If you are looking to purchase a short sale property, here are some common steps to take:

1. Find the short sale property that you are interested in purchasing and make an agreement with the home owner about the deal. Have the homeowner sign a “letter of authorization” which will allow the lender to discuss the possibility of a short sale with you even though you aren’t a homeowner. The letter should include basic information such as the property address, the account number of the loan and your contact information. OR you could save yourself some work and hire a real estate agent to do the leg work.
2. Put together an offer on the short sale.

There are things to look out for in a short sale. You don’t want to get a bad property that you cannot turn around and sell later…so of course, doing an inspection and assessment of repairs are very important to this type of sale.