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Buying a Short Sale Home

Posted Wednesday, May 20, 2015

There are many situations which can force a home owner into a position in which they must short sale their home in order to avoid foreclosure. Often, this situation can be the key to opportunities for incredible savings for a home buyer. However, home buyers who are interested in purchasing a short sell must take measures to protect themselves and their investment as the purchase process can often become more complicated than other real estate transactions. Below are several strategies that we use when we buy houses that are offered as part of a short sale.

Find the Right Agent

The first thing that you can do to protect yourself and make sure that you are in the right position to take advantage of the deep savings available in buying a short sale home is to ensure that you hire the right real estate agent. Not all real estate agents have the experience or knowledge that is needed to protect their clients as they navigate the process of buying a short sale home. When searching for your real estate agent, be sure to ask neighbors and friends from your local area for recommendations. Also, be sure to ask your potential real estate agent about their background and knowledge of purchasing short sale homes and how many short sale purchases they have helped manage.

Know Your Market and Your Contract

After finding the right real estate agent for your purchase of a short sale home, you should be ready to put the real estate agent to work. When we buy houses, we have the real estate agent research the trends in market values in the area in which we are planning to purchase the home. While short sale homes often offer the buyer deep discounts, it is important to understand exactly where your new home stands in your market. The exact details and real estate market situation can vary greatly from town to town or even from neighborhood to neighborhood. Therefore, it is important to have a real estate agent who is knowledgeable of your specific market. Also, when drafting contracts for the sale, ensure that your real estate agent includes specific legal language that will allow you to walk away from the purchase for a wide range of undesirable situations. The inclusion of this language will ensure that you can leave the transaction if you discover information about the property that you deem unsatisfactory.