DH and I have been in the process of looking for a new home for a few months now. We've been looking mostly at short sale or foreclosure homes because that's what we can afford in the area we currently live (we don't want to move too far away because I work from home and if I move too far, I'd lose my clients). The first home we found we lost because someone outbid us. We found two short sale homes this weekend that we are very interested in, but I have a question. We only have 2 months left on our current lease (with the option to extend one month with a $300 increase...yikes!). Is there any way we can put a contingency on our offer that says the seller MUST move out by a certain date? We're willing to pay what they're listed (and possibly a little more to motivate). We're also cash buyers.
I'm just getting worried because we know people that have tried to get a short sale before and ended up being strung along for months and we just don't have that kind of time.
Thanks for any advice!!
Re: Any realtor mommies out there?
I don't know which state you live in but in FL short sales can take 6 months easy. You are not dealing wih the owners, you are dealing with the bank. It is up to the bank whether they accept your offer or not. That makes it harder to put any contingencies because you are taking the "person" out of it. If I were you I would NOT offer asking price (unless you really feel that it's a steal) that way you will have the extra money to pay for the increase in rent.
Are you working with a broker to find a place? They should be able to pull recent comps, short sales, foreclosures and regular sales in the same area to guide you as to what to pay. Bear in mind that it can cost a bank $75,000 for the legal fees involved in short sales/foreclosures so they are too wanting to make as much money as possible.
I'm not a realtor but just went rough the house buying process.. Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong..
But the way I understand a short sale to work is first your offer would be accepted/denied by the home owner. If the owner accepts it still has to go to third party (their lender) who has to approve the sale price. This is because the owner is selling the house for less than they owe on the mortgage due to a hardship that they must prove. The reason the short sale can take so long is waiting on the third party lenders approval.
I was told this process could take anywhere from 2 weeks to 8 months and there's no way of knowing how long it could take. Just the way it was all explained to me hope that helps!
Chase Matthew born at 35 weeks on July 31st
We just went through this and ended up going with a traditional sale vs a short sale.
Is the short-sale a bank approved price? In my experience that makes a huge difference in how long/fast a short sale goes through. Being a cash buyer will also help speed things up, but the bank approved short sale amount is key if you are working with a deadline.