Does anyone have any personal experiences with short sales (good and bad)

[beachgirl66]

I may be opening up a can of worms by asking this question, but my husband and I just started the process of purchasing a short sale a few days ago and I was wondering what your personal experiences were with it. (I am hoping to get some good experiences posted, but I really would like to know what I might encounter.) Any tips? Thanks for any info you could give me.

 

[AndrewG]

You must have a lot of patience. These things can drag on for months with little to no response from the Bank. The bank wont tell your agent much so it seems like an open ended process with your committment on the line.

I would suggest seeing it through if you low balled. Some people get stressed over it but think of the potential savings.

 

[30ashopper]

The odds are good you'll end up paying more compared to the price it will sell for after the bank takes it back.

 

[Em]

The odds are good you'll end up paying more compared to the price it will sell for after the bank takes it back.

...IF it is still available. If it is priced attractively enough, someone may beat you to it.

As said, patience is key. If you are working with a good Realtor, he or she should be able to guide you through the process. Sometimes, they are worth the wait. Banks seem to be more willing to get the properties sold today, than they were a year ago. I've had a few short sales drag out for a long time, and one which closed within 3 weeks from the contract date, so there is a wide range. Some of the mega-banks can be royal pains, but even Bank of America, which is terrible, has improved. They now have an automated process which takes time, but not nearly as much time as they used to when they had Realtors wait on hold for 45 minutes to find out there was no update.

Good luck with your purchase. Again, patience is the key if you really want the property.

 

[Susan and William]

We purchased our home through a short sale. We submitted our offer in May 2009 and finally closed in March 2010. We did not even hear that our offer was accepted until the last week of February 2010. We almost gave up but are now glad that we held out. It was a long process, like others have said, banks don't like to talk to Realtors. We had a great Realtor, title company, and mortgage company that we talked to at least once a week during the process. Unfortunately, the other end of the deal was not so reliable. The previous owner had filed for bankruptcy and it included the house as well as the other p Realtor not submitting paper work correctly that also made the process even longer. I would suggest making sure that all parties involved are on the same page. Best of luck.

 

[beachgirl66]

Thanks everyone. I did ask my realtor what bank would be negotating with and he said Citibank. He said he thought there was only one bank involved. I am going to try to be patient with this. We really do want the property, but I am not sure how willing my husband or I will be able to wait. I think that as long as we can have some idea of where we are in the process at a certain point , it would encourage us to keep waiting. Not knowing anything for months at a time would be frustrating. We did not low ball on the price at all. I guess it is hard to know what to bid that the owners would accept,the bank would accept, and a price that still would be low enough that it would appraise for more that the final price. There are so many variables. I am still trying to think positive on this. My husband has already talked to several friends and aquaintances about it and they are ready to rent it if everything goes through.

 

[gmarc]

beach girl did you make an offer under the asking price on the short sale?if so you could be waiting months for a response and in the meantime other bids higher than yours can come in and you wasted all that time

 

[beachgirl66]

Yes, but not far off of the asking price. Actually pretty close. Does anyone know how we find out if the home we are trying to purchase that is being sold as a short sale actually qualifies as a short sale? If so, how soon can we find out? Or will we not even know that until the bank says yes or no to the offer? This was one question I didn't think to ask when we were signing papers . I sent our realtor an email about it and he hasn't responded yet.

 

[Smiling JOe]

If you are working with a good Realtor, he or she should be talking to you about these things. Pick up the phone and talk to them.

 

[beachgirl66]

I will. I just didn't want to keep bothering him with questions, so I sent it via email a few days ago. Since I haven't received a response I will just call him tomorrow.