Location Southwest Florida.Bank Short Sale Suggestions by Joe Kendall, Realtor with Sandals Realty. I read now and then about people talking about Bank Short Sales about their frustrations or how uncomfortable they are in looking or waiting for a reply on a contract for a Bank Short Sale Listing. I would like to offer a few questions I ask the Listing Agent before making an offer on a bank short sale listing. These questions will help the process along between you the Home Buyer, Your Realtor and the Listing Agent.
(1) How far behind is the Seller on the mortgage payments? Most mortgage companies will not get serious about an offer unless the seller is atleast 4 months behind in the mortgage and the bank has already started the process for foreclosure proceedings.
(2) Has the Seller submited all the required documents to the Lender? The lender will not even give the Listing Agent a reply with out all the sellers required documents. Some banks want the seller required documents and your offer submitted or all at one time. Just knowing the listing agent has all the documents in their file ready will speed up the process.
(3) What kind of discussions have you had with the Lender ? This question puts the listing agent on the spot and opens up discussions. You should be able to tell if the listing agent is in tune with the file and the bank. If the listing agent is without a direct line to the assigned Loss Mitigation Officer to the file would in most cases result in a longer then normal reply on your offer.
(4) Dose the Seller have a First and a Second Mortgage ? Is the second it with the same Lender? It takes more time to close a bank short sale with two mortgages and is even more difficult if it involves two different Lenders, the the chances of the deal are greatly reduced, yet some do close but expect a longer wait.
(5) Dose the Seller have PMI ( Private Mortgage Insurance ) on this property? Many times this comes out in the very end of settling the short sale , So ask it up front before making the offer. More often then not, the Investor that bought the insurance, will require a promissory note for the balance on his investment, before accepting to close the deal. Most of the time they will not remove their portion of the debt on the property, if the seller can not come to so terms on a cash or a payment plan, the mortgage will not be able to be released from the mortgage regardless of the contract price.
There are some very good deals on homes that are listed as a bank short sales. They normally do not receive multi contract offers like bank owned property like what is currently happening here in Southwest Florida.
I would suggest you, don't shy away from the bank short sales! Find a Realtor that has experience in purchasing and closing bank short sales. We just need to start these simply dicussions with the listing agent and the answers to these questions, will give a you a better understanding on the direction you should take as the home buyer.
I hope this information make you feel more comfortable and understanding the questions to ask in purchasing a bank short sale listings.
Joe Kendall, Realtor Sandals Realty
Waterfront&Foreclosure Specialist
Phone 239-560-0726 Fax 239-236-0422
Discover Southwest Florida www.ViewSwFlorida.com
Search Homes in Southwest Florida www.JoeKendall.listingbook.com
Read Joe's Real Estate Blog www.SwFloridaRealtorsBlog.com
(1) The condition of the seawall is important to check many home buyers and agents do not check the condition of the seawall. The rain water should be flowing over top of the sea wall into the canal. Check to insure the water is not running behind the wall and underneath to the waterway. This will cause the seawall to weaken and crack. You should walk the entire edge of the sea wall where the yard meets the seawall. If there is already water running behind the wall you will notice the soil will be starting to wash away. Secondly you should look at the outside wall surface to insure there are no major cracks. Replacing a seawall can cost several thousands dollars. Repairing should be done right away after closing on the property.
(2) Condition of the dock and boat lift. l personally look at every piling to insure there are no major cracks or "Pealing of wood" Stress cracks on pilings holding the metal supports for the boat lift will be located where the lift is bolted to the piling. I would operate the lift, if it has not been oiled in a while it will make a large noise. if it shakes I would have in inspected by a Marine Contractor and the bearings could be going and in need of replacement. ( I can give you a good reference of a Marine Contractor to give you a estimate of repairing or replacing the current lift. )
(3) Boating distance to the River and the Gulf of Mexico. We have over 300 miles of Gulf Access Waterfront in Cape Coral Florida. In some areas yes we do have a lot of water but during the dry season we have some canals that are hard to get a boat out to open water. We have different bridge heights ( Boat clearance ) within the City of Cape Coral. There is a big difference in location regards to boating distance (time in boating travel) to the river and open waterway. As a home buyer you should know how long it will take you to get out to open water and what size of boat would you be limited to buying from any homes location.
shells all at the same time. 
Liquidation officer with Wells Fargo Home Loans came to a very positive result. Joe I will enter all the information you have supplied me and I will have an approval on your Bank Short Sale within two days. Maybe even as early as tomorrow on your Bank Short Sale. Congratulations on all your hard work ! 
st Florida.