Short Sale Failure

Short sales are very do-able.  That means that they do close most of the time. There is an incentive to do them from most parties involved and they are promoted by the government, because they are much better then the gruesome foreclosure: the only reason to do a foreclosure has to do more with liability, recourse etc. 

But, in order, to get a short sale done sellers must participate in the process.  Sellers need to pay a prominent role because this is for no one else except to help them.  So when they don't participate or withhold information then the entire short sale process will probably become a failure.  

For instance: a couple wanting to do a short sale did not disclose all liens or loans on the property.  Of course, title is ordered in the beginning, but it takes some time and preparation.  The preliminary title indicated a second loan on the property, but the owners are saying there is no second loan or they don't remember it.  They are not answering e-mails or returning necessary documents in a timely manner.  

Guess what's happening to the sale of this property: it's not going anywhere until these matters are resolved, and all it would take is a simple look at the statement so that we could continue with the process, but too many days have gone by and the buyer is gone. 

There are lots of reasons a short sale will not go through and many are out of the control of both sellers and their agents, but for the most part a short sale transaction can be successfully completed if well managed and much of it is up to the seller, because without his/her participation there is no point in even starting.