In the state of California, we have all sorts of rules and forms that we can use for our short sale transactions which makes it a little bit easier on the agents when both presenting and receiving short sale offers.
When writing an offer on a short sale, make sure to write the offer as "clean" as possible. By clean, I mean two things: 1) make it physically easy to read (it will be faxed about a zillion times over the course of the transaction), and 2) make it as "clean" or uncomplicated as possible. Most banks would prefer not to pay septic, pest control, home warranty. So, buyers with "cleaner" offers will have a much better chance of getting their offers approved by the bank.
Include an SSA (Short Sale Addendum). If you are unfamiliar with this CAR form, get familiar. This form is used to state when the buyer will require lien holder approval, when the buyers will begin their inspection period, what will happen to the initial deposit, etc. It is a great form for addressing some of the uncertainties in the short sale transaction.
As a listing agent, I would check to see the dates and time periods that the buyer requests on the SSA. If there are multiple offers on the property, I would help my client to identify the strongest offer--the "cleanest" one--a buyer who is, perhaps, willing to wait and also willing to open escrow. (As an aside, I would look more towards conventional and cash offers. Since I know that FHA and VA loans have certain requirements and fees that the seller's bank may not approve, a transaction with an FHA or VA loan may be more difficult to get closed.)
Short sales are tricky transactions that require the agents to be extremely attentive to all of the terms and conditions of the contract--perhaps even more so than ever before. But, working these deals is also a great opportunity to do just that--familiarize yourself with all of the text of the contracts. Since we position ourselves as experts in the field, it is important to be familiar with the ins and outs of these transactions.
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