Has anyone here sucessfully bought a short sale house?

[TastesLikeChicken]

The wife got a new job in Tampa last summer so we sold our house in Orlando and we're now renting a house in Wesley Chapel that's slightly larger than a PO box. Compared to the space we had before this place really sucks and we can't wait to get out of here. We've been house hunting in the Tampa area and managed to find a place in Land O Lakes that we really like so we put in an offer this weekend. However, it's a short sale so we have to wait for bank approval.

Have any ATOTers sucessfully gone through the short sale process? Any advice?

4/13 Update: We received word of approval by the seller's bank. The bank accepted our initial lowball offer and never even countered so we're practically stealing this place. Closing is set for June 10. We have to wait a bit so the seller has time to relocate and get everything moved. Yay! Happy birthday to me. (It really is my birthday. )

 

[Alienwho]

I put an offer on a short sale a few months ago and just received word that the bank is no longer allowing the "owners" to sell the house as a short sale. You have nothing to lose by throwing down an offer but you better not fall in love with the house. You should just go on the assumption that you will not get it, and if they accept it is a pleasant surprise.

 

[OCGuy]

edit: oops, read it incorrectly.

I have a good amount of experience with it. Closed one last week, and finally closing my friend's condo this week.

There is a lot of information, too much to post unfortunately.

 

[MartyMcFly3]

House I'm in now was a short sale. There was nothing short about it. Took about a half a year after putting down an offer that was accepted before we got to signing papers for it. Worked out though because I bought it for less than it's worth. YMMV though.

 

[wiredspider]

Takes a long time and many times the prices are listed lower than what the bank may actually accept, just to entice people.

 

[Sinsear]

I bought one 2 years ago. Like stated above, nothing short about it.

 

[esun]

General advice I've heard is to put in your offer then keep looking. Short sales will take time, potentially a really long time, so it's best to just make an offer and then move on. If it happens that they reply before you've found another place, great, otherwise forget about it.

 

[Vette73]

If you put in a offer make sure you also add that it is time limited so not to tie your hands.

My house was bank owned and they still took a while to get back. SS's I have been told take even longer.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Thanks for the info.

Today the buyer accepted our initial lowball offer without even countering and forwarded it to the bank for approval. Now the bank has up to 90 days to either OK or nix the offer. I'm trying not to get too excited but if this goes through it'll be an absolute steal.

For anyone interested, here's a virtual tour of the house:

http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?sk=13&t=2286679

 

[OCGuy]

Bank will do a BPO. The price will have to be within tolerance.

A year ago, it was much easier to get the banks to accept low offers. Now they are being tight asses.

I had to give up $2K of my RE commission to get one of my current deals to loan docs. The 2nd on the home wanted a $4K cash contribution outside of the sale price.

Luckily I'm still making 3% on the loan too, so it is worth the concession.

 

[bruceb]

Looks pretty good from the photos. Hopefully no issues after an inspection is done.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

An update. We received the following info from the seller's agent today:

I just wanted to give you an update on the progress. We have received the HUD-90045 - Approval to Participate. It would appear from the numbers shown on the Approval to Participate that we should be okay with the Contract as submitted. The next phase negotiator requested that the Contract and HUD be resent to her directly and I have done that, together with the Approval to Participate signed by the Seller. I am hopeful that we get that final approval shortly.

Can anyone involved in real estate transactions/short sales translate what that means? Our agent seems to think that everything is hunky-dory and we'll be closing by mid-/end-May.

Damn, I sure hope so. I'm about over this Crackerjack box we've been renting in the interim.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

OP updated.

 

[Corporate Thug]

I bought one 2 years ago. Like stated above, nothing short about it.

My short sale took about 3 months from the date of the bid to closing. Not really much longer than a regular sale.

 

[Alienwho]

Nice on the approval. I put another offer down on a different short sale than my first reply above about 2 weeks ago and was accepted by the bank within 3 days. We're closing at the end of the month. We're getting the house for a steal as well and the entire process has been absolutely painless because my agent is a pro at dealing with short sales.

 

[mshan]

Bank of America , JP Morgan Chase , Ally Financial, Wells Fargo, SunTrust, Citibank, HSBC, MetLife, PNC, U.S. Bank, Aurora Bank, EverBank, OneWest Bank and Sovereign Bank will all be hit with no fewer than 16 new requirements for mortgage servicing and loss mitigation. They will also have to overhaul oversight of third-party vendors, including lawyers, who provide foreclosure services.
"These reforms will not only fix the problems we found in foreclosure processing, but will also correct failures in governance and the loan modification process and address financial harm to borrowers," according to acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42573141

 

[airdata]

OP : Any pictures / pricing deets?

Thanks.

 

[ravana]

Congrats & Happy Birthday!

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Nice on the approval. I put another offer down on a different short sale than my first reply above about 2 weeks ago and was accepted by the bank within 3 days. We're closing at the end of the month. We're getting the house for a steal as well and the entire process has been absolutely painless because my agent is a pro at dealing with short sales.

3 days? Wow. With all the paperwork necessary to process a short sale I'm surprised they could do it that quickly. Congrats.


We would like to close sooner but the woman currently in the house has 3 adopted, mentally challenged children and her husband simply walked out on her a couple of years ago. Because of that her agent and the bank requested time to accommodate her needs and we are respecting that request.

OP : Any pictures / pricing deets?

Thanks.

It's a 3/2, a little over 2500sf, located at the end of a neighborhood street. The current owners paid 289K in 2001. We bid 180K and the bank accepted.

Here are the links to some pics:

Front of the house

Back porch - The black pipe you can see in the middle of the porch is a ventilation pipe for a built-in grill.

Back yard - Fenced in with plenty of room for the dog.

Living room

View from the front yard

 

[ravana]

View from the front yard

Great looking house. Especially lovin your view. :thumbsup: