If you are a Buyer, or even a Buyer's Agent, who is dealing with short-sales in your marketplace, you might be wondering the same thing.

Of the thousands of homes listed for sale in your local Multiple Listing Service, how of them are being marketed as a short-sale?

And of those, how many of them can actually be purchased for the listing price AND be closed on within 30-60 days?

If you are finding the same results that I am, I'm guessing, not many.

As a matter of fact, most short-short sales that are listed cannot be purchased within 60 days at the price they are being marketed at as they require "third party approval." The approval process can (and does) take MONTHS (in most cases) all while the Buyer is obligated to wait around hoping for good news.

Based on my experiences, "third party approval" should be re-named "everybody's approval" because the process involves far more than just a "third" party...it involves the seller, the selling and listing brokers (if commissions are being affected), the first mortgage holder, the second mortgage holder (if there is one), the investor group who bought the loan and finally, the approval of the private mortgage company (when applicable).

Since we all know how hard it can be just to get TWO people to agree on where to go for dinner, can you imagine what it's like to get five or six invested parties to agree on how much of a loss they will take in order to avoid having to foreclose? Fast forward four to six months and you might get your answer.

OK...so now you might be wondering...how can this process be improved upon so that Buyers don't have to wait months to find out if they can in fact purchase the home of their dreams at the price it is being listed at in the Multiple Listing Service data base? 

How about requiring the banks to sign the listing agreement?

Since a husband and wife who are going through a divorce BOTH have to sign the listing agreement because they are parties to the transaction, why aren't the banks required to sign that same agreement if they are party to the short-sale transaction?

In my opinion, if the Seller and the Seller's lender haven't agreed on what loss each of them will assume before the property is listed, Buyers are going to continue to be frustrated when they have to wait months for answers, values will continue to fall while one bank undercuts another within the same community and Buyer's Agents contunue to discourage their customers from even looking at short-sales as they know they will most likely be required to work for months, only to be asked to take less commission IF all of the OTHER PARTIES have finally agreed.

I am sure there are other ideas on ways to improve this process...this is just one of mine.

I'd love to hear your Short Sale "tricks" and "treats"...in celebration of this Halloween post!

LaShawn Norden, PA, Accredited Luxury Home Specialist, RE/MAX Central Realty, (321) 377-0157, Lake Mary, Longwood, Sanford, Oviedo, Winter Park, Winter Springs & Altamonte Springs which are all located within Seminole County, Florida.

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