A short sale is a real estate sale where the mortgage lender agrees to accept less than the full mortgage balance owed to facilitate the sale of a home of a financially distressed homeowner. The lender often forgives the remaining balance of the loan.

Done properly it can be a win for everyone involved. The Seller gets out from under a property that is worth less than the mortgage balance owed and a mortgage payment that they can no longer afford. The lender avoids the legal costs, lost income, property obligations plus, the eventual sale after foreclosure that could net them as much as 50% less than the property’s original appraised value. And, the buyer benefits by getting a property that has avoided the stigma of foreclosure and deterioration from neglect, at an attractive price.

There are however, pitfalls, issues and problems inherent in the process of buying and selling pre-foreclosure properties that you want to be aware of before entering into a transaction. An agent’s experience and knowledge can help you control the situation and reduce the inherent risks. In any market when there is turmoil there are those that will try to take an unfair advantage of the situation. In these transactions you can find opportunists trying to do sale/leaseback, lease-