Real Estate - Can we talk short-sales?

[Smokin Gator]

I have purchased five or six short sales in the last 14-15 months. Much of what I could offer has already been said... but I want to reiterate one point... if you are under any kind of time restraints, as it sounds like you are, I would be very hesitant to get in on a short sale. The quickest one I had was about 6 weeks. The longest was almost 7 month. I would also strongly advise not to put ANY earnest money down until the bank has accepted all of the terms. What I usually do is put down 10-15 percent within 48 hours of the bank signing the short sale addendum. That much tends to get their attention. Also, if it is with Bank of America, Citimortgage, or Indy Mac I wouldn't even bother. They take forever and through endless roadblocks into the situation.

One very positive aspect of a short sale versus a foreclosure is at least you are pertty much guaranteed to get a clean title. Foreclosures, on the other hand, have gotten to be a real crap shoot. If you don't really know what to look for in the title history it can get ugly!!!

[rizzle]

Originally Posted by Smokin Gator

I have purchased five or six short sales in the last 14-15 months. Much of what I could offer has already been said... but I want to reiterate one point... if you are under any kind of time restraints, as it sounds like you are, I would be very hesitant to get in on a short sale. The quickest one I had was about 6 weeks. The longest was almost 7 month. I would also strongly advise not to put ANY earnest money down until the bank has accepted all of the terms. What I usually do is put down 10-15 percent within 48 hours of the bank signing the short sale addendum. That much tends to get their attention. Also, if it is with Bank of America, Citimortgage, or Indy Mac I wouldn't even bother. They take forever and through endless roadblocks into the situation.

One very positive aspect of a short sale versus a foreclosure is at least you are pertty much guaranteed to get a clean title. Foreclosures, on the other hand, have gotten to be a real crap shoot. If you don't really know what to look for in the title history it can get ugly!!!

Bolded for emphasis. I found one near my house a couple of months ago that I would have bought on the spot. Long story short, Bank of America holds the paper on it, this thing has being in short sale / foreclosure/ auction for 2 years. It has currently been taken off the market...again, because the owner's attorneys are trying to work something out with the bank...again. I would venture a guess that they're holding all the "bad" foreclosures that BoA is accused of against them as a bargaining chip.

I ain't got the time for that shizz.

[colimo]

We bought our house 2 years ago as a short sale,

Biggest issue was time and the back and forth....contract was accepted dec 8, did not close until march 31, day before foreclosure sale which had already been postponed a couple of times, lenders take forever to work through these. and ours was quick by comparison to some others.

expect the unexpected, as in additional $$ for something or other, once we had the deal done with the seller and 1st mortgage lender, the title company discovered a second mortgage on the property, who even though they would have been foreclosed out, refused to release unless they got something...ended up doing a 3 way split (us and both realtors) of a nominal amount just to get the deal done.

Do not let the sellers agent or yours talk you or force you into using a "3rd party short sale negotiator" such as an outfit called "BGS3" they dont know what they are doing, are a rip off (you pay part of their fee in closing costs) and actually end up raising the price.

All that said, it can be a good deal.,,good luck

[Ratters]

Originally Posted by colimo

expect the unexpected, as in additional $$ for something or other, once we had the deal done with the seller and 1st mortgage lender, the title company discovered a second mortgage on the property, who even though they would have been foreclosed out, refused to release unless they got something...ended up doing a 3 way split (us and both realtors) of a nominal amount just to get the deal done.

Had the exact same thing with mine, though the bank (BofA) actually approved it in a month, but it was the third go around with people dropping out with the wait. Day before closing found out there was a second, even though I asked, and they wanted $3k to approve. Ended up splitting it with the realtor and seller. But other than that mine went really smooth and I love the hell out of the house. One nice thing about short sales is the houses are still lived in and cared for. I looked at a lot of forclosures but they were all beat to hell or ransacked. Good luck on finding something you like.

[althekillr]

Any recommendations on the best resource(s) to find short or foreclosed residential real estate in any specific location?

most are location specific. the national companies don't do a good job. if you are in a state where foreclosureradar.com covers, they are very good and reasonably priced. realtytrac is junk.