San Diego Housing Bubble News and Analysis

How long did your agent tell you this 'short sale' process will take?

My agent said if the other agent knows what they're doing it would probably take 6 weeks.

Since it has become apparent that the other agent doesn't seem to know what they're doing, he's predicting it could take up to 3 months

If you complete a short sale in 3 months, the stars are certainly aligned in your favor.

There is no 'standard process' for a short sale, so your questions are tough to answer. You're asking these questions on the right forum though. Someone a lot smarter than I will have the answers. Good luck.

sdr`does more shorts then I but here is my experience.

Currently I have two short sales listed. Both of them are excruciating. We have been at it about 7 weeks now. One is very close to acceptance by both lenders and the other is not. I have had to have alot of contact with each lender for each transaction.

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The answer to your number 1 question is not much. Has the property been moved to contingent status or not? If your offer was accepted by the seller then it should be in contingent status. If not then you are the highest offer for now but you can be hopscotched. However it consumes time when new offers are shot into the lender. What you do not know is will the listing agent collect offers and then when the negotiator is on the cusp of accepting yours, will the LA tell the negotiator oh I have some more offers.

Number 2 question it is standard to submit 1 offer.

One of the MLS rules for contingent status state that if the offer is accepted by the seller and sent into the lender then the property should be in contingent status.

However there are other provisions for when a property shall be moved to contingent status. Your agent should be able to quote them to you.

While your offer is the highest and best it doesnt sound like it is accepted by the sellers yet. That is what you can do to add some security to your position. I would focus on that immediately if it is not already done.

Let's just say excruciating times 20. I dont have the energy to say anymore tonite.......

In short sale negotiations, how advantageous is an all cash offer (a reasonable offer)?

In short I find it to be of very little advantage.

I'm not a realtor (obviously) but from what my realtor told me, all cash usually doesn't make a difference on a short sale because the seller is short. If you have a strong offer with financing that is going to close and a larger number, it's generally better than a cash offer at a smaller number.

Great info...we made an offer on a property that is upside down. We are waiting to hear back if they are going to do a short sale. Definitely not the path we want but it is the house we want... Regardless we continue to look at other houses...

Frustrating at best.

I have seen all cash offers in short sales get accepted over higher financed offers. However in one particular case the offer was all cash with no contingencies and a 7 day close. It snaked the top offer and we were in second position so we got snaked as well.

engineer in sd,

I'm going to read between the lines a bit here, and notice that it seems you are allowing yourself to get emotional about this. Maybe you really want this house, or maybe you really want a house or maybe some other reason. BUT... this is going to be a long drawn out process, and one that you don't want to get emotional about. You need to take a deep breath and see if you can put yourself into that place that gives you the sense of mind to see that if this doesn't work out, it's best to walk away.

There will be other houses in the future. Despite some of the hysteria being generated by the news and babbling punditry, prices are not going to skyrocket back up to where they were. You are not going to get priced out forever. This is not some incredible opportunity that you absolutely must pursue at all costs.

As an engineer, I know it can be hard to not be the master of the situation. We want to do everything possible to further what we see as our interests. But often when we try to influence things too much we make things worse.

Bottom line here is to sit back and relax. You have a long wait ahead of you, and it might easily turn out to be something that does not work out. Good luck with it, but don't get emotional about it.

XBoxBoy

xboxboy,

I don't think I'm particularly emotional about the property but the situation is that I'm the first offer on another short sale that I'm not really sure I want to purchase due to location. The other short sale is going to close soon and I need to make a decision on if I want to wait for the new one or go with the other one.

The payoff of getting the new short sale results in higher happiness, but there would still be some happiness in getting the previous sale. I was thinking that the price of anarchy would be high if I ended up with neither but I think you bring up a good point in that the price of anarchy may not be so high even if I get neither of them.

I think you just answered your own question....

Anarchy can be good.

Urbanrealtor, in a normal sale (i.e. not a short), how big of an advantage is an all-cash offer ?

SD Realtor, does this mean that an all-cash offer with a short close (i.e. less than 10 days) is A LOT more advantageous than an all-cash offer with 30 days close ?

It all depends on the lender gn. It also depends on the amount of money you are talking. The property I am refering to was a bit north of 1 million. Also the other offers were conventional financed, not cash. If you are talking 2 all cash offers competing, I do not know how much a premium a 10 day verses a 30 day escrow gets you.