Anyone buy a short sale property?

[LoveTrains]

Just wondering if anyone on here has any experience buying a short sale property. How long did it take to hear back from the bank, etc.

We put in an offer on one and the sellers have accepted it. They are now bundling up everything to submit it to the bank. Just wondering if we should be prepared to wait 60 days, 90 days, or more!

[melmo1122]

i did 3 years ago. made my offer on dec 5 2008, seller accepted that night, closed on feb 20th.

my realtor HOUNDED their realtor/the banks to find out the status.

edited to add that i closed on feb 20th 2009, not that it took 3 years to close haha i wouldn't have the patience to wait that long.

[vegas]

We were outbid on a short sale back in October, 2011. The short sale is still pending with an anticipated close date of August 15, 2012. This is the 5th time the closing has been pushed back according to redfin. Another house we were interested in went off the market in December, 2011 before we had the chance to offer. The house is still pending with an anticipated close date of October 20, 2012.

Expect to wait a LONG time, sometimes even 6+ months or more. Be pleasently surprised if it goes through faster. There are a lot of factors that will determine the length of time between the acceptance of the offer by the buyer and the bank's acceptance/close date. With the second house I referenced, the sellers were going through a divorce and on the verge of bankruptcy and didn't want to financially contribute to the sale--something a bank often requires as a condition to acceptance of the deal. Plus there were 40K worth of liens on the property that had to be negotiated.

These short sales can be huge headaches, but if you know that ahead of time you won't be as disappointed with the process.

[LoveTrains]

Well we have a clause that we can cancel our contract after 60 days if we haven't heard back, so at least there is that. I fully anticipate waiting a while and we have a month to month lease on our current house, so time isn't really a factor here. I actually think the house is a really good deal - its in our target neighborhood and our offer was $50K under asking. But I definitely won't count my chickens before they are hatched.

[vegas]

Yep, the 60 day cancelation clause in short sale purchase contracts is extremely common in our area too. I guess the hard part comes when you really love a place but realize that you need to either (a) wait it out a lot longer than anticipated, or (b) walk away. I do love that clause though because it means I can keep my eye on the market for something better to come along.

I'd say at least 70% of houses on the market are short sales here so we've just come to the realization that if we ever find a house we love, we'll still have to wait months to make it ours.

I have heard of short sales moving really fast, especially when there's only one bank involved. Hopefully yours will be quick and painless!! Congrats, it sounds like a great find!

[kangaroo11]

Jun 20, 2012 16:47:04 GMT -5 melmo1122 said:

i did 3 years ago. made my offer on dec 5 2008, seller accepted that night, closed on feb 20th.

my realtor HOUNDED their realtor/the banks to find out the status.

edited to add that i closed on feb 20th 2009, not that it took 3 years to close haha i wouldn't have the patience to wait that long.

This is very similar to my experience (also 3 years ago!). Our realtor worked really hard to get the deal done and it only took a few months total because he was on their butts every day.

[sillygoosegirl]

We're almost 2 months into the process. There is only one lender, so it should go relatively fast. But still, it could be many more months. We haven't heard a peep from the bank. We aren't under any obligation, so if something we like better comes on the market, we can walk away. I don't have much hope for that though... there's really nothing else on the market that we like AT ALL, so I suppose it's just as well to have the hope of getting this house someday. The waiting really sucks. I think DH is getting pretty sick of hearing 10x per day about how much I love that house and can't wait to own it. Also, we want to plan an extended vacation for this fall, and I don't feel like I can buy tickets yet because the bank could get back to us while we are out of the country. And we really want to take the trip before I get pregnant. I could go on and on. Ugh.

My real estate agent says there is absolutely nothing she can do to make the process go faster. I don't know that I trust her though (a feeling that's been growing for a while). If we decide to look at other houses, we're getting a different agent.

[mbcdefg]

We bid on one and our offer was accepted immediately, then we sat around for six months with very little progress. We finally canceled the deal because we had been looking around in the meantime and found better properties for our money.

However, friends of ours closed on their short sale house within 90 days.

It's a complete crapshoot. I personally wouldn't consider it unless you have a lot of patience and if you can stay where you're currently living without a solid move-out date.

[kangaroo11]

Jun 20, 2012 19:26:32 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

Dumb question: is there a reason why a seller wouldn't accept an offer? I mean, does it financially benefit them to take a higher offer?

And congrats! I can't wait to hear all about it. :-)

We offered less than asking price, which the seller accepted. The banks wanted more and would not budge, so we had to agree or walk (we agreed, and got them to fix termite damage in return).

[7costanza]

Jun 20, 2012 19:26:32 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

Dumb question: is there a reason why a seller wouldn't accept an offer? I mean, does it financially benefit them to take a higher offer?

And congrats! I can't wait to hear all about it. :-)

The bank is more likely to accept a higher offer, so its in the sellers best interest to get as much as they can for the bank. If they accept a low offer just to be rid of it, the house goes to pending and the seller could lose other potential buyers that might be willing to pay more.

[LoveTrains]

Jun 20, 2012 19:26:32 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

Dumb question: is there a reason why a seller wouldn't accept an offer? I mean, does it financially benefit them to take a higher offer?

And congrats! I can't wait to hear all about it. :-)

Well the offer was $50K less than asking, so I wasn't sure if they would! and the house was only on the market for just over a month. We had to take out the seller paid closing costs from the offer, but then they reduced the counter by the amount we had for closing.

Jenny, I sent you the picture/listing on FB! I will pm it to you.

And I will also pm you my email so we can plan a possible GTG when I am in Seattle July 9 - 16.

We actually haven't signed the counter offer yet, we are also seeing another house tomorrow afternoon - the new house just came on the market this morning that is worth a look. But its on a wicked busy road, so though the house looks awesome, I don't think I am sold on the location.

[Deleted]

We did and it took several months.

[brit1017]

No personal experience, but 2 friends have. One made an offer in June and closed a year later in June. The other put in an offer in Jan and it was sent to the bank in the beginning of Feb. They are still waiting to hear back from the bank.