| A short sale is one of the hottest ways to make | | | | since most of these listings are generally not identified |
| money from real estate investing. In a short sale, the | | | | as such since the lender feels such a tag puts him at a |
| homeowner, with the agreement of the lender, sells his | | | | disadvantage. Try searching instead using terms such |
| property at less than the remaining balance of the | | | | as pre-foreclosure, subject to lender approval or bank |
| mortgage. These transactions usually happen when a | | | | approval needed. You can also scout for prospects |
| borrower is no longer able to service his mortgage and | | | | through court records and public announcements that |
| is facing foreclosure. For the lender, accepting a | | | | indicate that a homeowner may be distressed and |
| discounted payoff on the property may be a better | | | | open to a possible short transaction to avoid |
| alternative than having to foreclose and keep the | | | | foreclosure. |
| property as a non-performing asset on their books for | | | | You should hire a qualified real estate agent who will |
| months. If you are thinking of getting on the short sale | | | | help you maneuver through the process. Your agent |
| money train, you'd better pause and make sure you | | | | should have experience with real-estate owned (REO) |
| understand what you're doing. Here are a few | | | | properties so that he can expedite the process; |
| investing techniques you should know. | | | | otherwise, it can take as long as four to six months to |
| One important technique is being able to know how | | | | close. It is your agent who will deal with the buying |
| much you should offer the lender for the distressed | | | | agent to negotiate the sale. If you hire an agent to |
| property. You may have heard that you can get many | | | | represent you, make sure that you let him do his job; |
| of these pre-foreclosure properties for a song, but if | | | | do not call the listing agent. And interview the agents |
| your offer is too low, the lender will not only reject | | | | you are considering hiring before making your final |
| your offer, he won't even bother to inform you that he | | | | decision to make sure they are knowledgeable and |
| is doing so. Make sure your offer comes up to | | | | you feel comfortable with them. |
| reasonable guidelines. One benchmark is to offer | | | | Finally, one of the most important investing techniques |
| around 85% of the value of the property in order for | | | | is knowing how to flip it at once in order to make your |
| the lender to begin the make sure, however, that you | | | | cash profit quickly. You can do this by arranging a |
| can still make money from the transaction. | | | | simultaneous closing in which you line up a back-end |
| Another of the investing techniques you need to | | | | buyer, close with the seller and then resell to the buyer. |
| master is finding listings. You can look for these offers | | | | If you can do this, then you can easily make a killing in |
| on the public-access side of the Multiple Listing Service | | | | real estate. |
| (MLS); however, do not use the search term short sale | | | | |