Frustration, thy name is short sale

Short sales, pre-foreclosures whatever you want to call them, ugh!

As a buyer's agent give me a foreclosure any day of the week over a pre-foreclosure or short sale.

After months with hundreds of short sales on the market in Sarasota, Bradenton and Palmetto you would think the lending companies would have a good system in place for quick responses.

Not so.

It still takes 45 to 90 days just a get a response from the lender and even then it might be just to say basically they are working on it.

For those out there who don't know, a short sale or pre-foreclosure home for sale is one basically where the seller is trying to sell the property for less then they owe the lender and they want the lender to forgive the debt.

The seller is hoping the lender will agree to this and that neither party will have to go to foreclosure.

Buyer's often think the lenders will jump at any offer and respond quickly. Wrong.

Lenders often have a hard time just tracking down who owns the paper on the debt that has been sold many times over to investors possibly in far flung places.

Add to this a stack a mile high on the desk of the negotiators for the lender and you get the picture.

For buyer's here is my advice. Unless you are willing to wait four to six months for a response that may be negative (lenders may even come back with a counter higher than the list price) stay away from short sales.

Lenders tend to respond quickly to foreclosures and of course there is still the good ole normal seller who can afford just to sell their house in this market at a reasonable price.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com