SHORT SALES
Typically, there are at least two Sellers one has to deal with in a short sale. One is the title holder; (The Seller) the other is any lien holder (The Bank). During the negotiating process, the Listing Agent will need to receive approval of any offer from all parties. This can be a very long and tedious process, and will require patience on the part of the Buyers, REALTORS�, and Sellers. During this process, the property will still remain for sale, and during this time period subsequent offers may be considered by the Seller(s). Time is of the essence once the agreement is accepted. If the closing fails to occur by the end of any redemption period, the transaction will be void. Also, the transaction could be void if the homeowner redeems the property during the redemption period.
One reason a short sale can take so long is because of buyer low-balling the asking price.
Banks typically set short sale prices at or near what they need to get out of the mortgage and avoid a foreclosure.
If the asking price is already a great deal, and you love the property, then make a strong or even a full price offer and receive a timely acceptance from the bank.
Otherwise the bank will just sit on your offer to see what other offers will come in until they are forced to make a move and that could take months.
