How Do I Buy a Short Sale

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/glahR)
Lots of people I talk to, find that they are buying bank owned or short sales in the real estate market, how is buying a short sale different? I tell them...

How Do I Buy a Short Sale?
As a buyer you want to know what is in mn for sale and when you find out you'll ask how to make an offer to buy a short sale house? When buying a short sale home it’s recommended you work with a buyer’s agent or a listing agent that is working with the 3^rd party short sale negotiator, or directly talking with the loss mitigation department at the bank. They will be able to update you on what’s going on. You are probably wondering where to find them. Typically you are looking for an agent that is listing houses on the MLS stating in the agent remarks such as “subject to bank approval”, “subject to a short sale”, this is a “lender mediated transaction”, “subject to 3^rd party approval”. These are the types of phrases you are looking for. This agent could likely be in the business of negotiating short sales all of the time. When you call them just tell them you are a buyer looking for some help. After you look at some of the available properties they have on their short sale list. After you find the right property you like just like any other transaction, you will have the agent write up a short sale offer that will get submitted to the bank.  I know many agents that can work with you on buying a short sale, it's important to know that you have to be very patient, some short sales can take a long time to be negotiated, and often a rule of thumb is the negotiations with the banks don't start until an offer has come in, so please be patient and work with an expert on this. I can put you in touch with a real estate agent on this.