How to Determine the List Price When Short Selling Home

Short Sale Home Listing Price and Offer Acceptance
When selling any home, the homeowner and their agent can set the listing price at whatever value they wish. It’s no different with a short sale, except the circumstances are much different than a standard sale. With a short sale transaction it’s the lender making the final decision to accept or reject the submitted offer. The homeowner has no impact on this decision. Yes, the homeowner makes the decision rather or not to submit the buyer’s offer, but once the offer is submitted to the lender, it’s no longer the homeowner’s decision to make. Of course, when short selling your home there's much more to consider when determining the listing price. Contact us today and we’ll explain more about how to determine the list price when short selling a home.

When Buying a Short Sale It’s Best to Disregard Listing Prices
Often times, the listing prices we see for short sale properties must be ignored. The listing prices for short sale homes are usually determined by the homeowner’s time frame. If he or she waited too long to short sale their home and is facing a foreclosure date, they will likely list their home at a price well below market value. On the other side of the fence, home buyer’s need to be aware of this. Typically, lenders will not settle for prices too far below the market value, but their decision will be based on the current market and other unknown factors. The bottom line is, you never really know how the lender will respond.

The Lenders Decision to Accept or Reject Offer is Sometimes Based On Hidden Factors
With lenders, you never know what their reaction will be to a short sale offer to buy. In fact, sometimes is seems like the lender is not interested in settling, and just want to foreclose! Other times, it’s completely the opposite. We believe the lenders actions are sometimes driven by their own behind the scenes business management strategies, and not so much on the market value for the short sale property. They’re playing all sorts of games with their assets, cash on hand, taxes, etc. You’d have to be a business wiz to even begin to comprehend their actions or understand the criteria used for making final decisions with a residential short sale property.

Is Short Selling the Only Solution?
In addition to a short sale, there are more options and solutions available to avoid foreclosure. However, in most circumstances we have found a short sale to the best option.