See below on the short sale question.... and other similar questions you may have down the road on the types of sales you'll see in this market.

re: best kind of water, it's personal preference... but usually people dont let them deter them from buying a certain home, what comes with their home is what they get. If you don't like the taste of either, you can add a water purifier/softener on either type of system. Both have chemicals. With public it is maintained for you, and constantly monitored, and you pay for that on a monthly basis. With well water, you are responsible for maintaining and monitoring, but the water is free.

HI Warren,

A short sale in real estate is where the seller is selling the property for less than what they owe their bank. They have to ask their bank to take a loss on the sale. With about a 90% failure rate, only about 10% of short sales actually work out & the average time to do so, takes about 4 months. With tens of thousands of "legitimate" properties for sale, you're probably better off buying a property directly from the bank or from a private seller that is not in a short sale status. Now, if you've found the perfect property that another comparable property like it does NOT exist, and you have an extended amount of patience and are willing to pay 90%-100% of market value for the property, then a short sale may be acceptable for you. For more information about short sales, commonly called pre-foreclosures, I invite you to visit this page on my website. http://www.CheapPhoenixHomes.com/preforeclosures .

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PAUL WELDEN
HomeSmart
Buyer's Agent REALTOR