One of the biggest challenges that anyone preparing for a Mesa short sale has is putting together some of the paperwork. Finding the most recent pay stubs, getting the two most recent bank statements, and rediscovering the safe and secure place where you filed your copy of that 2009 Federal Income Tax Return. Yikes!
Perhaps the most challenging of the forms is preparing the personal financial worksheet. If you are a disciplined user of personal financial software, it doesn’t take long to figure out where your money goes. But so many people I meet have to flip through files marked “November” to find their bills, pour over the checkbook duplicate copies, then, embarrassingly, open their wallets to leaf through some random receipts. There’s a better way to organize it all.
Start with a worksheet…here are a couple of worksheets you can use:
Valley Home Rescue Borrower’s Financial Worksheet (MS Excel)
Freddie Mac Borrower Financial Information (PDF)
Fannie Mae Borrower’s Financial Worksheet (PDF)
With worksheet in-hand, it’s important to document every expenditure by the members of your household. Doing so will help paint a more accurate financial picture of your situation and will improve your opportunity for success in a short sale. Here’s a list that I find helpful to use when figuring out your monthly expenses. Remember to include EVERYTHING.
- Alimony/Child support
- Auto – fuel
- Auto – insurance
- Auto – loan repayments
- Auto – maintenance
- Auto – parking
- Cable TV/Satellite
- Child Care
- Cell phone bills
- Clothing
- Clubs ‐ Professional and Union Dues
- Clubs – sports and hobbies
- Credit cards
- Creditors (unsecured debt)
- Dental expenses
- Dental insurance
- Dining out
- Dry cleaning/clothing/uniforms
- Electricity
- Entertainment/movies/dining out
- Finance company/installment loans
- Financial counsel/CPA
- Furniture/appliances
- Gas/heating
- Groceries
- Health insurance (if not payroll deducted)
- Homeowners Association – special assessment
- Homeowners Association – fees/condo fees
- Internet service
- IRA contributions
- IRS payments
- Insurance – non‐primary residence
- Insurance – primary residence
- Legal counsel
- Medical expenses
- Life insurance
- Online services
- Other loans
- Other mortgages (non‐primary residence)
- Prescription drugs
- Property maintenance – non‐primary residence
- Property maintenance – primary residence
- Real estate taxes – non‐primary residence
- Real estate taxes – primary residence
- Religious/charitable contributions
- Recreation
- Rent
- Savings/savings bonds
- School lunches
- School tuition
- Second mortgage/Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
- Student loans
- Telephone (land lines)
- Time share property
- Trash pickup
- Utilities – Non‐primary residence
- Vacations
- Water/Sewer
- Work-related expenses (tools, supplies, etc)
- Other bills
Once you’re done, review it carefully to ensure everything has been included. Now you’re ready to successfully move forward with your Mesa short sale documentation.
Have any questions on putting together the financial worksheet? Let me know.
Casteel Real Estate Professionals | 1255 N Estrada Circle, Mesa, Arizona 85207 | 480-694-0662
Alex Casteel is owner of Casteel Real Estate Professionals, a real estate brokerage serving the communities of Mesa, Arizona, and the Phoenix metropolitan area. Alex is a Certified Distressed Property Expert and earned an MBA from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.