Patience and Time Equals Success on Short Sales

Short Sales: much has been written about them. From my personal experience on the listing side of a short sale, they are not for the faint-hearted – either as sellers or as buyers. Depending on the lender, the time is much different than in a normal sale for closing time, number of accepted offers, and communication with lender. Time is anywhere from 60 to 180+ days, the number of accepted offers, well we now have 4 and still accepting others, and the communication with the lender is very one-sided. My patience has been tested when speaking with the lender because I am continually told to call back in x amount of days, but on that appointed day, I am told “no status update” and call back in x amount of days–a little like “Groundhog Day”.

Bottom line: if you have a specific close date, if you require answers within a reasonable amount of time, and if you think that you should be the only accepted offer — Short Sales –RUN the other way.