Hi Debbie,

I have a lot of information regarding short sales and I am involved in the transaction when I do one.
last week, I had all the documents prepared with the seller, contacted the negotiaor at Well Fargo.. and we have approval in 3 days. On the other hand, I have one that we are waiting for an answer for 4 weeks now.

It depends upon the bank and the mood of the person doing the job.

Debbie,

It could take weeks or months, and it could not happen at all. The best way to buy a short sale is to be living in a month-to-month apartment or with relatives and just simply wait. You cannot force your own timetable on the transaction. Even once the short sale is approved, which is not a certainty, if another offer comes in that is better than yours, you could be dumped pretty much anytime. Plan on not getting the property. Then if you do, you basically got lucky.

-Marc

Debbie,

Truth is that every transaction is different. How fast you get a response may also depend on how much work was done prior to you even submitting the offer. Some agents put a house on the market and make it subject to bank approval but never contacts the bank or get the ball rolling. There are other times when the seller has already been assigned a negoiator, the bank has done their appraisal and they are just waiting for a contract. Other factors too maybe that there is more than one bank involved if there is a first and second loan. The reason for the short sale plays a factor. Is the seller behind or are they upside down(that is owe more than what the property is currently worth). And not to mention that the bank is not obligated to "approve" your offer. You can wait many weeks even months for response and in the end get turned down. Hopefully your buyer's agent informed you of all these possible outcomes prior to you submitting your offer.

Best Regards,

Jeremy S. Hill, Realtor Associate
Keller Williams Realty http://www.YourPhillyHomeSearch.com http://www.SouthNewJerseyHomes.com
Office: 856.685.1651
Direct: 609.876.5817
Fax: 609.482.8235
Licensed PA, NJ
"Your Interest 1st Always"

Robert Baglione
Re/Max House Values
(201) 341-8684
It depends... First things first ... who has the third party approval.... is it the realtor or the lawyer for the seller. if it is the lawyer I hate to say it could take a very long time..4/8 months..... most lawyers aren't going to call the bank two/three times a day.... I try to look for short sales that the agent has the third party approval... and if they don't know enough about them ...I try to help them. Buying short sales are usually very tedious but I have seeen them go through in under 90 days... There are other factors such as how many other banks are involved... if there is a second does it have PMI. if you like some more info. email...
(shortsaleinformation@yahoo.com) for a free brochure.....
Thank you
Robert Baglione
(201) 341-8684

Web Reference: http://www.sellnjrealestate.com

It depends... First things first ... who has the third party approval.... is it the realtor or the lawyer for the seller. if it is the lawyer I hate to say it could take a very long time..4/8 months..... most lawyers aren't going to call the bank two/three times a day.... I try to look for short sales that the agent has the third party approval... and if they don't know enough about them ...I try to help them. Buying short sales are usually very tedious but I have seeen them go through in under 90 days... There are other factors such as how many other banks are involved... if there is a second does it have PMI. if you like some more info. email...
(shortsaleinformation@yahoo.com) for a free brochure.....
Thank you
Robert Baglione

My experience has been that the banks can take anywhere from 45 to 60 days or even longer to approve a short sale.
BHowever, there might be somethign else going on. Have your agent contact the listing agent (or if your agent is also the listing agent) to call the bank and follow up. If there is even one problem with the packet that was submitted, the packet gets put aside and the agent is not informed of the problem. It is the repsonsibility of the listing agent to follow up with the bank and push this transaction through.