Do I have to start all over After the Approved Short Sale deal dies?

The short answer....YES, WITH A TOUCH OF NO

KEEPING IN MIND THAT A SHORT SALE APPROVAL IS GENERALLY BASED ON A BUYER WITH A SPECIFIC NUMBER FOR A PERIOD OF TIME; SO IF THE DEAL DIES THEN PREPARE YOURSELF FOR ANOTHER JOURNEY AHEAD. AT OUR OFFICE WE PRACTICE THE 3 R'S WHICH IS TO REDUCE TILL YOU RECEIVE A NEW OFFER, RE-SUBMIT FOR A NEW APPROVAL AND REMEMBER BANKS ARE NOT THE SHARPEST KNIVES IN THE DRAWER. WHICH BRINGS ME TO THE HIDDEN 4TH R WHICH STANDS FOR RELAX! BECAUSE GETTING THEM TO UNDERSTAND WILL TAKE SOME PATIENCE

Now lets back track a little...

This question was asked by a new agent who has been working a file for about 5 months and still has no offer despite having the property approved by the lender a few months back.

Often times it is difficult for home owners to actually make the tough decision that they are in over their heads when it comes to their mortgages. A home is the biggest investment that most of us have and to see it all drift away can sometimes be very hard to accept.

Once home owners have come to terms with the situation; they usually reach out to a reputable Realtor who hopefully has knowledge on Short Sales and lists the property for sale on the MLS. Depending on how well it is priced it could take days, weeks or even months to secure an offer. Once received the Agent will forward the Short Sale packet to the lender for review and hopefully approval. The lender then does some preliminary things which includes a full review of the Sellers financial records, income documentation (if any), hardship letter etc...and they also order a BPO (Broker Price Opinion) to determine the properties true market value so they can gage the offer that has been presented. If the numbers make sense you should receive an approval notice from the lender which will give the Green light for the everyone involved that it is a solid deal that has the ability to actually close. But in many cases the buyer backs out before the actual approval arrives or the buyers decides that they are no longer interested in the property; no matter what happened, no matter the reason...the reality is the deal is dead

So now the Realtor/Sellers are stuck with an approved price and no buyer. The Sellers Agent then places the home back on the market as an approved short sale in hopes of securing a new purchaser...but what happens if no one comes right away?

I see homes on the market almost daily that are being marketed as an Approved Short Sale with a quick closing possible; now is that is really accurate information? if you received an approval from the lender in March can you safely say that the number still stands in September? I am sure it may with the bank, but how about potential buyers? How about the Market value today? I also see homes that were approved at one number and the list price is substantially less; for example: short sale approved for 150k, list price 99k...Wouldn't this lead to attracting buyers that are looking for homes under 100k calling you only to be surprised later on? do you call this lead generating or misleading; what do you think?

In my business, I market homes until an offer is received and if that deals dies, my notation in the MLS reads "Short Sale was approved at list (or specific number) but further review will be needed upon securing a new offer" Lets be honest value in some towns change almost daily, so doesn't that make it hard to determine the amount that the lender would accept? especially if time has lapsed and that approval date is long behind you? The way I see it no matter how you look at it; its back to the drawing board for this house.So prepare yourself and your clients as well as cooperating agents that this short sale has made it to the promise land but has since returned and hopefully will be back there again reeal soon.

To all of my short sale agents...Keep up the GOOD fight!