Re: Los Angeles SHORT SALE

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First of all - in Los Angeles - right now, we're in a
Buyer's Market. I just purchased my townhome, which was a
short sale in a highly desireable area in the Foothills near
La Canada Flintridge for $350,000.

The original asking price was $390,000 in December.

Short sales take about 3-5 months to close, because
depending on how many financial institutions have a lien on
the property, all lien holders must come to a common
agreement regarding which party gets what money first before
accepting your offer.

I'd recommend finding a real estate agent who has recent
short sale experience - and someone who is aggressive and
not passive with your transaction.

Your signed offer typically does not mean anything until the
seller formally accepts this offer (signed) and the
financial institution who has a lien on the property also
accept your offer.

I don't know if this helps, but you're not alone - and I
wouldn't pay any more than what the property is listed, or
any more than what you have offered. Stick to your guns -
arrogant California sellers are no longer in a rising real
estate area. For the most part, depending on what area you
are looking at - California currently has a declining real
estate market, this is coming from the number one Banking
institution in the U.S.

Best of luck.

On 5/07/08, Sonia A. wrote:
> Los Angeles, CA. The short sale house was listed for
> $350k. Our offer for $370k was accepted on 4/2. The
> acceptance was signed by the owner. Then the agent said:
> we'll see if the bank agrees. Does our signed contract
> mean nothing? We just heard (5/7/08) that the bank wants
> to clear $400k which means that they want our offer to be
> about $429k. Is there no way to get them to honor our
> accepted offer? In the meantime we've taken out a line of
> credit (getting ready for the down payment) incurred
> interest charges