How To Get Your Short Sale Offer Accepted

10. February 2009 by Burbank Real Estate.

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When a listing is listed as a short sale it does not necessarily mean it’s a short sale.  What this tells you is that the listing agent and seller hope that the bank will accept an offer on the property.  When it says that the bank has approved a short sale at a particular price, then you know at least part of the hurdle has been cleared.  But banks reject offers all the time.

The main reason that banks reject short sale offers has to do with the following scenarios:

• Short sale offer price is too low or below what the bank has agreed to accept.  Remember that, by definition, a short sale is when a bank agrees to accept less than the amount owed to the bank.  Make sure you include a CMA(comparative market analysis) to justify your price.  The bank will look at several appraisals, so if it feels it can do better it will reject your offer.

• Offer package is incomplete.  Make sure you get a list from the bank of all expected documentation.  Don’t be surprised if you agent ends up having to fax the documents several times as the banks are notorious for losing or misplacing paperwork. It will help if everypage is referencing the property address.

• Buyer does not qualify for the loan.  This is standard practice nowadays, but make sure you are pre-approved for a loan before you make any offers.

• Bank sold the loan.  It’s not uncommon for the bank to sell the loan during the short sale negotiations.  Sometimes the bank does not realize it sold the loan until well into the process.

Remember that, on average, it takes anywhere from 6-12 months for a short sale property to sell, sometimes much longer.  I have seen offers get accepted 4-5 months after submission due to the backlog at the bank.

Buying a short sale property is not for the weak, but you can pick up some good deals if you know your area pricing.

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