Buying A Home – Learn These Short Sale Tips Before You Buy One

The term short sale refers to a situation where a home is marketed for less than the homeowner’s outstanding balance on the mortgage. Sellers in this predicament are trying to avoid a foreclosure. In some instances, a seller may have already defaulted on the mortgage.

Don’t be fooled by the low market price of a home in this situation since they aren’t always the best financial deal. The seller could have bought the home at the high point of the cycle and paid more than they should have, or the current real estate market may have forced property values to take a nose dive. As a homebuyer, you also need to be aware of extra costs not included in the properties selling price.

One big problem you face in a short sale is having to wait patiently for the lender to accept your offer, especially since they’re taking a loss on the property. The lender must weigh the benefits of accepting your offer versus continuing to let the property go to foreclosure.

Unfortunately, waiting to hear from a bank can take several months, regardless if the seller accepts your offer immediately. Expect the entire process to take a while with no guarantee the bank will accept the deal, especially if the seller has been frantically advertising the home for significantly less than what’s owed on the loan.

After evaluating all the possible consequences, you’re still prepared to proceed with trying to buy one, make sure you choose a Realtor competent in this area. The first step your agent needs to do is find out how much the seller owes the lender, if it’s significantly higher than what you’re prepared to pay, the bank won’t accept your deal.

Your agent also needs to investigate if there are multiple loans against the property. If additional ones exist, your agent will need the cooperation of all lenders to approve the deal. The more lenders involved, the less likely your deal will be approved since most lenders won’t forfeit their interest in the property without some compensation to make up for their losses. To find out if multiple lenders exist, just have your agent pull the deed to the property.

Before pursuing a short sale, make it a point to ask your agent to contact the seller’s agent and find out what preliminary short sale steps have already been taken. A bank will only consider accepting a short sale if the seller can document they are in financial straits. The fact of the matter is a short sale can’t be finalized without the approval of the bank. Unless you’re not in a hurry to buy a house, you want to be sure the seller has confirmed with the bank a short sale is a viable option. There’s no point in wasting time pursuing a property if you’re convinced the odds of having the bank accept a short sale are nearly impossible.

Are you searching out Irvine homes for sale? Use these local Irvine Realtors to help you locate one.