short sales (Levittown, Nassau, Hope: foreclosure, attorney, houses)

[TMing]

Hello,
I recently started looking to buy a house in Nassau County and was surprised so many houses were listed as "short sales". My RE agent think they are too risky and time consuming to consider. Have any one had any experiences (good/bad) with a "short sale"? Thank you.

[hotkarl]

More often than not they are a royal pain in the butt.

[Elke Mariotti]

Originally Posted by TMing

Hello,
I recently started looking to buy a house in Nassau County and was surprised so many houses were listed as "short sales". My RE agent think they are too risky and time consuming to consider. Have any one had any experiences (good/bad) with a "short sale"? Thank you.

It sounds as though your RE agent doesn't want to be bothered, because yes, it is more time consuming than a "normal" sale and most agents don't have a clue what exactly is involved in completing a short sale, including the Listing agents, and they can make or break a deal, because they're the ones preparing the package for the lender. And it can take 60-90 days before the bank accepts or rejects your offer. Are you using a Buyer Agent (with written contract), or a Broker/Selling Agent?

So, time consuming, a resounding YES. Risky? In my opinion not any riskier than any other RE purchase, after all, you can have an inspection done to assure yourself of the soundness of the house. And in addition to having an agent who knows what to do, you also need an attorney who is familiar with short sales - most are still learning, along with RE agents, and you want someone who is experienced.
Having said that, if you have to sell a house in order to buy another (possible short sale), then it would be risky, because timing the deal is practically impossible. Unless of course you have a place to stay for an interim period...

Hope this helps somewhat

[TomMoser]

Very good advice from Elke. Many agents do not like short sales because they are a pain and very time consuming. However, if you are patient, you can end up with a good deal (sometimes).

[TMing]

I'm using the same agent who got me my last home. He did a great job for me last time so I trust him. I don't need to sell my house to buy so I can be patient with my search. Thanks for the information Elke.

[AnthonyNYC]

A friend of mine is going through a short sale at the moment. He is going on 4 months already, he says it is a pain in the ass!!!!

[TMing]

Originally Posted by AnthonyNYC

A friend of mine is going through a short sale at the moment. He is going on 4 months already, he says it is a pain in the ass!!!!

Is he getting a good price on the house? From what I read about short sales, banks won't approve the sale unless they get close to market value otherwise they might as well let it foreclose.

[Rachael84]

I'm in contract to buy a house in Levittown that's a short sale. Listed price was 300k, the owners accepted our bid at 275k. The realtor (theirs, she isn't a buyers realtor) told us that the bank would rather take about a 25, 30k cut to a house than have it go into foreclosure. Because if that happens, they won't get nearly as much money out of the deal. She said they'll most likely accept our bid. Even if a bank does reject your bid, you can wait it out and tell them you aren't bidding any higher. Since you're in contract, no one else can bid anyway. Once they realize you won't go any higher, they'll eventually accept it. The realtor told us that's what's happened with some other short sales she's had. You would really need lots of patience if that were the case, since you would be waiting quite a while for the bank to finally accept it.

It's been about 2 months since we put in our bid. We were told the bank is moving faster than usual, so that's good. You just need the patience with a short sale. It's worth it in the end if you get a really good deal like we did. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[TomMoser]

Keep in mind that, just because a home is a short sale does not mean that you are getting it below current market value. It simply means that the bank is willing to let it be sold below what is owed on the mortgage. They will require comps of recent sales to show that it is not being sold below market. So, in my opinion, a buyer should not focus on short sales, but should not dismiss them either. Look at it as you would look at any other home that you may be interested in buying.

[nellid]

I found this post great! We are going to probably put an offer on this house thats in a short sale. The listing price is 199,900. We are going to offer them 180,000. Do you think thats a reasonable offer and if they don't accept it should we go higher? Also, you pointed out if we have a contract no one else can put an offer on the house? How long is an offer good for? Thanks in advance for all the good advice.