Why do they call it a short sale if it takes so long?!

It’s true - the short sale process can get you the deal of a lifetime, but you have to have the time and patience to wait out the process. 

In a traditional home sale, the buyer makes an offer to the seller.  The seller might counter-offer, the buyer and seller might go back and forth for a couple of days negotiating the terms and arguing over the basketball hoop, but the entire process really only involves the buyer and the seller, along with their respective agents.

A short sale is a whole different game.  There is no face to the negotiation - only a frustrated buyer and a person, or team of persons, sitting in an office somewhere, crunching numbers and apparently taking very long lunch breaks. 

The buyer is hoping to move in, make the house their home, and live happily ever after.  The seller is hoping to get out of a mortgage they can’t handle, for whatever reason.  The lender has to figure out how much of the orignal loan(s) to swallow.  This situation is even further complicated when there are second and third mortgages with different lenders, each of whom wants their piece of the pie.

It’s a mess, but I do have to admit that I have seen short sales get approved with increasing speed lately.  Some lenders have figured out ways to expedite the short sale approval process, and some are letting properties go for unbelievable prices, and even offering concessions including down payment and closing cost assistance!  Every situation is different, and when you make an offer you will have no idea how long you will have to wait for an answer to your offer, be it a counter, an approval, or even a rejection.

I had one listing agent tell me the other day that I should avoid all short sales, including her listing, which I had called to submit an offer on!  This doesn’t make sense, even in today’s mortgage meltdown aftermath!

So, go ahead, shop the short sales - there is certainly no shortage of them in the Denver Metro area - but be prepared for a lengthy, sometimes frustrating process.  It’s the process that could lead to your next home.