So...from what I can gather, a short sale means the bank has already approved a price under what the house is worth, that it will accept it to sell for, right? And it seems the problems with this are that for whatever reason, the bank still takes forever to approve the loan (despite having already said they'd allow it) and so things take longer....right?

Foreclosures are places the bank kicked people out of so a lot of times they're left in crappy condition but in all cases are 'as is'...right? Why are finding foreclosed homes on the internet usually something you need to buy a membership for?

Has anyone ever dealt with either one of these things either as the buyer/seller/owner?

7/14/2012 6:58:25 PM

this surely belongs in shit chat

7/14/2012 6:59:25 PM

i'm chit chatting about it so yes.

7/14/2012 7:01:17 PM

I from inside sales or something like that. Let me show you my pokemans.

7/14/2012 7:02:20 PM

where's that big ass long speech thingy from that guy?

7/14/2012 7:04:13 PM

My wife and I were in the process of buying a short sale place and it took a looooong ass time. Be prepared for that, especially in areas where they have a lot of short sales/foreclosures.

The biggest thing is get pre-approved from the bank so you're ready to make an offer as the best places go under contract quickly. Also have someone you trust that can examine the house that knows about construction so you don't get a place where people have fucked up the house because they were getting kicked out.

7/14/2012 7:05:52 PM

Short sales are generally not pre-approved. That's why they take so long.

7/14/2012 7:37:35 PM

I realize this thread is about shortsales....which I do not dispute. Hear me out, maybe I can offer some insight.

I am in outside sales, which is currently salary+commission, but will move into straight commission starting at the beginning of July 2010. I have been in this position since July 2009. I have competition from several direct manufacturing sales reps, large distributors, and local distributors. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each:

Direct Advantages: Immediate knowledge of new technology, no middle man mark up, one shipping bill (paid by manufacturer or buyer of goods), access to larger range of non-commodity items, control inventory, have access to many distributors that can effectively sell their goods which increases market share, and set prices of commodity they manufacture.

Direct disadvantages: Typically have 1-3 sales reps per region (i.e. southeast, mid-atlantic, northeast, etc.) limiting the number of accounts they can successfully manage/cold-call, lack physical customer service or physical technical service available to or affordable for smaller users or altogether, are sometimes not trustworthy because they will go in behind their distributors that sell their commodity to one account in large quantities (i.e. they missed a big account, and have found out about it through a distributor selling their particular product) which leads to the distributor not selling their product anymore, have too many distributors selling the product ultimately driving the set price down through deviations, possibly rely on distributors to actually sell the product, and competition from other direct sources.

Large distributor advantages: have access to other commodities that go hand in hand with other manufacturers (poor example- grocery stores sell milk as well as cereal), get direct pricing, many locations regionally or nationally easing the shipping burden of buyers with multiple locations, personal service either customer or technical, many sales reps that are able to cover a broader territory, access to multiple manufacturers of the same commodity allowing to keep prices in check, service programs that smaller companies can't offer and direct providers can't match in price or value, and experts of many many commodities as opposed to one or a few.

Large distributor disadvantages: smaller local distributors creating price wars (think Michael Scott Paper Co vs Dunder-Mifflin), direct mfg's going in behind and stealing business, limited access to all of the mfg's (you won't find Harris Teeter name brands in Food Lion and visa versa), can't truly set prices because it's based on both supply and demand, territory management, and tough growth prospects in slower economies (this is true for direct as well really)

Local distributor advantages: Typically a good ol' boy setting where the seller and the buyer know each other for years (this does happen at all levels, but mostly at the local level), local folks are right down the street and can be used in emergencies, if the local guy buys at high enough volumes then there is no shipping charge to the end user, and access to both direct mfg's and large distributors.

Local distributor disadvantages: easily beaten in price, array of commodities, array of technology, lack of trained staff, low cash flow, etc etc etc.

This is what I have noticed in my six months, I am sure there are plenty more that need mentioning. The way I am setting myself apart as a sales person is this: I go after the big accounts right now while I am new. The big accounts, if I land them, will take care of me while I am new and building a customer base. The money made off of those allows me to focus free time on smaller accounts that get me higher margins. I build up big accounts, I would like to have 5-10 of these, then get 20-30 medium accounts. If I lose 1 or 2 big accounts, the 20-30 medium accounts keep me afloat while I go after new big accounts. I don't really waste time on small accounts simply because they basically pay for breakfast or something really small.

I will say this, if you can't get a big account in the first 6-8 months (assuming you have cash flow that you can ride this long) you could be in a world of trouble. If you can get one, it will really make going after the others a lot more enjoyable and less stressful. It's simply just very exhausting wasting any time on anything other than big accounts in the very beginning. You work just as hard on the medium sized accounts and see 1/3 to 1/36 of the money in my situation.

If you have any other questions, you can PM me. I hope this helps in the slightest!

7/14/2012 8:06:41 PM

7/14/2012 8:08:06 PM

^ Hahahaha

Quote :

"Short sales are generally not pre-approved. That's why they take so long."

I mean you get pre-approval from your bank for a loan, you usually do it before you even start looking.

[Edited on July 14, 2012 at 11:35 PM. Reason : $]

7/14/2012 11:35:36 PM

Be patient.

7/15/2012 12:13:21 AM

i went with a friend to look at a foreclosed home

the carpets, cabinets, light fixtures, etc, were all gone,

look under the house and most of the pipes and wires were ripped out

so he was all FUCK NO

7/15/2012 12:34:53 PM

Foreclosures are bank owned, are generally as is but conditions may vary depending on the bank and property. Banks are large bureaucratic institutions, with more foreclosures on their hands than they are capable of effectively handling, so in most cases things may move slow and they will probably not be open to negotiating on a lot of issues than a normal homeowner. Most foreclosures that are actually a good deal move quickly, so you better have the money and home inspections, etc. lined up in advance if you find a property you want (your competition on these is primarily from investors, people with extensive knowledge/backgrounds in real estate, etc.).

Short sales are a bad deal for a homebuyer, because you generally have to incur costs for things like home inspections up front, then both the homeowner and bank have to agree to any offer. Banks are allowed to continue to consider multiple offers while your cash is sitting in escrow, so unless you have tons of extra cash saved up your good faith deposit savings will be tied up, and you will be incurring sunk costs while their has been no commitment from the seller (bank or homeowner). Add to this that banks are generally slow to sign off on anything where they will lose money as in a short sale, and may be at various stages in the foreclosure process. For these reasons I consider short sales far worse than either a traditional sale OR foreclosure from a buyer perspective.

7/15/2012 12:59:11 PM

^^^ he means preapproved by the sellers bank. I bought a forclosure in jan 2012, it took roughly 25k extra to make it nice again and overall i gained about 50k on the appraised value. That being said, if i had to do it over again i would just buy a house in good condition. Just too many things kept going bad, etc. I wouldnt even consider a short sale, the sellers bank often has very little incentive to accept offers and it often seems would rather just let it go to forclosure

7/15/2012 12:59:31 PM