Short Sales
What is a short sale?
As a Las Vegas short sale agent we sometimes forget that some people do not exactly understand what a short sale in Las Vegas is.
A short sale is when a seller owes more on their home than it is worth and the lender accepts less than what is owed in order to facilitate the short sale. It does mean that it short on time. A short sale is anything but a quick transaction! Short sales can take 2 to 6 months to close. In some instances the bank may end up foreclosing on the home after the buyer has waited months.
It does not matter if the offer is good. It does not matter that the buyer has waited for months. It does not matter that the bank will probably lose more money doing a foreclosure compared to a short sale. Common sense does not come into play on the short sale. This is one of the hardest facts to learn when working on a short sale or trying to buy a Las Vegas Short Sale. Short sales are very complex and there are 6 times the number of people involved in a short sale transaction than the standard sale.
A standard sale involves a buyer and a seller in order to have a deal.
A short sale will involve the:
- buyer and seller
- sellers 1st lien holder which includes the negotiator on the file, the BPO agent who will give the bank the value, the investor who holds the note and the MI company if the loan has mortgage insurance.
- If the buyer has a second loan, all of the above persons will be involved.
All of these people need to agree to the terms of the sale. Once they approve the sale, then seller will need to agree to the terms of the short sale approval letter. Nevada is a deficiency state. This means in a short sale, the balance the bank writes off in order to faciltate the short sale, the seller can still be held liable for the difference between the sale nand the loan that was owed. The lender can waive their rights to pursue the seller. So once again a buyer can wait for the short sale approval and still not be able to close if the seller does not agree to the short sale approval letter.
We are experienced agents with short sales and will ask the right questions before you write an offer on a short sale. If you can’t wait months for a short sale, you are better off trying for a bank owned home instead. You can search for Las Vegas bank owned homes on our site as well.
Las Vegas Short Sales
Henderson Short Sales
