Thinking Of Purchasing A Short Sale? Read This

During the first half of 2009 realtors and consumers were bombarded with advice that purchasing a property in a short sale transaction from the lenders was a quick way to acquire property at a dramatic discount.   Realtors in particular were treated to one seminar or help book after another which promised to teach them all the secrets they need to know in order to make big money in these transactions.

The volume of these pitches and solicitations has certainly died down over the last several months as nearly everyone involved in the industry has come to realize that short sales are incredibly time consuming and frustrating and more often than not, they don’t get closed.   The reason these deals don’t get closed are because the lenders holding mortgages on properties are unable or unwilling to accept short sale offers that result in losses and it takes too much time to coordinate the payoffs and releases from the lenders, brokers and homeowner.   As the weeks go by with no firm answers, buyers lose patience and walk away from the transaction.

A far more efficient way to purchase properties that were subject to foreclosure is to wait until the foreclosure has been completed then contract directly with the lender who obtained the property at the foreclosure sale.   Records obtained from the Pinellas County Clerk of Court indicate that there were 417 foreclosure sales scheduled in Pinellas County during the period June 1 to July 1, 2009.   Some of these sales might have been canceled for one reason or another, but for most sales that did occur, the banks obtained title to the property at the conclusion of the sale.

When banks are taking back hundreds of properties a month, its far easier to negotiate sales on the bank owned properties than to deal with all the hassles and frustrations of short sale transactions.