What You Can Really Expect From a Short Sale

Since there are so many homes going into foreclosure and many others already bank owned, the savvy home buyer has a very real likely hood of finding out that their perfect home is in foreclosure, or is a short sale. Here is what you absolutely MUST know before you start thinking of putting in an offer on a short sale property.
First of all, be aware that to get an accepted offer could take any where from four to six months. Your real estate agent, the listing agent and the seller have no control over how long the bank takes to accept or reject your offer.
The reason that this part of the process takes so long is that usually there isn't a local person involved. Most likely, the offer is being review by people getting paid minimum wage hundreds, if not thousands of miles away. They have never seen the home you want to buy, and they really don't have any reason to hurry. They get off work at five, and they'll be back to work on Monday. This is actually one of the reasons that we have such a foreclosure mess, banks operate in their own time frame and bank employees have no incentive to get you in your home.
Secondly, be prepared to pay your own closing costs in addition to what ever money you are putting down. By definition, a short sale means that the bank is already coming up "short" in other words there isn't enough money to pay off the sellers loan. The bank is already taking a loss and typically they won't want to pay your closing costs on top of what they are already losing.
Third, Don't get your heart set on any home until you have the key in hand and are moving in. Don't burn any bridges like screwing over your landlord thinking you'll be moving next week. Short sales are notorious for having last minute delays and extensions for no understandable reasons. It is also common for a sale to fall through at the last minute because of mysterious bank red tape. Let closing on your home be an unexpected, pleasant surprise.
All in all, if you have lots of patience and you aren't desperate, short sales can really get you a great home. On the other hand if you aren't the type of person that can handle stress, delays and disappointment, you may consider steering clear of short sales.