Approval before purchase contract

[Minna Reid]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is no way to get a short sale approved for any amount without first having a buyer and a contract in place, right? I get calls from realtors on active listings asking "is the ss approved yet?" or sometimes I see other listings advertised as "approved short sale". I also know one realtor who insists he has gotten bank approval before he even listed the property, but I certainly cant get the bank to talk to me about any approval until I have a purchase contract. The only way I could see a property for sale as an "approved" short sale was if there was an approval with a different buyer and the sale fell apart. Right?

[Dave P.]

Minna,

I've never gotten SS approval before contract. However, I've never tried either. I don't really see it happening though.

On the other hand, I advertise a bunch of SS as "short sale approved". This occurs frequently when buyers slip through the cracks after the SS is processed, and even approved.

That's been my experience.

[Ruben Ortega]

Hi Minna,

You can get a short sale approved prior to sending in a contract if your sellers have an FHA loan. If the bank is following FHA guidelines the bank must give you the approval price and 3 months to sell the property. At least that's how it is when doing a realtor short sale. Pretty sure the rules also apply to an investor short sale. You may have to educate the loss mitigator. Hope this helps!

[Phil *]

Hi Minna,

It's highly unlikely. What they probably mean is 'has anyone put in an offer, gotten the bank to agree to a price, and then the buyer eventually backed out'. At this point the realtor should know how much the short sale is 'approved' for and the BPO and everything else should be done and should only take a couple weeks for the final approval letter if accepted.