Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I hope someone can help calm my fears, but I doubt it. I live in Youngstown, about an hour from Cleveland. My fiance and I have been house shopping but have HATED every house- but one. It has only been on the market three days and we instantly made an offer. Turns out it was a Short Sale. This is the first time I ever heard the term, and of course, it's with the house I HAVE TO HAVE. I am willing to even pay full price, but I was told that doesn't make a difference, that I have to wait 60-90 days to get an answer as to my offer. That means that other people will have time to make offers on this hot property too. I thought maybe I'll call the mortgage company and see what can be done, but they're out of business for the insane re-fi's they were giving people (which is why these sellers are upside-down too in the loan).
What can I do?! 3 MONTHS to get an answer- that is INSANE! How do I ensure I get the house and not someone else? It has a taxed assesed value of $93,000 and the asking price is $83,000. I'm a first time homeowner so I have NO idea what the heck is this is all about but it's VERY upsetting.
Thank you for taking the time to listen to me. It seems silly, but to me this house is everything...
Short sales are run by bank. Bank wont do any repairs, wont negotiate (well barely) and take forever. Always expect a long long time to complete a short sale. If you have the time, then deal with it. If not, move on. Short sales are risky. Usually means the owner left in a hurry (aka did not keep up with house). Not recommended for First time buyer. Im a 2nd time buyer, and looking to buy. I normally stay away from short sales.
I don't agree with short sale are a waste of time..We did one last year and are very happy with the short sale!
The only thing is that you shouldn't get too emotionally attached to this home since things can happen...the owners can get a refi offered, another person can come in with a higher offer, but you go and make a higher offer as well, unless the realtor isn't disclosing it when he is caught up with another buyer who is a friend or family member or a realtor...which we have seen over here...but politics are every where....so is karma.
Good Luck and i hope you put in the contract that it is contigent on a home inspection and "as is" on the day of you making the offer....make sure you make pictures of the inside with a date on it...if later the inside get's trashed you have a way to get out!
The listing realtor said if we make a full price bid, she will pull the home off the market and just wait to see if the bank accepts my offer. I guess the reason is that there's not a lot of money in it for agents and she doesn't want to have a lot of work/hassel for a few hundred bucks. That's good I suppose. But what about the homeowners? You think they'll be able to work something out so it doesn't get sold? Thanks!
The house is either going to sell at a short sale or go to foreclosure. The homeowners are going to lose the home regardless.
Usually folks try loan modifications before they head down the path of short sale. The tax assessed value is not really worth anything in many markets so I wouldn't use that for anything personally.
A short sale is when the bank agrees to not have the seller pay back the full mortgage so that the seller can clear the title and hand you the keys. How long the short sale takes to process depends on how many lenders are involved, whether or not their is PMI, and who the lender is. Local lenders tend to work faster than the big guys like Wells Fargo, Countrywide, etc.
You can't call the mortgage company because they won't talk to you. The loan is the seller's personal and confidential information. Listing agents have to get a release to talk to the bank on behalf of the seller. You will just have to cool your heels and wait.
Its in the hands of the listing agent. If they know what they are doing then they know how to screen sellers for true hardships, know how to put the short sale packet together, and are organized. Buyer's have very little control over anything in a short sale purchase.
There is no reassuring you because you have no control over what the bank does. Either you accept that as fact and wait, or you do what many buyers do and walk away. Purchasing a short sale requires a certain temperament...patience is not a trait that many people have.
The listing realtor said if we make a full price bid, she will pull the home off the market and just wait to see if the bank accepts my offer. I guess the reason is that there's not a lot of money in it for agents and she doesn't want to have a lot of work/hassel for a few hundred bucks. That's good I suppose. But what about the homeowners? You think they'll be able to work something out so it doesn't get sold? Thanks!
The chances are higher with a full offer but we never would do that...there are more houses for sale. We made a lower offer and the bank or realtor (I guessed the last one since he was the sellers husband) countered back and we denied, but told him we would still be there if the "bank/realtor" changed their mind....we closed for our offer amount and the seller took a judgment to be able to close and walk away so she has still to pay a certain amount.
There are short sales that I never would make an offer on...
One is listed for $ 149K the owner paid $ 230 K and told me he now has an offer for $ 110K and they will go and start the procedure...nice but the buyer has to pay a deposit and has to be willing to go way up. The owner has a very good job with a nice salary and can afford his mortgage and has no liens yet. He is going to start to stop his mortgage payments since he wants to move to a bigger home and is moving soon.
Why would a bank take the fall for some one who can afford it, didn't loose his job and just wants to walk away....no way this is going to close and btw he doesn't want to take a judgment...just walk away and let the bank take the hit!
We just submitted a short sale offer a while back on one our listings. The lender was Countrywide and they required about 77 pages of financial info, the contract, etc. Which had to be faxed and they would not accept us emailing to someone.
We talked to the Countrywide Rep and he told us the faxed offer was going to a 1-800 number being received in India for processing. It takes 7 days just to get it in the system since they are receiving over 30,000 sets of documents a day.
After our week, we called to see if it was in the system and they informed us " no it had been trashed since not every page did not have the file number on each page". They could have told us that in the beginning
So we write the file number on every page and re fax the 77 pages. Now we have to wait the 7 days just to see if they got it in the system.
Wow, what a mess but it should be worth it for this buyer. They can pick up a $480k house for $100k less if they will be patient.
Short sales are total gambles.
It can take 90 days, longer even, and a lot don't even come through. Sometimes the bank won't take anywhere near the list price.
Make your offer, try not to obsess, and move on and keep looking.
I am in an area where my price range is almost exclusively short sales (Virginia DC suburbs).
Had a similar experience as you. Did 4 long days of looking, saw probably 40+ houses, tried to stay positive but they were just horrible--really beat up, poor construction to start with, undesirable neighborhoods.
Then I found "the house." A short sale, saying 60 days to answer. I put in my offer, and for a week or so I could hardly sleep I was so worried. However, by the time the offer came back (4.5 months later!) I was over it. In that time the market weakened a bit, more came onto the market, I'd had better house offers come and go.
Of the many short sale offers I made:
- all that I know of were multi-bidders
- 2 came back significantly higher than their list price
- 2 said I had it under contract and eventually sold to others for well over the list price
- 1 the owner was able to salvage
- 1 came back 4.5 months later with a relatively reasonable counter
- several just sort of vanished in bank negotiations
I now have a conventional sale under contract.
What I learned is that short sales are a huge gamble, as so much can go wrong, but worth the try to throw in your offer and see what happens. It is so hard not to fixate, but really, there is just nothing you can do to make it a sure thing.
The hard part for me is that negotiating over a many-month span is difficult and not productive for either party. In that time period the market, the neighborhood, and the buyer can evolve. It's like trying to have a conversation or watch a movie over a few months--no continuity at all.
Good luck! I hope it works out for you. Someone is going to end up with each of these houses.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
