MYTH or FACT: Buying A Lakeland FL Short Sale Takes Six Months Or Longer

MYTH or FACT: Buying A Lakeland FL Short Sale Takes Six Months Or Longer

The truth of the matter is, “It all depends on the lender and the listing agent.”

A great portion of homes for sale in Lakeland FL are listed as a short sale and there are depressing cases of buyers awaiting to buy their dream home only to end up getting a counter-offer at a much higher rate that is no longer within their reach.

In order to avoid this dilemma, I would like to share some practical steps for you to follow.

1.    Provide Comparable Market Analysis – to make sure that your buyer’s offer is solid.

2.    Ensure provision of a Completed Seller’s short sale package – this is required by the lender for the processing of your file. Incomplete short sale packages submitted to the lender will delay the process.

3.    Know the lender and whether a junior lien holder is involved– If there is more than one approver, the processing will take longer; the junior lien holder is likely to demand more money than the first lien holder is willing to give.

4.    Inquire for existence of Homeowners’ Association Dues – If there is a HOA lien on the property there may be a good chance that the seller’s lender will not agree to pay the HOA.  Making sure that this issue will be taken care of in advance, is essential to a successful short sale transaction.

5.    Know the party handling the negotiations – some listing agents entrust their negotiations to a third party, which may or may not cause delay to the short sale. It is best for you to be well-informed.

6.    Know whether the listing agent is experienced in short sales – If the listing agent can hardly answer questions 2, 3, and 4, chances are we are up for a dread, so, I generally advise my buyers to search for another home.

The above steps will surely help eliminate further delays; however, timeframe of the short sale transaction is still dependent  on the lenders - even though majority of the lenders have now streamlined the submission through “Equator” - who are swamped with influx of short sale files.

As a real estate agent in Lakeland FL handling short sales, I am giving you the general rule of thumb on how long a short sale takes from start to finish:

• Submission of the contract and completion of short sale package from the seller
• Provision of Seller’s lender acknowledging receipt  – 5 to 10 days
• Provision of Lender orders BPO or appraisal – 30 to 60 days
• Review of the file – 30 to 60 days
• Assignment of negotiator and, if necessary, a Level II negotiator is – 30 to 90 days
•  Approval, counteraction, rejection of short sale – 30 – 120 days.
• Closing 90 – 180 days.

I once represented a buyer who fell in love with a home located in Carillon Lake Community. The place was well-kept by the owners who were still living in the home at that time. I advised my buyer to ensure qualifying this home prior to making the written offer. The reason was to ensure their chances on getting the short sale approved and within a reasonable timeframe. This short sale was approved in a span of six months with the help of a second lien holder that took extra time. The short sale was approved within the specified timeframe due to buyer’s rightful actions – was patient enough; did the necessary inspections; was well-informed about the process step-by-step. The closing was done within a couple of weeks succeeding approval notification.

Walking away portrays no role in the fast approval of the short sale by the bank; whether you are a cash buyer or financing. Remember, the longer you wait to walk away the easier it is for the next buyer to come along and take the deal away and close faster.  Lenders, i.e. Bank of America now allows changing transactions to willing and able buyers to avoid further delay in the short sale process for Lakeland FL homes.

Your Loss May Be Somebody Else’s Gain!

Copyright © 2011 By Petra Norris *MYTH or FACT: Buying A Lakeland FL Short Sale Takes Six Months Or Longer*