Get a Grip on Short Sales

A compilation of articles and resources from REALTOR® magazine to help you learn more about this growing, but complicated, niche.

Webinars:

Short Sales: Finding Income in a Tough Market
In this archived REALTOR® Magazine webinar, you'll learn the basics and best practices of handling short sales from both the listing and the selling side. Scott Thompson, a real estate broker and the head of Mortgage Resolution Services, a distressed-sales specialist, will walk you through three critical aspects of a short sale.

Short Sales: Finding Income in a Tough Market, Part 2
In this May 2009 REALTOR® Magazine webinar, we'll be further exploring how real estate practitioners and their clients can benefit from short sales.

Features:

Short Sales: The New Wild West
From pushy lenders to aggressive investors, there are many challenges that real estate practitioners must overcome in the new world of distressed sales.

Short Sales: 7 Legal Pitfalls
In many areas, short sales are the biggest game in town. But you don't want to jump into this niche willy-nilly.

Tips for Disclosing a Short Sale
Short sales present two disclosure challenges — finding a reliable source of correct information about the physical condition of the property and deciding how and when to make a situational disclosure about the owner’s financial distress.

Short Sales: Sorting Out Commission Issues
Some MLSs have a rule requiring listing agents to let their colleagues know if a listing is, or is potentially, a short sale, and thus subject to a possible last-minute change in the commission by the lender.

Editor's Note: Are You Sidestepping Short Sales?
Lenders make the process so arduous, some practitioners say, it’s no wonder salespeople turn the other way when they see a short sale.

How to Succeed at Short Sales
To help you gain a better understanding of short sales, we look at some of the most common questions on this topic that you and your customers likely will face today.

Smooth Short Sales: Tips from a Lender
From the 2008 REALTORS® Midyear Meetings, a lender offers advice for preventing transaction delays and preparing your clients for what lies ahead.

2008 List Issue: 4 Reasons Lenders Want to Work With You on Short Sales
A cottage industry of bankruptcy specialists and other self-described loan mitigators are trawling for clients, but lenders would often prefer to work with real estate professionals.

Other Resources:

Information Central's Field Guide to Short Sales

Handout for Buyers: What If the Property Is a Short Sale?

Handout for Sellers: What to Do If You're Facing a Short Sale

Book Excerpt: Is it Really a Short Sale?

Issue Summary: Debt Forgiveness