Rule 1: Be realistic but aggressive with the asking price

There is nothing short about the short sale process, but sellers MUST remember that time is not on their side.

Because most sellers of short sale properties are not making mortgage payments and many are facing foreclosure

And lenders are taking months to respond to an offer on a property, so the sooner the seller receives as offer, the better.

Therefore, it should be every seller’s goal to have a contract within the first 90 days.

This isn’t the case because of the 2,600 short sales currently for sale in Lee County, 60% of them have been on the market in excess of 90 days.

This suggests that there is a pricing problem with these properties and there is NO reason not to overprice a short sale!

Rule 2: Have paperwork ready before an offer comes in

Sellers need just as much paperwork to get out of a loan as they do to get into one

A complete short sale package is the key to a successful outcome and it usually takes some time to compile all the necessary documents, so sellers should get busy on this right away.

Rule 3: Don’t sell to a buyer who is not committed to your property.
This is the most important rule for sellers to remember

In my opinion, committed to the property means that the buyer is willing to put money in escrow when they make the offer and they will contractually be willing to wait at least 60 days for the lender to respond.

An uncommitted buyer is one that is NOT willing to put money in escrow and will not agree to wait a realistic time for the lender to respond.

An uncommitted buyer will most likely withdrawal the offer when he finds a property he likes better, which means the seller will have to start the process over again.

And the seller may not have enough time before the lender forecloses