Short Sales, Not Short
First off, let me explain in simple terms what a Short Sale is. A Short Sale is when a seller needs to sell their property for less than what is owed. This does not always mean that they are behind on their payments or that they have bad credit. It could be that they are moving to another state for job reasons and now that the market is down from when they purchased their home a few years ago, the value is less than what they owe.
In order for them to sell for less, they must get their lien holder’s approval. This process is NOT a short one. In fact it can take 2-9 months to hear back from their bank. Once you get a response, there is no guarantee that the offer presented will be accepted and given a reasonable time frame to proceed with the buyers loan or closing deadlines.
Our local MLS has a ruling that does not allow the listing agent to mark the listing as pending in escrow until they have the official signed sales agreement from the bank. This is most frustrating to searching buyers, not always knowing if it is a short sale and that it is not included in details of the listing. Sometimes it will include in the description “short sale” or “needs bank approval” but it sometimes does not tell buyers that it has received any offers.
Currently in our market about 1 in 6 homes priced below $250,000 are in Short Sale and at least half of those already have offers into the bank and are waiting to hear back. Only Realtors have access to the private remarks that tell us what the status of the listing is. In my experience short sales are either a great tool to use to get a fantastic deal or they can be a total waste of time and money. Contact me today about further information and I will be happy to give more information. kaydeeh@johnlscott.com or 541-285-0040.
Always here for you!
KayDee
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