Facing foreclosure and wanting to sell, this Jacksonville homeowner soon realized he lacked the equity to sell his 2022 built home, and reached out to us for help. Find out how Reid Real Estate Group successfully settled his mortgage with Carrington, resulting in more than $100,000 in mortgage debt being forgiven, and helping him move on to better days!
The Problem: A Newer Jacksonville Home That Was Underwater
Our Jacksonville homeowner had only been in his home a few short years when his payments had become unmanageable and he was quickly slipping into foreclosure. He wanted to sell, but unfortunately, the new construction home he had paid $315,000 for in 2022, was now worth much less.
To make matters worse, he had purchased the home with a low down payment FHA loan, and now he lacked the equity to sell traditionally. There was simply no way to cover the mortgage balance or the closing costs of the sale. After exploring his options, he decided a short sale was the best choice to cut his losses and move on with his life.
Why Was a 2022 Jacksonville Home Already Underwater?
The early 2020s were a time rapidly rising prices in Jacksonville and home construction was booming. Not only was that the peak of the market but buyers of new construction also pay a premium for the privilege of having a brand new home.
New construction prices have been falling ever since, with home builders now offering similar homes for much less, with many more incentives and upgrades. Unfortunately this provides a dismal outlook for new construction home buyers that did buy during the market peak. They simply can't compete and often find themselves owing more than their homes could sell for.
This isn't an isolated situation. We're increasingly hearing from Northeast Florida homeowners who purchased newer construction between 2021 and 2024 and now need to sell before they've built enough equity.
Pursuing An FHA short sale with Carrington Mortgage
We've handled numerous short sales with Carrington Mortgage and are familiar with their short sale process. They can be initially unresponsive, but once they get moving things tend to fall into place rather quickly. In this case our seller had an FHA mortgage, which requires its own standardized short sale processing.
Challenges We Encountered During the Short Sale
Despite an aggressive price and strong marketing, the Jacksonville market proved unresponsive. It took us over 9 weeks on market and regular price reductions to finally secure a strong buyer.
To make matters worse, Carrington's internal appraisal of the property came in much higher than expected, leaving us unable to close.
Fortunately, here at Reid Real Estate Group, we frequently overcome valuation challenges as well as many other common short sale obstacles, and a thorough value dispute package was quickly submitted!
Carrington Approved Our Jacksonville FHA Short Sale!
Our value dispute was successful, bridging the $40,000 gap needed to obtain approval! Our short sale approval letter quickly arrived and within weeks this Jacksonville short sale home closed!
jacksonville Short Sale Results
What This Means for Other Jacksonville New Construction Homeowners
If you bought a new home in 2021–2024 and now find yourself underwater, it doesn't necessarily mean you're stuck! If you need to sell and the proceeds won't cover the mortgage, a short sale may be the answer!
Need to Sell a Newer Jacksonville Home but Owe Too Much?
If you purchased a newer construction home in Jacksonville or Northeast Florida and now owe more than the property could sell for, contact Reid Real Estate Group for a confidential short-sale evaluation. We'll help you determine whether a short sale may be an option.
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When it comes to short sales, Minna is an expert. We had no idea that finding a buyer would be the "easy" part. Getting the bank's approval for the sale was a challenge. Our bank constantly made mistakes, even denying us at one point. The whole process was routine for Minna and she reassured us that we would work through the hiccups and eventually get approved. And she was right. What a relief! We hired Minna based on all of the positive feedback we found online and are glad we did. She's smart, responsive, knowledgeable and shows an overall level of professionalism that puts her in a different league than the rest. She regularly exceeded our expectations and we would recommend her to anyone looking to sell their home.
D.C.
Last Updated on September 14, 2026 by Minna Reid
