I have dealed with several short sales, and bought my current house from a
short sale. I strongly feel that you shall know the followings before even
put in an offer:
1. Why it is a short sale? Is the owner still living in the house? The best
is the owner moved out already due to a job relocation. The owner may
refused to move out even you have already bought the house. They may also
destory the house after the bank accepts your offer.
2. How much he/she own the bank, and how many banks. I don't want to touch
a house have several liens. Some banks are very quick dealing with short
sales, and some banks will take for ever.
3. What is the house condition? A good agent shall be able to see most of
the defects even without your spending money on home inspection.
4. How is the communication channel between the agents and the bank? Some
agent knows nothing about the process inside the bank, and could even email
your offer to the wrong department. Some agents are so good and he/she even
knows exactly who is in charge of the short sale inside the bank. This will
directly affect the whole process of the sale.
A good agent should able to tell you all the anwers. If all the answers are
good, you will go the next step, putting in an offer.
