The term "Short Sale" is used as a teaser by real estate professionals (unethical in my opinion) to suggest that a discounted deal is at hand, and that you can score "a good deal" with a distressed property owner. A quick review of the real estate ads in your local paper, or a review of the MLS with your agent, will reveal just how widely used (and misused) the description "short sale" is.

Do you know what a short sale really is?

A Short Sale is a transaction between a mortgage lender/creditor and a mortgage borrower/debtor in which the lender may authorize the borrower to sell their home for an amount that is less than the total owed to the lender.

The lender could be a junior mortgage holder, as well as a first trust deed holder.

The circumstances that cause this payment default could be due to job/income loss, loss of a spouse, catastrophic health issues, addictions, financial carelessness (misuse of re-finance proceeds) and credit card abuse, negative market valuations, and last but not least, the adjustable rate conversion, or recast, by the lender leading to higher and higher mortgage payments.

Random short sale attempts by inexperienced Realtors result in a 1 in 20 success ratio

Inexperience can lead to 100's of hours of wasted time and tons of anger along with frustration. Doing your research about short sales will increase the ratio, but do you have the time to dedicate to this? And where so you begin?

How can you avoid these costly mistakes?

Professional Short Sale Case Management representation can result in a 1in 2 success ratio with little expenditure of time and angst.

How much time are you willing to spend on your short sale?

It usually takes three to six weeks to receive your answer from the lender, provided all your supporting materials have been submitted properly. With the foreclosure sale fast approaching, direct contact with the lender is vital to your success. The lender may approve a "short sale" when the borrower is past due 3 or more payments. Given this information, time is closing in on your good deal.

So, how do you master the short sale market?

The Mortgage Industry's performance in this default arena is, in the majority of cases, ponderous and abusive and is a negative force to deal with. It will require one individual in the collective seller/buyer grouping to aggressively, timely, and persistently co-ordinate all the documentation required by the lender and who will represent the interests of those parties directly to the "true" decision maker in the lenders hierarchy.

The package presented to the "true" decision maker must have data sufficient to answer any questions as to property conditions, values, market viability, and borrower claims of insolvency. Finding a path to the decision maker is extremely difficult. There are services available that can assist you in finding the appropriate departments and people with the target mortgage company.

There are no guarantees in this market, but consulting a professional will drastically improve the odds in your favor. And that good deal will be closer at hand.

Tom Ziegler makes available Short Sale Management Representation packages to realtors for their sellers and buyers on a fee basis. You can contact Tom through Information-Valley.com/ shortSale.html for a free short sale evaluation.