Buying During/After a Short Sale

[Sherri Southwell]

My clients are short selling their home due to structural issues causing a significant decrease in the value of the home.  They have found a home they want to move to and a family member has offered to pay cash for the home and work out repayment terms with my clients then deed the home to my clients as soon as the sale closes so they can homestead the property.  My question is, can they do this with the pending short sale or would they need to wait until the sale has been completed?  And even then, would they need to wait a specific amount of time before having a home deeded to them?