Are you surprised that many buyers avoid short sales? It's true. Why? Read on...
As you may know, a short sale occurs when a homeowner, who owes more on their home than it's currently worth, decides to sell. They attempt to get their lender(s) to accept less on the property than the outstanding loan balance(s). For the lender(s) to consider accepting less than is owed on the property, quite a bit of "stuff" must happen. Going into detail on all that "stuff" is beyond the scope of this blog post (see related links below to learn more), but believe me, it can take many weeks... and sometimes many months.
So, if it takes from many weeks to many months to successfully complete a short sale, then why would a buyer want to take that long to buy a home when a non-short sale home could take much less time (usually only from 30-45 days)? The answer is why many buyers would prefer to avoid them all together... it just takes too long.
In addition, there's no guarantee that the lender(s) will even agree to accept less than is owed and complete the short sale. It's not uncommon for many weeks or months to go by, all the while the buyer is anxiously waiting (and getting very frustrated), and then the lender(s) decline the short sale request. The buyer is then back to square one and has nothing to show for it.
Please keep in mind... I am not saying that a buyer can't successfully buy a short sale. Quite the contrary... they certainly can. However, the buyer must be very patient... and risk a complete rejection of the request from the seller's lender(s). Usually, a buyer is willing to wait only when they have found THE house... the house of their dreams... and nothing else will do.
When a buyer first starts working with a Realtor, they must talk in depth with that Realtor about their wants and needs.... AND the time frame in which they want to buy. If they are wanting to buy fairly quickly, then maybe short sales should be avoided.
Many buyers would rather focus, at least initially, on the regular sales and foreclosures that are for sale. Usually, those are much easier to buy and close much quicker.
Again, talk to your Realtor about the best approach for you.
Related posts:
What is a Short Sale?
Buying a Short Sale Home