Are Short Sales Still for Suckers?

I may have to change my view on short sales, now that one is about to produce income for the VanderMyde family...

... still, watching how hard Heather is working to make this sale happen makes me long for the days of just buying a house from the seller.  Now, you are buying the house from the bank essentially, without the bank really wanting to sell.  Oh sure, they know they'll most likely foreclose on it and have to sell it down the road, most likely in worse shape for less money... but they've done that before.  Short sales are new, different... and no one at the bank wants to stick his or her neck out by doing ANYTHING that might make it easier for the Buyer or Seller... or Agent.

However, Heather was able to get through to the vice president of short sales yesterday at Bank of America...

... which means their IS a vice president for short sales, implying a short sales division... so this means they actually have realized the need to sell off some of these homes in lieu of foreclosure.  Heather was able to get a two day extension after the deal had all but fallen apart due to the bank making arbitrary and infeasible demands on the buyers.

So, I'm guessing that most short sales will still be difficult, drawn out processes that strain buyer and agent... but in the end, the bank does need to get rid of the house, the Buyer can get something at what is likely a below market price; the Seller may be in a better credit situation than with a foreclosure; and the Agent who has held it all together with patience and experience earns enough on this transaction to want to tackle another one with hopes of helping more Buyers or Sellers accomplish their individual goals.

It's not a process for the inexperienced or timid though - tax and legal questions must be answered for the Seller, the Buyer must have the fortitude to wait through the process, and the Agent must be aggressive enough to keep pushing even when it looks like all hope is lost.