If you haven’t noticed, Short Sale houses are everywhere these days. They account for nearly half of all real estate transactions this year alone. Most of the time a Short Sale’s listed price is competative or a little below market value. Short Sales can definitley be “More for your money”.

If you choose to persue, and ultimately buy, a Short Sale there are some things to be aware of. By definition a Short Sale is Real Estate that is being sold for less than what is owed to one or more lenders. Because of this not only does  the seller have to agree to the price you offer on their property but all the lenders have to agree to take less than what they are owed. Here is what you should know about the Short Sale process from the beginning.

Be sure you are Pre-Approved by your lender before you begin looking for houses. You must submit a Pre-Approval letter with your offer. 

A good solid offer is 80% of what the seller owes to the lenders. Ask your Realtor to help you obtain loan information. Offering too low will only prolong the process and may cause you to lose the contract.

Be patient, most Short Sales take upwards of 90 days, some as long as 6 months to complete. Constant calls to the seller’s agent do not speed up the process.

Don’t wait on only one house, continue to look for other houses to buy. You may find another house that you like better and you can cancel your initial Short Sale offer any time, prior to acceptance by the lenders, for any reason. 

There are NO WARRANTIES on Short Sales. The house is sold AS IS. The lenders will not fix anything and usually the sellers cannot afford to fix it either. What you see is what you get so make sure you can afford to fix what you may want fixed. You can pay for a home warranty at closing (highly recommended). Most home warranty companies cover all major parts of the home (A/C, plumbing, electrical, etc.) for one year with an inexpensive service fee.

Expect the unexpected. This is just the nature of the game when buying a Short Sale. Be prepared for anything and you will be just fine. Buying a Short Sale can be stressful but if you know what to expect it will be easier to handle.  Remember as a Realtor I am trained to handle all types of Real Estate transactions. Let me do the hard work. I have two excellent Home Warranty Companies I can suggest. Please leave a comment or question. Thanks!