Ten Common Deal Killers for a Short Sale

From my experience doing short sales in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, the following list are the ten most common deal killers for doing a short sale (in no particular order):

The seller lies about their assets and the bank finds out.
The seller disappears or becomes non-responsive toward the end of the short sale process. On occasion, seller’s become so depressed that they no longer want to participate in the process and their lives are a complete mess.
The bank is absolutely UNRESPONSIVE. There are a couple of lenders that I refuse to even deal with because they will not respond to anything.
The short sale gets approved and then the buyer can’t get their financing in time.
By the end of the short sale, the property has depreciated and will not appraise.
The bank offers the seller an unsecured note for a small amount of money compared to what is owed and the seller refuses to agree to the loan.
The seller refuses to provide updated financials and bank statements before the closing.
The buyer gets tired of waiting around for the bank to make a decision and finds another property.
The bank’s BPO and/or appraisal are totally unrealistic and do not reflect current market value.

The property goes to foreclosure because the short sale can be finished. This is less common now because I have figured out how to postponed foreclosures to get the deal done, but it still does happen on occasion.

Sincerely,

Mark Shandrow
Keller Williams Realty