I have sold many short sales, and unless the listing agent is experienced with short sales, stay far away. I have seen agents list properties at prices that the bank won't even sell for that price. I have also seen many judgements that many lenders will not negotiate and if the seller has judgements, you could be tied up for many months only to be disappointed that the sale cannot be completed. There are many great deals out there, that are not short sales and you can still receive the $8,000 tax credit if you settle by November 30th 2009. Contact me if you need assistance.

Janet Larsen, Broker Associate
Remax Connection
856-261-6910.

Make sure you have a good Realtor who understand short sales and verify the listing agent knows their stuff. Without it, you have a difficult road.
Jerry

Hello Property Virgin and thanks for your email, which I just might use for a blog today.

Here's my "TOP 7 TIPS" for buying a short sale:

1. Work with your own Realtor--the short sale arena is not to be entered without help or advice.
2. Short sales are anything but "short" or fast. Most take between 3-6 months to complete from offer to close of escrow, so determine if you are patient enough to wait for this home.
3. Stay away from short sales with multiple mortgages. The more mortgages, the harder it will be to get the lenders to agree to sell the home short.
4. Countrywide and Bank of America are the slowest in processing short sales due to the large volume of short sale requests nationwide. Try homes where the mortgage is from a smaller bank.
5. Have your Realtor run a property profile of the home BEFORE making an offer. If the remaining unpaid mortgage far exceeds the market price (for example, if the home's sale price is 40 percent less than the mortgage value), it is highly unlikely that the bank will agree to the short sale.
6. Work with listing agents who will NOT be submitting new offers to the lender every week even after your offer has been signed. This type of repeated, "gattling gun" firing of offers to the lenders simply confuses the lenders and almost guarantees that no offer will be approved.
7. KNOW THE RISKS IN SHORT SALES. I cannot repeat this enough! Your Agent should advise you of both the pros (upside) and cons (downside) of a short sale and what can happen if prices go up, go down, or if the appraisal does not meet the sales price. Determine if these risks are acceptable to you.

Work with an experienced agent who can help you navigate through a short sale, and who will let you know how to assess the probability of success in the purchase of the home.

Good luck!!

Sincerely,
Grace Morioka, SRES, e-Pro
Area Pro Realty

Hello Property Virgin and thanks for your email, which I just might use for a blog today.

Here's my "TOP 7 TIPS" for buying a short sale:

1. Work with your own Realtor--the short sale arena is not to be entered without help or advice.
2. Short sales are anything but "short" or fast. Most take between 3-6 months to complete from offer to close of escrow, so determine if you are patient enough to wait for this home.
3. Stay away from short sales with multiple mortgages. The more mortgages, the harder it will be to get the lenders to agree to sell the home short.
4. Countrywide and Bank of America are the slowest in processing short sales due to the large volume of short sale requests nationwide. Try homes where the mortgage is from a smaller bank.
5. Have your Realtor run a property profile of the home BEFORE making an offer. If the remaining unpaid mortgage far exceeds the market price (for example, if the home's sale price is 40 percent less than the mortgage value), it is highly unlikely that the bank will agree to the short sale.
6. Work with listing agents who will NOT be submitting new offers to the lender every week even after your offer has been signed. This type of repeated, "gattling gun" firing of offers to the lenders simply confuses the lenders and almost guarantees that no offer will be approved.
7. KNOW THE RISKS IN SHORT SALES. I cannot repeat this enough! Your Agent should advise you of both the pros (upside) and cons (downside) of a short sale and what can happen if prices go up, go down, or if the appraisal does not meet the sales price. Determine if these risks are acceptable to you.

Work with an experienced agent who can help you navigate through a short sale, and who will let you know how to assess the probability of success in the purchase of the home.

Good luck!!

Sincerely,
Grace Morioka, SRES, e-Pro
Area Pro Realty

Patience - Patience - Patience. The better qualified you are and the cleaner the offer is will make the deal go smoother but don't be afraid to ask for closing cost assistance and some repairs. the worst that can happen is the bank won't approve or will counter without these perks. I strongly suggest you work with a strong agent who has completed several short sales and knows the process, do not try to go this alone. The other three words are persistence - persistence - persistence. Banks are dealing with thousands of these and the squeeky wheel will get the file closer to the top.
My last short sale took eight months to approve and settle but my clients got a great deal and the home they wanted.

If you are looking to move quickly, this is not for you! Make sure you have a good real estate attorney lined up & be prepared that you may not get the house even after you put in your offer. You may get a great deal, but it might not be easy. Best of luck to you!

You might also consider bank owned homes. Although they will need repiars and cosmetics definately, there is no wait time!

Good luck!

Bridget Cella
Weichert Realtors

I give the same advice to all of my buyer clients. Make your offer contingent upon the listing agent using a "short sale servicing company" to negotiate with the bank. This will speed up the process immensely. Banks prefer to negotiate with someone other than a Relator for whatever reason. I always use Preferred Servicing Group. You can Google them. Also, have your REALTOR demand that the listing agent change the home's status to Pending once contracts are signed. Many agents will leave the property for sale and continue to take offers. This is not in your best interest. The best thing you can do is get a REALTOR that has done short sales before. If your locked in with an agent who hasn't its not the end of the world, just make sure a servicing group is involved in the process. Goodluck!


Sincerely,
William Lockard
Realtor, Associate
First Time Buyer Specialist
Long and Foster – Haddonfield
Office: 856.795.6966
Direct: 856.616.7235
Fax: 856.795.9477
Email: william.lockard@lnf.com
Blog: WilliamLockard.wordpress.com

Find your dream home at http://www.WilliamLockard.com

Are you still looking to buy? If so,there are things you need to be aware of in buying a Short Sale. The process is sometimes slow so you need patience and if you need to settle by a specific date you probably should not buy a Short Sale, however if you are flexible with a settlement date you can get a very good buy!. Are you prepared to spend your own money prior to settlement date to do any required repairs for the lender or to obtain the Certificate of Occupancy? Do you need the sellers help with closing costs? If you are not willing to do repairs or need closing cost help you probably should not buy a Short Sale. The good news is that there are many good buys that are not Short Sales and one of them may be right for you. If you need more help please contact me at 609-220-9905 or i-sell-homes@msn.com or http://www.njhomes4u.com

Yeah, don't do it.

I attempted to purchase two short sale properties over the past year, thinking I was going to get a deal on my first home. Boy, was I wrong.

I had everything ready to go in a timely manner, excellent credit, etc. The bank never approved my offer. Weeks and weeks and weeks passed. 6 months passed. No response from the bank. Now imagine all of that crushing disappointment, but twice. I wasted a year that I could have been comfortably living in my own home screwing around with the bank.

Do yourself a favor. DON'T bid on a short sale house unless you have a LOT of time to waste and you LOVE it. You need to love that house so much that you won't mind waiting over half a year for it.

Patience is going to be key in this transaction. Make sure you have a qualified agent to keep you in the loop as much as possible, get a home inspection, and make sure there is a clause in the agreement of sale that states you can back out if repairs exceed a certain amount. Hope this helps you. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks Nick.

I would definitely agree that it may require some patience on your part because in most cases a quick settlement is not likely. In fact it may take in excess of 60-90 days or more to even get a response to your offer.

Also keep in mind that not all short-sales are good deals and that these properties are typically sold “as-is” meaning the buyer is responsible for any and all certifications, repairs etc.

Check out the site below - good luck!

BE PATIENT!
Short Sales can take quite a while to get an answer.
You must first make and offer to the seller, once the seller accepts your offer the paperwork is then submitted to the bank for approval. This process can take weeks if not months.

The best way to ensure your offer is accepted is to keep it reasonable, keep the contigencies at a minimum and have your financing in place before making an offer