Jody,

If a "degree of difficulty" were associated with the three major real estate transactions it might look something like this............

1. traditional sale...................easily done under normal circumstances

2. foreclosure............also relatively easy, but dealing with a bank can be unusual and entertaining

3. short sale..........very, very difficult, insensitive, time consuming, frustrating, difficult and often worthy of considering other options. There can be relatively smooth S.S. transactions.......however, this is not the norm but the exception.....

Jody,

To give you the short answer--"a property is a SHORT sale because it needs to be sold, and the mortgage on the property is more than the value of the property--therefore it is "short" on money. That said, when the owner is at least two months behind on their payments, they can ask the bank to accept less. If the bank agrees, it becomes a "short" sale. The owner lists it with a realtor of their choosing, and negotiates a sale with a buyer just like normal. The normalcy ends there. After the seller and the buyer agree on the price, which is agreed to "subject to lender approval", the offer goes to the bank. The banks seem to be in no hurry to make a decision, and they generally wait for numerous offers to be put on the table, then look at all the offers and take the "highest and best" which is not necessarily the highest price. Generally offers with contingencies don't get accepted by the bank, so you will want to have your financing in order and provide proof of funds when you make the offer.

If time is an issue for you, you may not want to go down that road--foreclosures can be faster and easier, and both short sale and foreclosure are "as is" sales, which means you do not have the protections of warranted items in the house, although you can purchase home warranty plans to take effect at closing, which I would highly recommend.

I hope this helps, and if I can be of any more assistance please feel free to contact me.

Myke Triebold
MykeSaysSold@aol.com
850-305-6256 http://www.DestinHomeRealtor.com

Short Sale =Trouble+money + time

Rule one Short Sales are not SHORT. I have seen a bank come back in 6 month and want the buyer to close.

What it means.
Seller of a property wants to sell, but they owe more moneys to the banks (1 and 2nd) than they are
going to get from the sale (this is called upside down or underwater)


So while they want to sell they need "3rd party approval" to sell as 3rd parties are going take less than they are owed.

Many of the Realtors I know refuse to do short sales as it only gets they buyers mad at them. I am in one now and the buyer is getting mad. We are trying to get the bank to answer but they won't talk to any of us - even the listing broker.

Give me a call and I can explain more and how you might go about it.

John

.352978-4539