Many sellers are now in a short sale situation and for this it’s needed more than ever that we explain the possible timeline to our buyer’s when they decide to write on such a property. We have found all banks are not the equal, some banks are quicker than others but on average from the time an offer is sent to a listing agent we see up to 90 days and on average 45 days for a response from the bank. When you send an offer on a short sale home ask the listing agent if ALL documents have been sent to the bank on behalf of the seller such as hardship letter etc and also ask if a negotiator has been assigned, a yes to these questions will help the process speed up. I had an offer recently that took 3 1/2 months from start to reply from the bank and the bank was a huge well known name.

From what I can tell most banks are still not ready for the overwhelming short sale requests and simply do not have the manpower. While some great deals may be found on short sale properties, I am now being very clear with buyers how long we may need to wait, not all buyers will have that open ended timeframe to wait. Hopefully banks will step up their game as the market continues to have a need for these type sales.

The Derrick Monroe Group specializes in short sales so give us a call at 612-282-SOLD to see how we can help.