Ah the good old days. Remember the good old days of looking for a home? It’s so exciting. Meeting your REALTOR in front of the house you just gotta have. You, your husband and your 2.2 children. You can hear the kids-“Look mommy, this one has stairs!” “Calm down you say, we are just looking” Of course, you are emotionally invested in this house, this is the one! All those months of searching the Internet, checking print publications and the newspaper for open houses has finally paid off.
“Whoa! Look babe” your husband says, “it even has a huge backyard, perfect for the man cave we talked about!” “I know-I know” you say, trying to control yourself. It’s hard though. This beauty even has that detached 3rd car garage you have always wanted, no more storing those nik-naks under your kids beds, in the closets or in the attic-there is now a place for all that. You get the family together for a family gathering in the corner, “should we make an offer?” you say, “YES!” everyone says excitedly.
You call your REALTOR over, “Let’s make an offer” you say. And then he tells you, He told you before, you just didn’t hear it or didn’t want to hear it-he say’s it again: “This is a short sale” It didn’t mean much to you the first time you heard it but now that you have found “the one” you perk your ears up and ask “what does that mean?” You listen attentively, as your REALTOR explains “A Short Sale is when the bank agrees to take less than the balance owed”. “And” you say. Your REALTOR continues… “well, we can make an offer on this home but it could take months before you know if your offer is accepted, and even if it is accepted, it still might not close”. “What!” “Why?” you say. He explains “We need to talk to the listing agent, to see if the short sale has already been approved by the bank…the waiting time is horrendous. Even if a short sale is approved and they accept our offer, it may still take 30 days to get an answer from the Lender who has the final say in whether to approve, reject or counteroffer our offer. Your shoulders sink, it’s frustrating. But your REALTOR isn’t done explaining, “In the meantime, the longer the short sale takes to sell, the closer it gets to being a foreclosure”.
You are starting to get the picture now. Maybe that is why this 4 bedroom beauty is still on the market. Now you need to make a choice. Stick with this one, or keep looking. If you don’t keep looking at what else is available, you may miss out on a good deal while waiting for the short sale to be approved. Even if the seller accepts your offer, the final decision rests with the lender. Even worse, If other offers-better than yours-comes in, the lender may choose the better offer — and you’ve just wasted all that time waiting for a rejection. And don’t forget, even if your offer is accepted and it closes, you are purchasing the home “AS IS”, NO warranty, NO repairs, NO piece of mind.
All this frustration could have been avoided if you bought new. A new home that is. For all the time you wasted, you could have built a brand new home, with the custom features you and your family desired. Stairs, they got that. 3 car garage, that too. Man Cave, what color? Warranty…..ABSOLUTELY. Peace of mind…No Doubt. Value…are you seeing a trend here?
“And now you know, and knowing is half the battle”-The choice is yours, wait months for the privilege of {possibly} living in someone else’s toenails or buy a New Home Phoenix.
Ready….Set……Buy.
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