How to Write a Winning Portland Short Sale Offer

Nothing is more difficult to purchase these days than a short sale! The numbers on successful Portland short sale offers are terrible, many reports suggest 1 out of 5 Portland short sale offers actually ends up in a sale. While no short sale offer is guaranteed to succeed, there are a number of things a Portland buyer can do to increase their chances of success.

1. Ask your Portland real estate agent to find out how many banks are involved in the short sale. Often a seller will have a first and second mortgage with two different banks and sometimes even a third in the mix with a home line of credit. Simply put, the less banks involved the better your chances are. If there is more than one bank they fight with each other to determine who will get more money out of the deal. Sometimes the short sale falls through because the different banks refuse to cooperate with each other.

2. Ask your Portland real estate agent to out how many offers have been submitted. The first offer, generally speaking, always has the best chance. Many short sale banks will only take one offer at a time and the rest will sit as backups.

3. Look for “pre-approved” short sales. Often this pre-approved status is listed in the description of the Portland short sale online. Pre-approved means the bank has already agreed to the sales price and if an offer comes in at that amount, the chances of a successful and quick short sale are much higher than any other short sale situation. Pre-approved is not a guarantee, but it does help termendously.

4. Be patient. Portland short sales take a long time. Don’t offer unless you are willing to wait at least four months to close. It is a hard reality for most Portland buyers, but it is a true one. (Things are changing and getting faster, see this news article, but the average time to sell (Spring 2012) is still over three months.

If you follow these four short sale tips, you’ll drastically increase your chances at successfully purchasing a Portland short sale. Talk with your Portland Realtor today!