The main reason I have seen that only 23% of short sales fall through before closing is because buyers get fed up with how long it is taking and walk away. While it is no guarantee, there are questions you can ask before buying a short sale that will tell you how prepared the seller is. If you are looking to do a short sale and you are interviewing sellers agents you should ask the agent how they would answer these questions too.

1) How many liens are on the property? This is the first question your buyers agent should ask the selling agent. If there are only one or two liens on the home, the short sale is much more likely to go through than if there are three or more. If there are more than two, the seller is likely to have to come up with some cash out of pocket to satisfy those debts.

2) What is your plan to satisfy those liens? Does the selling agent and the seller have a plan on how to satisfy the debts if there is more than one lien on the property? The amount of concessions the first lien is willing to make, and the amount of money the second may be willing to accept don’t always match.

3) What is that status of the short sale? Has the selling agent even started a packet, has the hardship letter be written? Financial gathered? Has communications started with the primary lender? Has a short sale packet been requested from lender if available?

If your buyers agent asks these three questions before you put in an offer on a short sale, the selling agent has quality answers that address these issues and it is a home you are willing to make a commitment on your chances of getting a completed deal go way up.

So what type of commitment should you be making and what type of commitment should the seller be making to you? More on that later this week.

If you have other questions you think should be asked that may be as important as these then let me know.