Short Sales Are Seldom If Ever Short

There could be an upside to buying a short sale.  If there are issues and the buyers are willing to make the changes or repairs, they would be getting a home at less than market value.  If the appraiser that comes out to do the appraisal for the bank notes the issues on the appraisal the lender can be more amenable to the lowered price. All this, however does take time

Tell me abut it Richard & Beth. I have had short sales drag on and fall apart. I will take a foreclosure over a short sale any day.

This is good information for those interested in short sale transactions. The uncertainty of reaching settlement is one of the reasons that many home buyers avoid short sale transactions.

To be honest, I've yet to work with a buyer on a short sale. Our buyers seem to have become more aware of this process and opt out for a safer alternative.

Richard & Beth Witt ... I don't think your advice about "having patience" can be stressed enough when talking about short sales.  EVERYONE involved in the transaction needs a healthy dose of it!

Gene

Richard and Beth

Short sales . . . . are not short . . . . and in many cases take more work then a traditional sale.

Good luck and success.

Lou Ludwig

Richard and Beth, working with short sales take patience for sure. It's heartbreaking when buyers walk away, it must be made very clear to them that it can take as long as a year(or longer), if they're not willing to wait, short sales are not for these buyers.

Beth, Just entered buyers into a two bank short sale last Friday.  They know it will be AT LEAST 60 days before we're likely to get a response from the banks, and that's with an experienced short sale listing agent on the other side of the deal.  I checked to make sure he had some under his belt before we wrote the offer.  Had another agent once that my buyers waited over 6 months without ever getting a response. The seller actually contacted us direct and told us the listing agent had sent the paperwork to the wrong bank department and couldn't reach the right people.  That home foreclosed for less than what our offer was.  Bill

Beth and Richard, that's usually the first thing i say to buyers who are asking about short sales. If they don't have the patience and stamina to wait it out, then buying a short sale property may not be for them.

Not usually short.

and...not usually fun either.

I do look forward to the day when people don't know of these as other than some freak of a market back in the early part of the decade.