BiggerPockets

I have sold a few short sales in the past. With the way the market is today, her bottom line price is probably too high for a short sale. Buyers usually offer thousand of dollars less than the asking price when looking at a short sale purchase.

Carey, If she sells it through an agent at $70K, and owes $65K, she will get nothing after paying the comissions and closing costs. If your area is like ours, and sellers often give 2-3% in concessions, I'd estimate she'll have to bring about $2,500 to closing. So, doing a short sale might actually save her some money.

If its really worth $73K as-is, and its in good condition, then, even dropping it to $65K with a short would make it attractive to owner occupants. That's a pretty small short, so I would think the bank wouldn't balk too hard at that. (Who knows, though, its a bank.) Depending on the competition, maybe dropping it a little more would generate a quick sales.

If it needs work, and especially if there are move-in ready competitors, it may require and investor. As an investor, I'd want to know my true ARV, which is probably something under that appraised value. Say $70K. Discount that 30% to get $49K. Subtract off the work needed, and that's what I would pay. Now you're talking a much more significant short.

Personally, I'd never pay FMV for a property. I'm in this to make money, and you can't make money paying FMV.

With the new forum software, the default changed from showing userids (mine's always been Wheatie) to showing names. I just switched back to showing the id. I think I had my signature fixed, but I guess not.

I'd say forget about it. People are crazy. My neighbor's trying to sell his house. he's done a ton of work, and it is nice (other than the lack of siding), but his price is way, way out of line with any comps.