Short Sales One: It's Hard to Avoid Them, So You Better Understand Them
(approved for 1 real estate continuing education by the Minnesota Department of Commerce)
25% of all homes underwaterShort sales are complicated, frustrating to all involved, slow and full of risk; however, they dominate the real estate market. Can you really afford to avoid short sales? If not, you have to have at least a basic understanding of how a short sale transaction proceeds, the players involved in short sales and the roles they play, the risks for your clients and yourself and how to protect your client and yourself from the risks associated with short sales.
Even if you only represent buyers of short sale properties you must have a basic understanding of short sales or you will not be able to properly protect your clients or yourself.
While there is a lot of information about short sales that you can heard or read about on the internet, TV or in newspapers, how much of that information can be trusted?
- Every state has different rules and regulations so what may be true in California have no relevance in Minnesota if they have different rules and regulations.
- Can you trust a non-lawyer concerning the legal issues surrounding short sales?
- The mere fact that someone has done a lot of short sales does not know that they are doing them correctly. Unfortunately, mistakes made often take years to surface.
- Is the information current? Short sales are continually changing. The issues shift becuase of the type of properties, type of owner and banks that are involved in short sales. Any change can have a drastic impact on your short sale both legally and practically.