Short sale agent

[David H.]

I am new to investing with some very limited success. I recently purchased a primary residence through a short sale that I plan to flip in a couple of years. I am considering getting my license and pursuing short sales (yes, I know how difficult they are) as an investment strategy. I would like to find upside-down pre-forclosures and try to buy them through a short sale. If I can't get the right price I would like, through my license, to find retail buyers and still make some money for my efforts through the commission. As long as I disclose everything to the seller, buyer and bank would this be a good strategy?

[Anson Young]

David H., it gets a little tricky with short sales. You cant buy your OWN short sale listing. If you are representing the seller, you cannot also be the buyer if you are licensed. The workaround would be for another agent (friend/partner) to represent the seller and you represent yourself as the buyer. It can be a little tricky when marketing to homeowners in this situation, you would basically say if you are the one buying it, you would bring in your partner to represent them in the deal. Some savvy homeowners kinda give you the WTF look/script.

So you can buy a short sale where the seller is represented by another agent, but cannot buy the short sale where YOU are representing the seller.