What's So Short About a Short Sale?

What's so short about a short sale? Just the time that it is for sale.

A short sale is when the home owner has fallen behind in payments. Depending on how many months behind the home owner is, the bank may or may not have served a notice to foreclose. Once the notice has been served, the home owner then, has approximately 4 months to sell the home and save their credit. If they put it up for sale before being served, then they have more time. So that is the short part of the short sale. It is only for sale for a short time before the bank forecloses.

Here's the tricky part; once the home has gone into the short sale process, the home owner has very little to say about how much the home will sell for. It's now up to the bank that has loaned the money, or the assets management company. Some are more cooperative than others.

I have experienced banks that get back to you in a few days, and some that get back to you in a few weeks.

There can be long periods of waiting and no communication. The seller is anxious to know if the home is sold. The buyers would like to know if they have a new home, when should they plan on moving, when will the contract be final? Everything is subject to change in a "short sale".
It is not for the faint of heart.

Can you get a good deal? Most often, yes. Occasionally no. Again it depends on the financial institution owed the loan balance.

In a short sale, we can't always get answers to your questions as swiftly as we would like.
Paperwork that somehow got lost, may have to be duplicated and resubmitted more than once.

If you plan on purchasing a home through the short sale process, please be patient. It most likely will take a lot more time to finalize than a traditional private sale.

To View Bank and Lender owned homes, please visit my website for FREE Metro Denver MLS Search
www.PattiSellsColorado.com
Plentz@cherrycreekpros.com