In an earlier post, Foreclosure/REO/bank-owned or short sale?, about the Prescott and Prescott Valley foreclosure and short sale markets, I was amazed to find how few short sales were actually closing in the Quad-City area.
After doing some more research on this, it seems that some agents are taking short sales without the right skill sets, and others, I know this may sound cynical, are actually pricing homes BELOW what the bank would actually take.
While I used to shy away from short sales, now there are 10 questions that I ask the listing agent before my clients and I craft their offer:
- Who initiated the short sale?
- Has the homeowner stopped making payments on the property?
- Has the bank received the seller’s short sale package including hardship letter and have they approved the homeowner for a short sale in writing?
- How was the listing price arrived at (BPO, CMA), and has the bank approved it
- Are there any subordinate lien holders? Have all lien holders agreed to short sale?
- Is their Primary Mortgage Insurance (PMI) on the 1st mortgage?
- Have you received any other offers, and has a loss mitigator been assigned to the case?
- How long do you estimate the loss mitigator will take to respond to our offer?
- Has the loss mitigator ordered another BPO yet? When will they?
- When is the scheduled the trustee’s sale? Has the bank postponed it in writing?
Now with the information from these questions, my buyers and I can create a more comprehensive offer, or decide to punt and go on to the next one without wasting any time or emotional distress.
Thanks to blog.franklyrealty.com for the:
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