People who have experience with short sales, please come in.

How long did it take you to close on the house?

How much of a difference from the original listing price did you pay?

Would you reccommend a short sale for a first-time home buyer?

Any other advice?

TIA!

Re: People who have experience with short sales, please come in.

Im a first time home buyer. My husband bought the house were in now.

I put an offer in on a short sale August 21st. $19k below asking and were STILL waiting for the banks approval. Our on or about date in the contract has moved 3 times. Im told with a short sale it means nothing. If this doesnt work out I wont be trying with a SS again!

Re: People who have experience with short sales, please come in.

There are many crazy stories with short sales, but my DH and I were first time homebuyers in 2009 and we purchased a short sale.

We saw it the first day it was on the market, put an offer in on the next. The offer was approx. $25k less than asking. This was in June, by late August, we closed and were able to move in!

It was about 2 months from offer to closing, and everything went super smooth!

Re: People who have experience with short sales, please come in.

People's experiences with short sales vary widely... there is no "standard" short sale. So much depends on the individual circumstances, such as the bank or banks involved, the sellers' situation and how cooperative they are with the bank, the listing agent's experience with short sales, whether the short sale is "approved," (which can mean different things).

Whether or not I would recommend a short sale to a first time home buyer depends on how quickly the buyer wants/needs to be in a home and whether they are prepared to deal with the uncertainties that are inevitable with a short sale (so much is not within the buyer's control). If a buyer does not need to be in a new home in a specific time frame, a short sale may be a good option, especially if the buyer engages knowledgeable professionals (realtor, attorney) to help guide them through the process.

But many buyers have the misconception that they can get a "steal" witha short sale, and that is usually not the case. Most banks are pretty vigilant now about making sure they get close to fair market value for the home (they do their own BPOs and appraisals).

I am a certified RSSP (realtor short sale professional), so please feel free to contact me if you want more info. I am always happy to answer questions - no obligation!

Re: People who have experience with short sales, please come in.

C21.... I might take you up on that offer. I really appreciate it.