What's included in a short-sale offer?

[Joyce Hall]

I really need some education here. My mother-in-law died in June with a reverse mortgage on her property that is nearly twice the property's value. The mortgage servicer (not the current owner of the mortgage) has given us different information depending on who answers the phone. My daughter has qualified for a mortgage to purchase the property, but we're not sure how to put together the short sale "package." The servicer has been very unresponsive....probably because they rack up $2K a month in interest on the debt, which will be covered by the federal government when the property sells. That's the deal on the reverse mortgages... the lenders can sell it to heirs at 95 percent of its value and they get the rest of their money from our tax dollars. 

The property is in California. The one real estate agent I talked to about it wanted 6% commission for doing the work. She did give me a realistic sales value. 

Happy to talk with someone over the phone about this.