What Is An Approved Short Sale?

see it advertised a lot on the Multiple listing service and across the Internet that this house is an approved short sale. Well what is an approved short sale? The perception among home buyers is that this is the number the bank will accept for the house...but is that always the case? See, not everyone can do a short sale. You have to have a legitimate hardship to qualify for a short sale. Just because you owe more on the house than it is worth does not necessarily mean you can do a short sale. There are times when an offer is submitted to a bank and the bank will come back and tell the Realtor that they will accept X amount of dollars for the house. because a lot of times the person that put the first offer in is not the one that buys the house.... they usually cannot wait it out and move on to another house. Or the bank wants more than they are willing to pay for the house. To me an approved short sale is one where the bank has accepted the short sale and agreed to a dollar amount they will accept on the house.....Then the short sale is approved and at a set price. I hear Realtors say, but not everyone is qualified to do a short sale and if the bank accepts the hardship it is an approved short sale....Well yes that is true. but should you be advertising a home as a short sale if you are not 100% sure it will pass the short sale criteria? When you see approved short sale...ask questions. if you see approved short sale at list price then know the bank will accept that dollar amount on the house and the transaction should move rather quickly. Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker www.davedicecco.com