Master the Short Sale

75 % of all the current sales and pending sales in South Florida are Short Sales or re sales of foreclosed properties. For this reason, its important to master the process which can in the least, be quite daunting.

There are some very important steps that you need to take while making a decision on making an offer on a foreclosure or short sale property.

1) Only work with a licensed Realtor that KNOWS the area or property in which you are interested. Dont simply assume that an agent knows the market that he is showing and is not simply trying to close a sale and move on..... at your expense.

2) Know the area in which you are looking to buy. If it is a Condo Association, make sure that you see current financial statements on the Association. Make sure that no more than 10% of the units in the building are in arrears in payments to the Association. Typically, I am very wary of a property where more than 5% of the units are in arrears. This makes for a potential problem for the remaining home owners who must continue to make up the difference in expenses.

3) Get PRE qualified for a loan. Have a letter of credit prepared prior to submitting an offer on the property

4) Be prepared to put down at least 40% in the current market to make your offer attractive enough to the existing lender to take your deal. The more cash down, the better your position will be.

5) Make sure that you have a promise from the listing broker IN WRITING to your agent that they will reveal all other offers on the table in a timely fashion. You want to have the opportunity to adjust your offering price if another offer comes in higher. You dont want to be the one waiting for months for an answer from the bank and then at the last minute a line jumper beats you out of the deal simply because you were not given the opportunity to adjust your offer.

6) Be patient. Impatience reaps no rewards. This is not a rabbit race. It is a turtle crawl. Realize that those with the staying power are likely to get the best deal. Dont get impatient. Short Sales are notoriously slow and full of red tape. BUT they are the best prices out there. It can take from 3 to 6 months to get an answer from some banks.

Good LUCK!