Taking Down First Short Sale - What Am I Missing?

[Steven Aponte]

Hello BP'ers!

Today I sell my depreciating asset (my car) to free up some funds and hopefully acquire a new income producing asset. So naturally, last night I was searching for homes to BRRRR. I stumbled onto one in an area I already invest in, at a price I can take down myself (no financing). The initial math pencils out for either a BRRRR or even an BR-AirBNB-RR (see what I did there?). The issue for me is: It's a short sale. Actually, I'd be taking over for a buyer who is backing out of his approved offer in the last 24 hours. He strung along the seller and bank and now there's only a week to close. Title is cleared already.

I've never done a short - and certainly not in 5 days! What should I look for, besides a physical walk through, clean title, and the normal property purchase math? Can past due HOA's come back to haunt me? Water/Sewer? Back taxes? I'd expect those all to show up as liens, but if they weren't filed yet, couldn't I get caught holding the bag?

I am skeptical of unicorns... What am I missing?