Short sale:
In real estate, a short sale is when a bank or mortgage lender agrees to discount a loan balance due to an economic hardship on the part of the mortgagor. source: Wikipedia
If you want to get a property for cheap, a short sale can work. But the key point is to do your research to find out how much is owed on the property. You can't get a 100% accurate amount, but you can make some educated guesses to help you get the best price.
- Go to the local county property appraiser site and locate by address or name the property.
- Review the previous home sales for the property. See what they sold for and find the "book and page" of the mortgage.
- Go to the local county records site. Do a search for the "book and page" you found at the property appraiser.
- Find the name of the owner from the mortgage. Also right down the amount of the mortgage and the date. This information can be used to find how much is owed on the property.
- Search for the owner name. Any secondary mortgages or "notice of foreclosures" should be returned to you.
With all this data you can get a rough estimate of what is owed on the property. In general most lenders will be "open" to offers that are 20% less than the total value of the loan. If you would like more detailed information please email me at steve@steveloper.com
Hints:
- One rule in a short sale is that the seller won't get any money from the sale. It all goes to the lender. Be wary of any one that says they can get you money back.
- Go directly to the county web sites. They may be slow, but they have the most accurate records