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Forbearance doesn’t mean you’re handcuffed to your house. You can still sell it and move on with your life, and yes, many homeowners even manage to sell their house fast in Florida while in forbearance. However, the lender needs to be involved and there are a few extra steps you have to take that wouldn’t exist in a regular sale.
Think of it this way: forbearance just pauses your payments temporarily. It doesn’t freeze your entire life or lock you into staying put. Many Florida homeowners have successfully sold their homes during forbearance. Check out this guide to find out the answer to “Can I sell my house if I am in forbearance in Florida?”
Forbearance happens when your lender pauses your regular mortgage payments because you’re going through financial hardship. You’re not off the hook for the money. You still owe it, but you get some time to breathe and figure things out.
Most forbearance periods last three to twelve months, and when they end, you’ll need to work out a repayment plan with your lender.
Forbearance isn’t something people undertake lightly. Life usually forces your hand, and there are a few situations that prompt Florida homeowners to enter into these agreements more than others.
When the paychecks stop, mortgage payments become impossible. During economic downturns, tourism, hospitality, and service industries typically experience significant declines.
Many Floridians found themselves scrambling for forbearance just to keep a roof over their heads while searching for a job.
Hospital bills stack up in a hurry, and if you can’t work while recovering, your income disappears right when expenses explode.
Mortgage forbearance gives you breathing room to focus on getting better instead of panicking about losing your home.
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Florida’s hurricane season isn’t a joke. Between evacuation costs, property damage, and waiting forever for insurance payouts, storms can wreck your finances.
Forbearance helps you deal with the immediate crisis without needing to prepare for foreclosure defense, which adds to the stress.
Going from two incomes to one can sink your budget overnight. When marriages end or family situations shift, affording the mortgage alone becomes nearly impossible. Forbearance buys you time to figure out your next move.
If you’re self-employed or run a small business that fails, your personal finances suffer along with it. Forbearance allows you to regroup and decide whether to rebuild, pivot, or move forward without immediately losing your home in the process.
Yes, it’s completely legal. Forbearance agreements don’t prohibit you from home selling. They just put your mortgage payments on hold temporarily.
Your lender still has a lien on the home, which means they need to be paid off when you sell. But that’s also true of any home sale with an outstanding mortgage.
The main difference is that you need to communicate with your lender throughout the process. They’ll want to know your plans, and you’ll need their cooperation to get accurate payoff amounts and ensure everything goes smoothly at closing.
Some lenders are easier to work with than others, but forbearance selling is a standard transaction they’ve handled plenty of times before.
As we’ve shared, selling during forbearance is not as easy as a standard sale. Here’s what you need to do to get it right.
Find that forbearance agreement and read it. Yeah, it’s boring legal stuff, but you need to know what you agreed to.
Some agreements have specific clauses about selling, and you don’t want any surprises popping up when you’re trying to close.
Look for details about how missed payments are handled if you sell, any penalties or fees that may apply, and whether there’s a deadline for notifying your mortgage lender about a sale.
Contact your lender before taking any action. Let them know you’re planning to sell and ask about their process for homeowners in forbearance.
Some lenders are relatively relaxed about it, while others require more paperwork and approval steps. Getting them on board early saves you from headaches later. Additionally, they may have specific departments that handle these situations.
You need to know the actual numbers here. That means you need to request an official payoff statement from your lender that includes all the amounts you owe. These include the original loan balance, all missed payments from forbearance, accumulated interest, and fees.
Then figure out what your home is worth right now in today’s market. The difference between what you owe and what you can sell for is your equity. That determines whether you can actually afford to sell or if you’re underwater.
Be honest with yourself about where you stand. If you’ve got equity, you can sell and pay off the remaining mortgage. You’ll even walk away with cash in your pocket.
But if you’re underwater or barely breaking even, you need to factor in closing costs, realtor commissions, and any repairs the home might need before selling.
There are cases when the math just doesn’t work out, and you need to know that before you get too far down this road.
You’ve done the prep work, and you’re actually ready to sell. Here’s the step-by-step, so you don’t miss anything important along the way.
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Don’t rely on a phone conversation. Make sure you get everything in writing. Contact your lender and request written permission to sell your home while in forbearance.
Some lenders require formal approval before you can even list the house. Having that documentation protects you if any disputes come up later.
This isn’t about them controlling your life. It’s just to ensure everyone’s on the same page regarding the payoff process.
Ask for an official payoff statement that’s valid for at least 30 to 60 days. This document shows exactly how much money is needed to pay off your lender’s account and clear the debt completely.
It includes your loan balance, all payments missed during forbearance, accrued interest, and any applicable fees.
You’ll need this number to accurately price your home and determine what you’ll actually walk away with after the sale.
Time to figure out what buyers will actually pay for your place. You can get a comparative market analysis from a real estate agent, hire an appraiser, or check online valuation tools to get a ballpark figure.
Florida’s market fluctuates depending on location and season. Ensure you’re reviewing recent sales in your specific neighborhood.
Don’t get emotional about the number. Base it on reality, not what you paid or what you wish it were worth.
Next up, calculate what you’ll actually pocket. Take your home’s sale price then subtract the following:
What’s left is yours. If that number is positive and makes sense for your situation, you’re good to move forward. If it’s negative or barely positive, you might need to rethink your strategy.
The traditional route means hiring a real estate agent, listing on the MLS, doing showings, and waiting for offers. This usually gets you the highest price but takes longer.
You could sell for sale by owner if you want to save on commission but don’t mind handling everything yourself. Or you could go with a cash buyer who can close fast without repairs or contingencies. Many homeowners in a time crunch prefer to sell their house fast for cash in Tampa or other major markets because cash buyers can close quickly and skip repairs.
If you’re going the traditional way, you need to work with your agent to stage the house, take photos, and get it listed. Be upfront with potential buyers’ real estate agents about the forbearance situation if it arises, although it shouldn’t affect them since it’s between you and your lender.
If you’re working with a cash buyer, consider reaching out to local companies and comparing their offers. Don’t jump at the first offer just because you’re stressed. Take your time and make sure the deal actually works for you.
Once you’ve accepted an offer, the closing process will start. Your lender needs to be involved to confirm the payoff amount and ensure the funds get wired correctly. The title company will handle most of the paperwork, but stay in touch with everyone to ensure there are no delays.
On closing day, you’ll sign a mountain of documents, and the buyer’s funds will pay off your mortgage. You’ll get whatever’s left over. Then you’re done. Your home has been sold, and the forbearance is resolved. No foreclosure.
Selling during forbearance isn’t always smooth sailing. You might hit some bumps along the way that make the process a lot more difficult. Let’s talk about what could go wrong and how to handle it.
This is the worst-case scenario. You owe more than your home is worth. Usually, this happens when the market tanks, you bought at the peak, or your home needs major repairs that kill its value.
Selling is not easy when you’re underwater because you can’t pay off the full loan with the sale proceeds. You’d need to bring cash to closing to cover the difference, or you may need to pursue a short sale, where the lender agrees to accept less than what you owe.
Short sales are a distinct process from foreclosure, with their own approval requirements and timeline. Not all lenders will go for it.
It’s typical for lenders to move at a glacial pace when you are selling. Getting approval to sell, receiving accurate payoff statements, and coordinating the closing can take weeks longer than you’d expect.
Some lenders have dedicated loss mitigation departments that handle forbearance sales efficiently, while others seem to lose paperwork constantly and make you chase them down for every single document.
You need to factor in extra time for everything. Also, stay on top of your lender with regular follow-ups.
Forbearance doesn’t last forever, and once it ends, your lender expects you to start making payments again or work out a repayment plan. If you’re trying to sell before that deadline, you’re working against the clock.
Traditional sales can take 60 to 90 days or longer, and if your forbearance period is almost up, that timeline might not work. This may result in foreclosure.
You may need to consider options that close more quickly, even if they don’t yield the top dollar.
Some buyers or their real estate agents get nervous when they hear “forbearance,” even though it shouldn’t affect them at all. They might worry about delays, assume the house is in poor condition, or suspect title issues.
There won’t be. Once your mortgage lender gets paid at closing, the lien is released just like any other sale.
But still, perception matters, and you might need to educate people or deal with lowball offers from buyers who think you’re desperate.
You’re in mortgage forbearance because money’s tight, so dropping thousands on repairs before selling probably isn’t in the cards.
But buyers will do inspections and they’ll ask for fixes or credits if problems turn up. You might not have the cash to handle those requests, which can kill deals or force you to accept lower offers from buyers willing to take the home as-is.
It’s a tough spot and sometimes you just have to be honest about what you can and can’t do.
Before you commit to listing your home, let’s look at other ways to deal with forbearance that might let you keep your home if that’s what you actually want.
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A loan modification changes the terms of your original mortgage to make payments more manageable going forward. Your lender might lower your interest rate, extend the loan term to reduce monthly payments, or even forgive a portion of what you owe in rare cases.
This isn’t automatic. You have to apply and prove you can handle the modified payments, but it’s worth exploring if you want to stay in your home.
The downside is that loan mods can take months to process and there’s no guarantee you’ll qualify.
Some lenders let you spread out those missed forbearance payments over time by adding a chunk to your regular monthly payment. So if you missed six months of $1,500 payments, you might pay an extra $250 per month for 36 months on top of your regular mortgage.
This works if your income has stabilized and you can handle the increased payment. However, it’s complicated if you’re still struggling financially.
You should calculate the numbers carefully before agreeing to a repayment plan you can’t actually afford.
If your credit is still decent and you’ve got some equity, refinancing could get you out of forbearance with better loan terms. You’d take out a new loan that pays off the old one plus all those missed payments, ideally at a lower interest rate or with a longer term.
The catch is that forbearance itself might have dinged your credit and lenders can be picky about refinancing someone who just finished a forbearance period.
Plus, you’ll pay closing costs again, which isn’t cheap. But if you qualify and the numbers work, it’s a great way to reset everything and keep your home.
Cash buyers can close deals in seven to fourteen days because they’re not waiting on mortgage approvals or bank underwriting. If your forbearance period is ending soon and you need to sell fast, that makes a real difference.
They also buy houses as-is, which means you don’t have to spend money you don’t have on repairs just to make the place sellable. For someone already dealing with financial stress from forbearance, not worrying about fixing up the home before selling is a huge relief.
Note, though, that cash offers typically come in lower than what you’d get on the open market. It’s usually 70% to 85% of retail value. But when you’re racing against a forbearance deadline or dealing with a home that needs work, getting less money but closing quickly makes total sense.
Forbearance itself shouldn’t tank your credit if your lender reports it correctly. Under federal guidelines, especially for COVID-related forbearance, lenders are supposed to report your account as current if you were current when you entered forbearance.
That said, it’s smart to check your credit report yourself to make sure they’re reporting it properly. Any payments you missed before entering forbearance will still ding your score.
That depends on how much profit you make and whether the home was your primary residence. If you lived in the home for at least two of the last five years, you can exclude up to $250,000 in profit if you’re single or $500,000 if you’re married filing jointly.
Forbearance doesn’t change these IRS rules. Talk to a tax professional about your specific situation, especially if you’re doing a short sale where the lender forgives part of the debt.
Yes, that’s actually how it works. When you sell, the proceeds go to pay off your entire mortgage balance, which includes all those missed payments from forbearance plus any interest and fees.
The title company handles this at closing by wiring the payoff amount directly to your lender. Whatever’s left after paying off the loan and covering closing costs is yours.
You’ll need to work out a plan with your lender for handling those missed payments. Your options include a repayment plan where you pay extra each month, a loan modification that changes your loan terms, or adding the missed payments to the end of your loan.
If you can’t afford any of these options and can’t sell, you might be looking at foreclosure, which is why acting quickly matters.
It varies a lot. Traditional sales typically take 60 to 90 days from listing to closing, sometimes longer depending on market conditions and buyer financing. Cash sales can close in as little as one to two weeks.
Your forbearance timeline should guide which method you choose. If you’ve only got a month left, a traditional listing probably won’t work.
Yes, but your lender still needs to be paid off at closing just like any other sale. The buyer (even if it’s family) needs to either pay cash or get their own mortgage.
You can’t just transfer the deed without paying off your loan. Some people try to do informal arrangements, but that doesn’t clear your mortgage debt and can create legal nightmares down the road.
Selling your Florida home during forbearance is completely legal. But you have to get your lender involved early and be realistic about your equity after closing costs. You’ve got options: traditional sales if you have time, cash buyers if you need speed, or alternatives like loan modifications if you want to keep the home. Each path has tradeoffs, so choose one that actually fits your timeline and financial situation.
If you’re looking to sell quickly without the stress of repairs, showings, or months of waiting, Home Options Group can help. We buy houses in any condition and can close on your timeline. Give us a call at 813-797-5316 to discuss your options for your Florida home.
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Justin Setzer is a seasoned real estate investor and the founder of Home Options Group, a company that buys houses for cash in Tampa, Florida, and throughout the state. He specializes in helping homeowners sell quickly—whether due to foreclosure, inheritance, or other urgent situations—by providing fair, no-obligation cash offers and flexible closings. With a deep understanding of the Tampa real estate market, Justin is committed to making the home-selling process simple, stress-free, and pressure-free.