Zillow Advice: Buying Foreclosures - need help understanding short sale homes?

I am a negotiator for short ...

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:36:00 GMT

I am a negotiator for short sales for one of the nations largest banks/servicers. Pretty much you have to shwo you have a financial hardship in order to qualify. What do you need help understanding

A short sale is when a home ...

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:55:00 GMT

A short sale is when a home owner is in some sort of financial hardship. The home owner is trying to avoid foreclosure on their property by asking their lender to allow them to sell their home to try to save some of their credit and interest in the property. With that being said the lender must agree to allow the owner to sell the property but the owner has no say in how much the property will sell for. Then lender must approve all offers and this can be a timely process.

Also when looking at short sales you are expected to have the property inspected before you make your offer. This can also be a costly process because you will need to pay for the water, electric turned on, and if its oil heat you will need to have the tanks filled. If the property does not meet your expectations then you would have blow some money on a home inspection. The lender will not allow owner or will lender spring for a cost to sell the home. That being said if the home does need work you will need to pay for that since the bank will not pay and they will not allow the owner to pay either.

Short sales are good if you have money to make repairs and your a handy person. If you have any other questions feel free to contact me or check out my blog a have several topics pertaining to this.

Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

raarodriguez, please ignore ...

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:52:00 GMT

raarodriguez, please ignore that last comment as the realtor probably didn't make notice that you posted this in the buying section.

Make sure you utilizing a buyer's agent and a loan officer who are both familiar with short sales. Typically it will take weeks to months for your offer to be accepted or rejected and should they choose your offer they will want you to be able to close within just a few weeks.

As a suggestion, Have the inspection done and completed before you pay to have an appraisal done. If the property comes back needing repairs (and 99% of the time the seller's bank will refuse to make repiars or give credits for those repairs) you will be only be out of the cost of an inspection.

Best of Luck to you with home shopping!

It is always important to ...

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:35:00 GMT

It is always important to include a hardship letter to lender as to why you are selling for less than owed. JillyG

A short sale is when you ...

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:57:00 GMT

A short sale is when you put an offer in on a home for less than what's owed on it. The current lender for that property would have to agree on accepting the lessor amount - A realtor would be a great start in helping you locate some available properties - Good luck - now is a great time to buy - you can get some really good deals! Hope this helps!