Lenders have varying requirements and may ask borrower to submit a number of documents. The steps bellow are a rough outline of what to expect.

Call the Lender

You may need to make a number of phone calls before you find the person responsible for handling short sales. The goal is find a person who can make a decision on your property.

Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)

Currently some of the property values have declined and this is part of the reason that you cannot sell your home for enough to pay off the lender. You need to provide a lender a comparative market analysis (CMA) that can substantiate this claim.

Hardship Letter

This is a letter that describes your particular financial situation. You asking the bank to accept less than full payment and you need to explain why they should do that.

Proof of Income and Assets

You would need to provide the lender a full picture of your financial situation and discloseyou're your assets. That typically include checking and savings accounts, stocks or bonds, cash or other real estate. You also would need to provide copies of bank statements.

Preliminary Closing Statement

You would need to provide an estimated closing statement that shows the sales price and all the costs of sale, unpaid loan balances, outstanding payments due and late fees, and all other expenses. An escrow agent can typically prepare this for you, if you do not know how to calculate any of these fees.

Purchase Agreement and Listing Agreement

At some point once you found a buyer the bank would need to see all the documents about the sale.

Call me, I'll be happy to explain the whole process.