Buying a short sale home can potentially land you a deal of a lifetime. It can be a long drawn out process but if you can mange to hang in there until the end, chances are that you’ll be glad you did.
Our brokerage specializes in doing short sales for distressed homeowners and I can’t tell you how many times we’ve lost buyers potential buyers because they get tired of waiting on the lenders.
The flip side to that is we’ve also had many clients that were willing to hang in there and see it through to the end. By doing so they ended up with a heck of a deal.
If you’re one of those people willing to stay the course throughout a short sale process, then here are some tips that might help see you through.
1- Enlist the help of an Orlando short sale specialist.
An experienced short sale realtor can quickly provide you a list of all the properties that are listed as short sales in the area that you’re interested in. They can also advise you on negotiating an offer. “Short sale specialists” can easily be found on Google.
Interview at least three realtors and ask them to provide you with references from past clients.
2-Do A Title Search
It would be wise to do a title search to find out how many liens are on the property. In a short sale, each lien holder must be dealt with and satisfied before you can close on a property.
Your realtor should be able to help you with this because if they close a lot of deals with the same title company then they should be willing to provide a quick title search either free of charge or at least at a discounted rate. Title searches usually cost between $200-$300.
3-Be Patient
There are many moving parts in a short sale but there are two main things that need to happen. The sellers must first agree to your offer, then the lender must also agree to the offer.
There’s a whole lot of paperwork going back-and-forth between the sellers and the lender which can sometimes take several months to process depending on who the lender is. If there are second and third lien holders, it can take even more time.
4-Have Your Financing Ready To Go
It’s always best to offer cash in these transactions. This will capture the lenders attention and your offer may get accepted even over a higher offer that depends on financing. However for most people, paying cash for a property is not an option. The next best thing is to be pre-approved by a lender to make sure you can close quickly.
