Short Sale Primer

I’ve written about short sales fairly extensively on this blog and have actually dealt with short sales and foreclosures more than a lot of my colleagues in Buckhead, Sandy Springs and Dunwoody. I have worked with clients in Buckhead and Sandy Springs who have tried to buy pre-forecosure and REO properties. I’ve seen some very good deals on Buckhead luxury properties.

Although I’ve had some experience with short sales, the whole concept is still a fairly recent phenomenon that requires any Atlanta agent to continually search for more information. I found a great article by the NAR outlining the basics of short sales. Here is an excerpt:

The rapid increase in the number of short sales, and the short sales process itself present a number of challenges for REALTORS®. Major challenges include:

1. Limited experience

Many REALTORS® are new to the short sales process; a difficulty which is compounded by many lenders’ lack of sufficient and experienced staff to process short sales. Even if the REALTORS® are experienced, most servicers are under-staffed and still not adequately trained, making negotiating a short sale particularly difficult.

2. Absence of a uniform process and application

Currently, both short-sales documents and processes are lender-specific, making it very difficult and time-consuming for REALTORS® to become knowledgeable and efficient in facilitating these transactions.

3. Multiple lenders

When more than one lender is involved, the negotiations are much more difficult. Second lien holders often hold up the transaction to exert the largest possible payment, in exchange for releasing their lien, even though in foreclosure they will get nothing.

As a result of these challenges our members have reported difficulties with: unresponsive lenders; lost documents that require multiple submissions, inaccurate or unrealistic home value assessments, and long processing delays, which cause buyers to walk away.

If you would like to see the rest of this article by the NAR, please click here.

I also found a great short sale article at Las Vegas Short Sales.

Related posts:

1. The Perils of Short-Sales
2. Bait and Switch Short Sales
3. Short Sales
4. Atlanta Pre-Foreclosures and Auctions
5. Bank Owned Properties For Sale