I have been working with the Short Sale market for the last six months or so. While I have been successful with listing and selling my own Short Sales, ( an incredibly time consuming process) I want to warn everyone about a recent experience I had with an offer on another agents Short Sale. I was working with a great Buyer that had been referred to me. We had been looking at mostly foreclosures due to the area, price range and amenities the Buyer was looking for.
On his own using the Internet and the various real estate portals he found a very nice property; it was a Short Sale. I called, made the appointment and we went to see the home. It was drop dead gorgeous, and in perfect condition. The snag was the price. Upon reviewing the recent closed sales the house was priced way to low. I informed the Buyer of my findings and the price range I felt the bank would consider. I then called the listing agent that was the Broker of the company and expressed my concerns about the listing price being lower than the acceptable margins which I had learned in several seminars I took on dealing with Short Sales. She explained to me that she had been lowering the price every two weeks, and based on lack of showings and the Active properties - other Short Sales and Foreclosures - she was confident that the bank would accept the offer. After waiting the customary 30 days or so, the bank came back with an approval price 30k over the offer we had made and within the acceptable margins I had learned and expressed to the Buyer. I now only show Short Sales that have an Approved Price, this is generally where the Buyer that submitted the offer did not qualify or pulled out because they got tired of waiting on the bank for the Approval.
Moral of the story, Be very careful when showing Short Sales, know the margins and stick with them. You know the old saying, " If something sounds to good to be true, It usually is!"
Comments(3)