I showed one home on Saturday, but it was the one.  The buyers went home to talk it over and I emailed a draft of the offer Saturday night before George and I had dinner with friends. On Sunday morning, I phoned the buyer and we reviewed the offer. I then emailed it to my clients for online (several clicks) signing.

The electronically signed offer and the supporting data were emailed to the listing agent.  And my family was off to Mother's Day brunch.  Sounds lovely doesn’t it? Not at all!  The listing is an underpriced short sale.  The home could likely sell much higher than our offer.  OR the bank may take months to approve the short sale OR the bank may never approve the short sale.

The last offer Lisa and I wrote for a short sale was three months ago and we are still waiting for the bank's decision.



I did tell my buyer that I have a short sale disclosure:

1) You will be frustrated and might wait a long time for an answer, a very long time
2) I have no control over the process, it is handled by the bank
3) The listing price is made up out of thin air, after waiting months for the answer, you may not like it
4) The property is sold as is, fees, and other repair items such as termite and retrofit, which sellers customarily take responsibility for... not so with a short sale
5) Expect a lot of deferred maintenance, the homeowner was likely not maintaining a home when they were not making house payments

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