House Buying Question.
 

Is a house listed as "potential short sale" a good thing for a buyer? What exactly does that mean?

It means the seller is upside down on the house, owing more than he is trying to (or can) sell it for. So, the seller HOPES that the bank will go along with this sale and just take it on the chin. Unless you have spoken with the lender and they agree to this up front, then I think you would be better off looking elsewhere, or just wait for the house to get foreclosed on, then buy it directly from the lender.

Either way, you are essentially trying to buy the house from the bank. The guy living there has no skin in the game. He is a defacto renter.

plus it takes forever and two weeks to get a short sale done. There will be a lot of back and forth between the buyer and the bank. I would make sure the lender approves a short sale first. This will save a couple months. Once they approve a short sale they will set a sale price. Then if you offer something lower it will take a few more months, but if you agree to their first price then it wont take but a couple more months to get it done.

I screwed around with a short sale for about 8 months back and fourth eventually it all imploded on itself and nothing came of it. Stay away very far away unless it is a lender pre approved short sale.

I short sold my house in Houston. I put it on the market in nov. '09. I got the short sale approved in feb. '10. I finally sold it in june '11.

If it's already listed at one price would that be the short sale price or since it says in the listing "potential short sale" it means they could go lower?

Generally you would have to go higher than the list price on a "potential sale" Probably has not even been run by the bank that holds the loan on it yet. The banks just dont care, why should they if shit goes south again they can just get bailed out... again.

Everything else is just talk until you make an offer.

Here's something else to consider: Is the asking price a real bargain? If it isn't, then why bother? If it is a bargain, then go for it if you don't mind waiting.

It has been listed since Jan 2011. It was $149,900 then and now it's $89,900.

It would be worth checking into. If you're not in a hurry.

But is that a great price? Has the house been vacant that long? Have you been inside the house?

I have only seen it on Realtor.com and the agents website. There is furniture and personal items in the house in the pics. It's over 1700sq/ft and 1.26 acres. 2 car garage, updated kitchen, 2 fireplaces and one is 2 sided. Screened in porch on the back with a deck around it and the entire length of the house. It also has a lower deck. House sits on a hillside.

Might be a mistake posting this but here it is. 3854 STATE ROAD 135, Nashville, IN 47448 | Listing Information | Nick Woodring - High Performance Real Estate | Carpenter Realtors® - Indianapolis Real Estate

Why don't you give us a link to the website and let us pick it apart. What's the neighborhood like? People take care of their property, older or newer neighborhood, inside/outside City, etc.?

See above. :lol:

That house was built in 1955, so it's 57 years old now. My own house is now over 50, and insurance company chose not to continue insuring such an old house without an inspection (which it seems, it was pre-determined to fail). Building codes were much looser back then, and there are some legitimate concerns with that.

:iagree:


Btw i don't waste my time even looking at them unless the listing states BANK APPROVED short sale..

Master bedroom is 11' x 19'? Seems odd.