Short sales take always more time and have to go through a certain process. Keep in mind that the bank will lose money on a short sale so they are not necesseraly in a hurry to close the deal and lose money.

If you were to lose money on a deal you would probably think very carefully at your decisions. Banks have a lot of short sales to deal with, your is not the only one and they may have to go through other first before they work on your approved short sale.

I would suggest you to go after REOs, because those properties have already been repossessed by the banks, so faster to deal with. Short sales may even take up to 9 months. If there are more than one lender then you can bet that those will take a long time.

Approved short sale does not necessarily mean the leader approved the listing price.The listing price could be $475,000, this does not mean the leader will accept an offer of $475,000. It is almost impossible to know up front what a bank will take until they have gone through the process. It's hard to get a handle on the price that a bank will take until they do their own BPO Brokers Price Opinion.

Bill's answer is great. There are so many agents working short sales that do not have a clue. Approved or not, short sales are tough. A REAL approved short sale will move more quickly, but your still looking at 45-60 days to close. Most take up to 90, although it seems just over the past month or so banks are becoming easier to work with. There are so many factors that are out of your control, so they are always unpredictable.

Like Bill said, communication is key. Make sure your agent is on top of this each day, and hopefully the agent on the other end is also experienced with short sales as well.

Good luck to you and I hope for a speedy closing for you,

Jeremy Lehman
Century 21 Beachside
Jeremy@LehmanHomes.net

Bill Godwin's answer is spot on. for whatever it's worth.

Jeff and Cheryl Fox

Properties Plus
818-995-9108 Office
800-917-8080 Toll Free
818-207-2013 Cell
Email: mail@jeffandcherylfox.com
Webstie: http://www.jeffandcherylfox.com

16133 Ventura Blvd. 7th Floor
Encino, CA 91436

From what I understand, an approved short-sale SHOULD move quicker, simply because the bank is already involved. But remember, it is a bank, not a person. There are no guarantees.

Veruska,

IT depends onwhat the listing agent meant by "Approved" Some agents use this phrase when only the seller's hardship has been approved. Your agent should ask the listing agent if an offer has been submitted to the lender. IF not, then there is not yet an "Approved" price. With the listing price was in this variable range it could be that the lender had approved the price at $475,000. Being outside the range could cause the offer to go back to square one on the approval process and therefore a longer time period till closing. Communication between your agent and the seller's agent is key to knowing how long the process will take. Every short sale is different and many variables can effect how long it takes for your deal to go through.

I hope this helps.

Bill M GGodwin
First Team Real Estate
949-606-5669
Bill@BillMGodwin.com

If you offer what the short sale was approved at, the process will go much quicker. If you offer less than the approved price, then it is "subject to lender approval" all over again. Have your Realtor inquire what the approved price is and then offer that if you want a fast process and if you want to move into your home by spring time instead of summer time ;-)