If you think the offer that was submitted is a good one and likely to be the best one the bank will receive, it's your job to convince the bank to accept it.

Most banks will order an appraisal and use that as the basis for their decision. Unfortunately, with the slowdown in sales, some of the comps used in the appraisal may be 9-12 months old and not representative of the current market since they don't typically use active comps.

Provide the bank with an analysis of your local market along with specific information on your short sale's neighborhood. Include MLS market data and graphs to substantiate your reasoning. Discuss the condition of the property and send pictures, copies of inspection reports, list of needed repairs and contractor estimates. Let the bank know how many times the house has been shown, feedback from potential buyers, and number of offers. It might help to include MLS list data for the short sale as well as its comps (sold and active).

This information is normally provided in a BPO and is probably a good idea to include with the short sale package when the offer is submitted in the first place even though the bank doesn't usually ask for it.

I have recently had success in getting approval by submitting this additional information for two short sales whose offers had originally been rejected.