All Forum Posts by: Da Deep

David, I really appreciate your help. I'm going to get all these answers over the weekend. At this point, I'm just trying to "ramp up" to get a head start on the process, so that I'm better informed before I go to meet the seller.

A month ago, the seller wanted 730k "700 to pay off the bank and 30k for me to walk out of this place". I felt he's on crack and forgot about it. Four days ago, the seller left 3-4 voicemails for me, saying he's willing to short sell and that I can have the house for 600k. That's about all I know for now.

Thanks all, for clearing that up for me. Somebody needs to edit/delete the article http://www.biggerpockets.com/articles/99-9-key-s-to-short-sale-success :

"When you short sale only first mortgages you have to pay all cash"

I have a credit score approaching 800 and everything else makes me an excellent candidate to get a mortgage but all that is useless if a short sale deal requires all cash.

I agree. I'll call the township records office tomorrow to get sale prices of homes within the last 30 days.

In an article posted on BP:
http://www.biggerpockets.com/articles/99-9-key-s-to-short-sale-success

The author says that the buyer needs to come up with CASH at closing. I was planning on putting 40% down and getting a mortgage for the rest. Can't I do that?

So you're saying homes are going NOW at 2001 prices? Perhaps where you live but definitely not around here. There are several properties that have sold for 550k+ in the past month that sold for 200k in 2001.

Thanks Tony. I'm definitely going to hire an attorney and get a home inspection done. I don't plan to skimp on things that, like you said, can put me at substantial risk.

oh, I also found out the HO has been arrested a few times. disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, drunk driving. So, not only do I have to deal with the immense uncertainty of a short sale coming to fruition, I also have to deal with a seller who has personality problems :) I called him around 6pm on a weekday and he was definitely tanked. Not a good sign.

Overall, you're right that the home owner is largely clueless. This is going to be very tough to close. I'll learn a lot more on Saturday when I go to see the house and meet with the owner.