleased to welcome guest blogger and local real estate attorney J. Byron Wyndham.  Today, Byron shares with us his perspectives on understanding the secret side of short sales.

Short Sales...Continued


We are seeing more and more “short sales” in recent transactions. With many homes being “underwater” (the outstanding mortgage is more than the home value) in order to sell the house, the owners are asking lenders to accept less than the outstanding loan balance to release the house from the lien of the loan.

The “catch” ? Many owners don’t realize that just because the lender agrees to accept less than the loan balance to release the lien, that does NOT relieve the owner (the maker under the Note) from the obligation to repay the balance of the loan. The lender may file suit against the owner/seller for the balance of the loan that was not paid at the short sale.

The owners may also not understand that their credit can be adversely affected by the short sale. Usually, by the time the seller/owner has requested the short sale, they have missed several payments and have accrued late charges. This will appear on their credit report. But the seller may think that by doing a short sale, at least the stigma of a foreclosure has been avoided. However, in a short sale situation, the lender may “write off” the loan. This write off will appear on the credit report as a negative credit factor.

What options does a seller have? The seller can request that the lender agree to accept the short sale balance in full satisfaction of the loan and that it be marked “paid in full” on the credit report. This will avoid the actions noted above. However, the lender is NOT required to agree to these terms. It is an affirmative request to avoid the negative affects of the short sale. Though the Lender does not have to agree to this, many lenders are trying to avoid foreclosures and having more real estate on their books. In order to have a smaller loss than what would happen in the case of a foreclosure, the Lender might agree to this scenario.

The bottom line-it doesn’t hurt to ask. All they can do is say No! But if they say Yes, the seller can realize the full benefits of a short sale. JBW



For more information about short sales or other real estate related matters, please visit his website or email him at jbwyndham@tds.net


J. Byron Wyndham
2460 E. First St. Suite B-6
Blue Ridge, GA 30513
706.258.6222






This North Georgia Real Estate blog is hosted by
Gayle Barton of BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY Georgia Properties  located in the quaint mountain town of Blue Ridge, GA.

Please feel free to call (866-413-1781) or drop me an email gaylebarton@tds.net if I can assist you with buying or selling your mountain home or property.

We no longer own First Class Cabin Rentals

As we are still getting questions about the recent changes in our lives I am writing an open letter to all of the friends and customers who have so graciously supported us, and our business, over the last 7 years.


We thought that by now everyone would have heard (or we would have had the opportunity to speak with you personally) about the fact that we have sold our vacation cabin rental business here in Blue Ridge.

After 7 years, and with Dan's mom being in ill health, we made the decision as a family that we needed to set the goal of moving closer to family (TX & KS) as soon as possible. So, we sold our business in July.

Because we also have a commercial building to sell (East First Street - where our home and office were co-located) we knew that it would not be an immediate move so Dan took a job in Atlanta in the interim and I went back to selling real estate fulltime.

Unfortunately Dan's mom passed away in October so, while our goal remains to move toward getting closer to family, the originally urgency we felt is no longer there so we will likely be in Blue Ridge for the foreseeable future.

We would like to thank our customers for their business and hope that your loyalty to First Class Cabin Rentals will continue, our homeowners and staff members who have worked as our partners for the last 7 years and other local business owners who have supported us and our company through guest and homeowner referrals!

Warmest regards,

Dan, Gayle and Nicholas Barton



This North Georgia Real Estate blog is hosted by Gayle Barton of
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY Georgia Properties  located in the quaint mountain town of Blue Ridge, GA.

Please feel free to call (866-413-1781) or drop me an email gaylebarton@inbox.com if I can assist you with buying or selling your mountain home or property.