There are plenty of short sales on the market…and also plenty of frustrated buyers.

Here are some things to think about before leaping into purchasing a short sale:

1. In a lot of cases, the soonest you’ll hear back on an offer may be 45 days.
2. The listing price has nothing to do with the actual price that the bank will accept since the Realtor does not know the price that the bank is fine with.
3. Many buyers are offering the bank a much lower than listed price.  The bank wants a fair market price and will be hiring an appraiser to look at the property.
4. While you are waiting for an answer on the offer, the listing will remain active for multiple offers.
5. When the bank does answer you, there is usually no chance for a counter offer since they will accept the best offer.
6. When the bank usually turns down most offers that are asking them to pay towards closing costs.
7. The bank will usually not perform any repairs.
8. The bank still may require the seller to sign a promissory note to pay the difference so the seller may walk away from the deal making you go back to square 1 on your home search.
9. Based on some Realtor office stats, less than 35% of short sale offers are approved on the bank.