BiggerPockets

Hi all. Well we are living in FL near Jacksonville and we are having to do a short sale on our house. It is valued at 50,000 less than what we paid for it a couple years ago. We are now selling it for 145,000 which is what it has been appraised for. We have to move because my husband is in the military.. So we are hoping to be able to find a buyer and get a short sale approved so we can both move next summer. We have had our house on the market for over a month now and have had absolutely no interest in it. I really do think this is because its a short sale and most people dont want to have to wait. What I am hearing is that real estate investors are the only ones who are willing to wait on a short sale.. So my question is, how do we get the investors interested in our house? Or is there a way to do this? I just feel like this might be the only way we are going to sell this house.. Are most real estate investors mainly looking for foreclosures instead of short sales?

By the way, our house is a 2 story , 2000 sq ft home, outside of Jacksonville FL.. We have made quite a few upgrades like tile floors, sprinkler system and a big backyard, ceiling fans, new light fixtures, new paint... It is in very good condition.

Anyway, Im not sure if anyone can help me here, but just thought Id see if any of you have any advice.

Thanks!!

Jennifer

Working with an experienced short sale investor is key. As stated by Mike, we investors NEVER pay retail pricing (otherwise, how would we make any profits) but can negotiate with the bank to drive the price down.

What you get for the house is really of no concern to you but only to the bank. You get nothing or lose nothing through a short sale, as far as financials are concerned, unless the bank attached a deficiency judgement against you for the difference (but us investors would never let them do that)

Jennifer,

Some more information might perk up the ears of some investors, such as:

how much is owed against it?
how much liens/loans are there against it?

From there a short-sale investor might be able to determine if there's any meat on this deal.

BTW, thank you for your husband's military service.

Thanks everyone..

Solid, the amount we still owe the bank is 195,000 (if thats what you mean by owed against it). There are no liens on the house..

crosswinds thanks for that info!

Are most investors more interested in buying locally?

Heck with the appraised value. Have that Realtor list it for $120,000 so that you start generating offers. Short sales are a pain for a conventional buyer. You must put an incentive on it (the price). In the end, who cares what the price is - the bank is eating the difference.

I ALWAYS list my short sales well below the comps. There's no other way to get them to move.

Why would someone pay retail for a non-short sale house, then come and pay retail for your identical house if it's a short sale? It's not worth the hassles! (not to mention less of a commission for the buyer's agent)

If you're not getting any offers, then the bank will have nothing to accept anyway ...

So the first step is to get offers, and that probably means you'll have to price more aggressively.

Be prepared to wait, even after the offer has been submitted. as the investor, I waited for over 3 months for the bank to assign an asset manager to the property. I eventually withdrew my offer and moved on to a deal that closed much quicker. Good luck.

Originally posted by Mark Yuschak

True to a certain extent, Steve.

Some lenders are MUCH worse than others. BOA and GMAC come to mind. On the other hand there are some which are much better...

Mark makes a good point and to add to it, the ability and contacts of the investor play a huge role in the spead at which the process moves forward!

Jennifer, your home looks perfect, I would suggest changing some wordings in the listing (such as dead end street to cul-de-sac) and adding some of the homes selling points. From there, the price can ONLY be the problem as the home looks clean, has nice curb appeal, is quite new, and appears to be in a very nice neighborhood. Don't woory about having a price "too low that the bank will reject" - you can always have your potential buyer counter the bank.
Go much lower than the current value, should be no more than $118,000 and you should generate some offers.