short sales, they usually take an eternity to get worked out, if they ever do get worked out, meanwhile, you can wait months only to find out that your offer is going nowhere. Other than that they’re a really nifty way to buy a house.
In the few instances where I’ve represented buyers on short sales we’ve never gotten past 1st base. We got the offer accepted by the short seller and then settled in for the long winter’s wait to hear from the lender. And in every case, after waiting a few months and getting nowhere, we ended up bailing. Frustrating, to say the least.
And again, my experience with them is limited, but, in each case the listing agent led me to believe that ‘this one is ready to go’, yessirree, and ‘the lender’s really on this one’ and that we’d have an answer in less than 90 days. It never happened. And I couldn’t say if they’re just saying that to keep us in the game or they actually believe it. But I do know that it’s in theirs and their clients interest to keep us in the game. Because if we bail, it’s back to square one for them.
On the last short sale I handled, and hopefully my last forever, we got the offer accepted in September and, after not hearing a word, bailed out at the end of November. But in this case they were glad to see us go because they had a back-up offer that was higher than ours. And when we cancelled, the back-up just slipped into first position.
And the listing agent assured me that they’d have an answer in just
3 weeks – now for the back-up offer. That was in late November,
it’s now late February – 3 months - and it’s still in limbo.
Here’s the latest on short sales for single family homes in the foothills:
15 for sale - $225,000 to $2,099,900
25 in limbo, er, contract - $215,000 to $1,495,000
6 sold (last 3 months) - $225,900 to $1,100,000
So unlike foreclosures - (which represent just 4% of the homes for sale & 5.5% of those in contract, but 13% of the homes sold)
- short sales represent just 3% of the homes for sale but a whopping 23% of those in contract, yet just 5.5% of the homes sold
Why, because most never get past 1st base.
see thefoothillsToday.com
to find your Tucson Foothills home
