Short Sales – Las Vegas

There is great confusion in the current market place with respect to short sales. Below is information that any prospective buyer or seller should have before entering into this type of transaction.

What is a short sale? A short sale is where a lender accepts a discount on a mortgage to avoid a possible foreclosure. Lenders are willing, in some cases, to take such a discount to avoid  foreclosure for several reasons. First of all banks do not like excess inventory and bad loans on their books and if they see a chance for the property to be sold without a huge loss they will often do it. Secondly, they know that they could lose more
money if the property goes to auction, given the delays and the many fees involved in that process. The contract of sale, in a short sale, is between the buyer and seller. The bank will need to approve a purchase price and agree to other conditions of purchase and the sale will be contingent on the banks approval.

What are the potential pitfalls and problems in the short sale situation? The primary problem is that so few of these sales have closed escrow. There are more short sale listings than bank owned listings but the closing rate of short sales is lower than for conventional sales or foreclosures. A secondary problem is that these sales take a great deal more time than a conventional sale. If they ultimately fail, then that is not a good outcome for both buyer and seller.

What do sellers need to know? The General Consul for the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors has outlined a step by step process to be followed in listing and selling short sale. Your goal is to get out from under your loan. The quickest and most effective way to do this is to do it right. The GLVAR has outlined a 15 step process that can lead to a successful closed escrow. To quickly and aggressively move through these steps
is the best way to get the results you want. The most important step is to get assurances from your lender that they will work with you and to get that as soon as possible. Let me know if I can be of help.

What does a buyer need to know? Most of all, they need to be assured that the property of interest has been listed properly. They need to know if the mortgage holder in fact has agreed to a short sale. They also need to know that this process will take some time. If you need to be in a home in say 30 to 60 days, then this may not be the direction to go. I can help you through this process and know the questions to ask. There are always potential problems and pitfalls associated with any real estate transaction, more so on average for short sales in Las Vegas, but some of the problems commonly associated with them are avoidable.