Information and Assistance for Homeowners in the Greater Seattle area

If you want to do a short sale in the Sacramento area, Elizabeth Weintraub is the pro to call! Not only has she written a book on the subject, but every week she helps more and more homeowners avoid foreclosure through the short sale process. In addition to being a high producing Realtor, Elizabeth is a very prolific blogger.

Recently she wrote a blog post entitled “The Number one Short Sale Question“. (For her, the number one question she’s asked is if a home seller should stop making payments.

When talking with sellers in Maple Valley and throughout South King County about helping them Short Sale their house, the number one question I seem to get is “How long is this going to take”?

Sellers who are serious about short selling, are looking to the future….anxious for the time to move on and start over with a clean slate. For many owners, getting the short sale process completed is akin to removing a huge monkey from their backs. I’ve had several owners thank me profusely for helping them through the process.

My answer to their question is almost always the same….”It depends”. There are so many variables with a short sale transaction that there’s one answer which applies to each property. Here are some of the things which affect timing of the short sale process:

1. How many liens are against the property (In most cases there is a first and a second mortgage which must be negotiated, but sometimes there are other liens-such as utilities, or judgments which must be worked out as well before title can transfer to a new buyer.
2. Who are the lenders on the mortgage(s)? Many lenders have added staff and are getting much better at streamlining these packages. But others are still completely in the dark. WHO your Lender and Investor (not necessarily the same two entities) can make the process move quickly or at a snail’s pace.
3. How cooperative will you be in providing me with requested paperwork? Many sellers who begin the process, are tired a few months down the road. When I get close being issued an approval letter, the Negotiator will often request updated financials. Or if I’m hammering a Lender to waive deficiency rights, sometimes I’ll request my client to write a new, updated hardship letter.  The longer it takes to receive this information, the longer the process takes.
4. How Committed is the Buyer? It’s not unusual for short sales to close with the second, or even third buyer in the transaction. This can interrupt the process, depending on stage of negotiations and lender involved.
5. What’s the Experience Level of the Listing Agent? There are so many inexperienced agents in the market right now, attempting short sales when they have never successfully negotiated one in their entire career. On the other hand, there are some slick-willy “mega agents” who approach Short Sales with the Spaghetti Strategy (list as many as we can, throw them in a bunch against “the wall” and see how many stick).  These agents are the ones to avoid at all costs if you’re looking to buy a short sale….the process will be beyond frustrating!

I’ve gotten short sales approved in 3 weeks and others in 4 months. Sometimes getting the approval isn’t the longest part of the process..it’s just the major piece in the short sale puzzle.

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