What is a short sale?
Simply put: A Short sale is when the seller owes more than the house can be sold for in the current market.
The problem?
There are no guarantees that just because a house is listed for a certain price that it will sell for that price or even close to it. The listing agents list these short sale homes as "subject to lien holder approval" in the agent only remarks. First of all, I strongly think that this lingo should be put in the public comments so that a prospective buyer is well aware that the price is not a definite.
Not only will you not get an answer immediately when you put in an offer for a short sale, you will more than likely have to wait for weeks and weeks. The bank is in no hurry to sell you this house for $50,000 or more under market. If you want the deal, you have to be very patient.
Short sales can be a great buy, but know in advance that there are a lot of patience required to get the deal.
Courtney Cooper ....For all your Seattle Washington Real Estate Needs! Seattle Area Real Estate Agent: Broker and Realtor serving North King & South Snohomish County. Seattle Real Estate and Seattle Suburbs! Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services: Experienced REALTOR with a background in accounting - I love my clients and work hard for them! Please call me if you are looking for a home or investment property (including short sales, preforeclosures, foreclosures, and REO properties) in Seattle (Ballard, Crown Hill, Phinney, Ravenna, Maple Leaf, Green Lake (Greenlake), Greenwood, Northgate, Lake City,University, Sand Point, Laurelhurst, Windermere, Fremont, Wallingford, Queen Anne, Westlake, Eastlake, Lake Union, Downtown, Madison Park), Shoreline, Edmonds, Brier, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Lake Forest Park, Bothell, Mill Creek, Everett, or other Seattle Suburbs!