So… I wasn’t planning on house hunting until my HSBC account matured. I came across a house that is on Short Sale and know nothing about the buying and closing process since I never intended or thought about going this way.
If I go look at this and start the process of inspecting and so on, what am I in for? I just starting digging into the research. Anyone have first hand experience with this? I’ll take advice from both sides of the ball.
Short sale in Buffalo means either the previous owners sucked financially, or the house/neighborhood is going downhill. And now that the 8k is over prices are likely going to come down some more so I wouldnt rush into anything
+1 Nappy, also I’d second guess living so close to the airport. I know the Buffalo airport doesn’t see that much air traffic, but I’d still be concerned with the noise.
I went and checked out the neighborhood and that is not the reason for the short sale. The house is to the East of Eggert, which is clearly the divide between the hood and normalcy. It seems like they refinanced when the value was high and are in deep. The owner tried to sell it for 14 months on his own before the back started the short at the end of April.
Josh - The air traffic is a non issue. I already asked about that. The lady’s boss lives off of Lebrun and said it’s nothing.
To some it up, its a long drawn out process and it can takes months to hear back from the bank if they accept your offer or not. By the time you hear, you can prob find another place within the time frame are looking without half the headachoe of the bank. Plus if there are things wrong, you deal with escrows and other crap that might be screwed up if the owner neglected it.
Several of my friends have gone through this.
A short sale is not a foreclosure, and typically are in a bit better condition, but you never know. Buying is the same overall process as any other house. You make an offer, the seller (the bank) needs to review and approve, then you inspect (then you get your out if there were shady shit), then appraisal (another out) and then purchase.
The big thing is that it can take a LONG time. Banks these days are overloaded with properties like this and its not uncommon for you to hear nothing for months after an offer (its not a requisite either though).
You can find great deals this way, if you aren’t in a hurry and can be flexible it is a great way to find a good deal, typically without nearly as much property trashing as is involved in a foreclosure. There is no more risk buying a shortsale than any other house, its not like you are buying it at an auction site-unseen.