A Short Sale Undertaking… But Don’t Be Afraid! I’m Not!

I’ve had some easy and difficult experiences with Short Sales this year… It can be very challenging working with financial institutions controlling these properties, but it can also be very rewarding. It is not only the banks but the individuals across the table that bring difficulty towards reaching closure.

My buyers were patient (thank you so very much) and understood the hurdles we needed to achieve to get this process resolved. If you don’t have the understanding by your clients, this process can be very daunting. Once my clients found the home of their choice we needed make an offer to satisfy the seller and to protect my buyer. We addressed the time commitment in the offer, we had received acceptance from the seller but needed acceptance from the financial institution. We noted that if the acceptance took greater than a month by the institution, we could withdraw with no penalty or could extend at my client’s discretion. That being said, we began our next step in determining whether we should move forward with the purchase. A home inspector was hired to address the home’s condition. In most cases, this is completed after offer is accepted and prior to P&S (Purchase & Sales Agreement), but we needed to understand if this home was worth waiting for the bank’s approval. Fortunately, it was worth the wait with only a few issues needing to be addressed. Having the right person handling your purchase and working for you is very important. I know I was prepared to do what is necessary for my client and that involved far more than was expected, but at the end of the day it was well worth it. I stayed on top of the seller’s agent and had to make multiple calls to the seller’s mortgage companies (yes two of them, one that I was not aware of until half way through). We were not made aware of a second mortgage on the property, but my working past as a negotiator and in problem resolution helped get both mortgage companies on the same page and they eventually conceded releasing the property from liens. My Buyer Client closed on the property a few weeks later. We utilized a very good mortgage professional to provide a well documented Pre-Approval letter at the start of this engagement and my client’s bank was able to use this letter to help get a mortgage in place.

It is very important that you work with your Realtor/Real Estate Agent to understand what you can afford, get a pre-approval letter to further understand your financial position and to understand P.I.T.I. (Principal, Interest, Tax & Insurance). If you have a good REALTOR®, they will work hard for your interests and in some cases challenge what you perceive to be what you want. We know that your looking for the perfect home, but knowing that should stop you from looking at properties outside your comfort zone, you may end up finding a home that is the diamond in the rough!