Short Sale Lingo – Listing Price May not be sufficient – Tampa Bay Short Sale Help

Hello Tampa!

With the dramatic changes in our real estate market over the past few months, the “market of the moment” is that of short sales and foreclosures.  A lot of consumers get confused and question language or lingo in listings that specifically address short sales.

For those of you that don’t know – a short sale is a situation in which the home owner owes more than their home is worth and the home owner is insolvent.  It involves a process in which the seller, many times through their agents or a short sale company/attorney, requests the bank to accept less than what is owed on the home to allow a sale to occur.  It can be very time consuming, especially if an agent is not experienced with short sales.  The time to process a short sale has gotten considerably better over the past 6 months but plan to wait 90 days at least to close on a short sale that has not yet been approved by the bank.

I am constantly asked the question of what “Listing price may not be sufficient to cover all encumbrances, closing costs, or other seller charges and sale of Property at full listing price may be conditioned upon approval of third parties” truly means.

In a nutshell, it is the legalse required by MLS’s and boards of realtors to properly disclose that a property is a short sale. 

Buyers many times read it and are confused and think that they might have to write an additional check or incur additional costs outside of the purchase price.  And while that can sometimes be true, it typically is not the case.  It merely discloses that a short sale is present and the current list price is not enough to satisfy the amount owed and costs of sale.  If negotiated successfully, there aren’t any outside charges to the buyer or costs outside of the purchase price that aren’t typically in real estate transactions. 

Have a Great Night!