Buying a Short Sale

It's hard to say if they will accept that or not. Every market is different, and every bank is different. Our house was listed as a short sale for $249,000, and we offered $235,000, and they took it. We had been waiting for 3 months when we found out that they accepted our offer. We split the closing costs. You really need to consult with your realtor they will know what's a fair offer and what is not.

Yes I bought a short sale.
Short sales are hardly ever short. Sometimes they take a really long time to close on. We asked for about 10 grand less then the asking price as a start. We came to that number based on the comparable houses for sale in the same area. It was refused by the bank and we kept upping the offer little by little. Evenually it was accept and still at a great price based on the "average" houses in the area.
Do you have a real estate agent? Our agent told us what to offer and was the one who checked out all the comps. I wish you good luck!

As the other posters have mentioned... short sale isn't about the seller anymore, it's about the lenders. My BIL short-sold his condo (long and really irritating story of his impulsivity) and not only did it take forever, but in some cases there is more than one "lender" involved so you have to get each debtor to agree to the "adjusted" amount.

Three months is nothing in this market, so don't factor that in. Personally, I would think that the bank is going to reject an offer that is 20%-30% ADDITIONAL loss for them- remember that they have already agreed to "eat the difference" and any further reductions in price hit them directly. Think about it... a person owes $150,000 to you and you say "okay, give me $100,000 and we'll call it "even" and they come back to you with an offer of $70,000. Would you take it if it meant that you were actually taking an $80,000 hit? Probably not.

I would come in with 10-15% below asking price, knowing that you will likely pay 5-10% below asking in the end.

I'm not a realtor ...

The trick with Short Sales, is that its not up to the Seller to negotiate the price. The bank has to approve the price.

I would probably offer 10-15% lower as a start. If you really aren't heart set on the house. If you are heartset, I'd offer 5-10%.

I have heard of/seen the bank forecolse on a short sale 3x, the day before the short sale went to closing.

Its possible you could get that much below the price. Ask your realtor, they would know and give you advice on what they think you could get. Just be careful with short sales sometimes there is a reason for it.

And always make sure to get a home inspection, because if the owner isnt willing to have one then dont buy it. Red flag.

Good luck and best wishes!

we are in this process right now. sigh........it takes a long time. if the listing says "approved for short sale" that means the bank has agreed to take a lesser amount for the house. it can take months for the bank to approve the amount you offer. if it says "approved for listing price" then the bank has already approved it at that amount and for whatever reason the deal didn't go thru. We were renting a home. the owner had it listed at $260,000 and tried for over a year to sell it. then lowered it. another year went by. it went into short sale. price started getting lowered regularly. last time it was lowered it was to $134,000. it went into foreclosure and is going to be sold for about $90,000 we are hoping to buy it. but not sure what is going to happen with it.

We bought a short sale and had to pay 15% more than the listing price. It was a long, stressful, torturous process dealing with the bank approvals and the appraisals. When people ask me for advice about buying a short sale, I tell them to run. I'll never do that again. You're much better off going with a foreclosure.