I know what you’re thinking.  Getting a quality home at a drastically reduced price seems too good to be true.  Things like that simply don’t happen to people like me.  Well, rest easy friend.  We have three good reasons to believe in the magic of short sales:

1) Lenders prefer short sales to foreclosed inventory:

Lenders are in the business of making loans, and typically don’t enjoy the process of possessing properties.   More importantly, repossessing homes cost big time cash.  A study conducted by the Tower Group estimated that the average forclosure proceeding costs a lender in excess of $55,000.   The truth of the situation is that a successful short sale in the neighborhood of 85% of the loan value will actually help the lender save money in the long run compared to the cost of foreclosure.

2) The magic of a professional real estate agent:

If you told me that you were going to attempt to go for a short sale on your home by yourself and negotiate with the lenders on your own behalf, I’d be inclined to send you a bottle of scotch and some band aids.  Why?  Because you would most likely be in for a beating.  Lenders are tough.  The process can be difficult.  For the faint of heart, the process can result in a partially functional frontal lobe.

Enter your friendly neighborhood real estate professional, cape optional. I have the experience, knowledge, and capability to facilitate your transaction in a smooth way.  Let’s just assume for the moment that the fact that I write a blog about short sales means that I’ve done a few of these transactions in my time.  Using a qualified, knowledgeable real estate agent who knows their way around a short sale is usually the difference between a successful transaction and a three-motrin-per-day headache.  Trust me, I’m a doctor.

3) The law of averages:

Take a trip with me for a moment to the loss mitigation office at your local friendly mortgage lending establishment.  Now, focus hard on the desk in the loss mitigation office, and you’ll see that there is a two foot pile of pending foreclosures.  Your job is to do whatever it takes to prevent your company from incurring the cost of foreclosing upon those properties.

Now, imagine that a nice, friendly, and darn good looking real estate professional were to walk into your office and offer a short sale that prevents you from incurring the work and the cost of forclosing upon a house.  Would you be willing to listen?  The law of averages tells us that you have a shot, and the economical indicators at present tell us that you shot is better than average. These lenders simply have too many fires burning to dump water on them all.  They have to let some go.  That’s my specialty.  Give me a call today.