Short sales aren't for everyone, but there's often a significant amount of money to be made when buying a property from a lender before a home has been foreclosed. So even though they can be frustrating experiences, short sales may be worth checking into as one of your real estate investment avenues. Here are a few suggestions for successfully negotiating short sales owners and lenders.
First, if you approach the home owners sympathetically, you'll have a much higher percentage of success. Remember, they're in a financial bind, otherwise they wouldn't be facing foreclosure and the potential destruction of their credit rating, so when you talk with them about putting together a short sale, bear that in mind. You're going to need their help throughout the process, so be as gentle and understanding as possible. After all, once the short sale is completed, their loan will show on their credit report as paid, rather than being a huge negative mark against their credit score. There will be a notation on their report that indicates the home was sold for less than the original loan amount, but it's better than foreclosure.
Also, remember that a short sale is being negotiated while the foreclosure clock is ticking. You have to move relatively quickly if you want the sale to be complete before a sheriff sale or public auction is held. (There are some lenders that will halt the foreclosure process until a short sale has been completed or rejected, but that's not always true, so don't assume the clock will stop ticking just because you're involved in a short sale negotiation.)
You'll generally have to work fairly closely with the home owners to construct a strong hardship letter and to compile all the various things a lender will ask for, such as pay stubs, bank statements, and personal finance information. Lender requirements will vary, but all of them will require a sales contract between you and the homeowners. They'll also want to see a broker's price opinion (BPO) before they decide whether or not to accept your short sale offer.
The earlier you can step into the foreclosure process, the better, because you want to be able to help the home owners to jump through all the various hoops in time to close the short sale before the foreclosure date. Generally, 90 days will be enough time, but there are always variables, and the things lenders can ask for can often be frustrating and time-consuming.
Your goal should be to seek out properties in which the owners have little or no equity. Your chances of completing a short sale will increase if there's not much profit to be made if the lender should decide to go through with the foreclosure process. If there's a wide spread, the lender might do better to foreclose and sell the property as a repossessed home at a price closer to its market value.
Again, they're not for everyone, but short sales can often make a significant profit if you're willing to work closely with stressed homeowners and the sometimes arbitrary demands of lenders.
Copyright ? 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher
Jeanette Fisher teaches beginning real estate investors how to make money in any real estate market fixing and flipping houses.
Free ebooks on flipping houses and podcasts of How to Buy with Nothing Down at http://doghousetodollhouse.com/realestate.htm
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