5 Phases of a short sale
Phase 1 - Document Preparation and Home Preparation
This first phase is dependant on the homeowner. In this first phase, the homeowner prepares the paperwork required by the lender and gets the home ready to put on the market. This phase can take as little as a few days or several weeks. Even though this sale will not be traditional, it is still important to make your home as clean, clutterfree and as appealing as possible. Buyers are looking for the nicest home at the best price. You can download the appropriate forms here (password required).
Phase 2 - Market Preparation and Listing of Home
This phase begins once you have completed phase 1 and will take a most 4 business days. Your listing team will visit your home to sign the listing paperwork, take the most attractive photos of your home, discuss how lockboxes work, discuss how showings will occur, and help you to stage your home if necessary.
Phase 3 - Aggressively Marketing Your Home to Get A Qualified Buyer
Phase 3 can take as little as a few days or as long as several months. We typically receive offers within the first 3 weeks but as the market is always changing, this cannot be guaranteed.
Phase 4 - Negotiating with the Lender
Once we get an offer on your home, we get down to the detailed work where our expertise and experience comes into play in getting the "short sale approval". This negotiation process can take as little as 2 weeks or as long as 3 months. This process involves numerous phone calls, faxes and emails between us and the lender. Every lender is different and some are more challenging to work with than others. This phase requires the most patience for everyone involved because at times it is hard to understand why there is a delay from the lender.
Phase 5 - The Escrow Period
Once the short sale approval letter is received from the lender and the Seller has approved it, then we move into high gear. The Buyer's inspection period begins and the closing date is set. In general, the time from approval to closing is 25 days but sometimes Buyers will be ready to close in as little as 10 days.
