Since every lender and every seller’s and buyer’s situation is different, the time can vary from 2 weeks to 90+ days, or anywhere in between, the latter being more common. Beware of too low of a listing price, because some agents are listing the houses too low in an attempt to get a lot of “bids” on the house, resulting in a situation where maybe none will be accepted. This tactic is used to try to get the best “bid” for the house, and then to try to get the lender to counteroffer at the lender’s acceptable sales price. In my opinion, this is wasting a lot of the agent’s and buyer’s time and emotion. If you have ever been a buyer, you know what I mean by emotional time. What an exciting time it is in a person’s life, to buy a home! How disappointing, on the other hand, to find out that you have been mislead, used, strung along, and that you have possibly passed by other opportunities while waiting for this one to finalize.

Also, normally the house is being sold “as-is”, so it is important to get a home inspection. Do not waive the right to do a home inspection. Also, when submitting an offer, the lender of the “Short Sale” will want to see that you have your own loan available and that you are pre-approved. Try to give a time frame to the lender in which to respond, after which you will be free to cancel. If the lender is under no pressure to make a decision, the paperwork may sit on the lender’s desk. A good real estate agent in Auburn, WA, such as myself will make sure that the offer is submitted to the individual who is in a decision-making capacity.

Posted on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 4:54 pm and is filed under Questions and Answers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.