Short Sales - Good Or Evil?

I had a first time buyer call me yesterday and with his youthful exuberance stated "I have this great condo I'd like to buy ..... and its a short sale." Now, I think first time buyers are great and I don't ever want to dampen their enthusiasm but short sales are difficult for experienced buyers.

When you're on the listing side of a short sale, you at least have the advantage of working with the seller and their lender, and getting on the inside track. Its not always an easy go and often takes great effort and persistence to get to the right person who can actually make the decision at the lender who can authorize and accept the short sale. I was recently at a seminar where there were at least 80 agents who were all working in short sales, and all said the same thing -- "it is taking at least 10 days to 2 weeks just to get to the correct Loss Mitigation Rep, and then you have to contact them every couple days just to stay on top of things." Then once you have an offer, it can be as little as a few days or as many as 6 weeks to even get an answer, IF you get an answer.

On the buyer's side, all you can do is put in the best offer you can, add comps to support your offer, and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait. Many buyers get tired of waiting -- can you blame them?

Why does it take so long? Well, the Loss Mitigation Rep isn't just looking at your offer, they're probably looking at offers from all across the country. And if the offer isn't in the reasonable guidelines they'll accept, they are just plain ignoring them and only working on offers they will.

So in this market, especially here in Las Vegas where the short sale game is predicted to last at least another two years, the advice I'm giving my clients who want to buy a short sale is this ... Don't lowball the price unless there is a good reason to (property condition, lots of other comps supporting the price including other lender-owned repos, etc. If you really want the property, make a decent offer with documentation to support it so the lender will take you seriously and hopefully get you the property you want at prices that haven't been seen in years.

This is a great time to buy property. Interest rates are very low (I bought my first house when interest rates were 13 3/8%). And if you see the house you want, make a good offer on it because the good ones are selling.

If you're interested in purchasing real estate in Las Vegas, don't hesitate to email me at lasvegasexpert@yahoo.com.