No doubt 2009 is the year of the short sale and REO foreclosure real estate transaction.  At Luxury Realty Group we've seen a significant increase in the number of luxury forecosures in Las Vegas hence why we recently launched www.LuxuryVegasForeclosures.com .

While we've had a 100% success track record to date for our Las Vegas luxury REO foreclosure buyers, that's not the case for short sale transactions.  We now take 3 steps prior to writing short sale offers to educate our buyers about the potential risk in making such an offer for a specific property.

The three steps are:

1. Inquire as to how many short sale transactions has the listing agent had in 2009. 2009 is important as many rules have changed and loss mitigators are often changing the way they handle short sales. If the listing agent has minimal experience then consider the risks as the listing agent needs to know how to properly assemble the short sale package for the loss mitigator. 
2. Ask the listing agent as to the number of loans on the property. One loan is ideal and more than one can involve multiple loss mitigator negotiations which comes back again to the level of short sale experience the listing agent has in 2009.
3. Find out how where in the foreclosure process is the property.  If the property is close to foreclosure then time is of the essence to gain loss mitigator attention to your short sale offer. 

I could go on with an extensive list and short sale horror stories but these three steps are a starting point.  It's a complex world with short sales and we hope all of you have much success with them in 2009.

Bruce Hiatt can be reached at (702) 456-7080 x201 PST.  You can also follow Bruce on Twitter @LuxuryRealtyGrp or subscribe to our RSS feed at www.LasvegasHighRiseBlog.com or www.FineVegasHomesBlog.com.

Luxury Realty Group is recognized by the press as a leading brokerage on the Strip.  They can be seen on networks and in publications such as CNBC, Forbes Magazine, Details, LV Business Press, Wall Street Journal, The Review Journal, Los Angeles Times and USA Today.   

Disclaimer: All information contained within this post is subject to change without notice. Subject matter is not guaranteed and is often considered time-sensitive.