How do you purchase a short sale? What is involved? How long does it take to buy a short sale? The Nellis Group has been successfully negotiating short sales for both their buyers and sellers in the Northern Virginia & Washington DC market.

How do you purchase a short sale?

     The purchase of a short sale requires 2 negotiations. The first negotiation is with the home owner- getting the seller to sign off on your offer (taking your offer instead of other offers). The second negotiation is a long duration and occurs between the Bank and the purchaser. Since all short sales are subject to "third party approval" all parties must wait until the Bank agrees to the shortage of funds with this transaction. Watch this video to learn more about the process:

What is involved?        

    PATIENCE... it is ideal for someone that is renting month to month or has flexibilty on purchasing without selling their current home. Some money or inspections will be required in advance in order to secure the home. It is also important to know that many times the Bank will counter the "agreed" price with the seller to a higher amount. This is because many sellers will under price the home in order to receive a quick contract. The sellers do this because of the Catch-22 of short sales. Without a signed contract the Bank will not negotiate with the seller. Once the seller has one in hand they can negotiate with the Bank to get the offer approved and sell the home.

How long does it take?

       The Bank will look to an Appraisal or a BPO (Brokers Price Opinion) in order to establish market price and whether or not they will accept the offer presented by the Seller. It can take 60-90 days to hear anything back from the Bank... The issue is that many of these negotiators assigned by the Bank are working with over 400 files at a time. The average case load should be 100-150 files/homes for a negotiator.

What does success look like?

          Hear from clients of The Nellis Group to learn more about the process and how one can be successfully negotiated: