In Maricopa County, 23% of the homes listed for sale are Short Sales. However, of the homes that are selling, less than 1% are short sales. Why are these numbers so disproportionate? Several reasons… 1) Most banks won’t postpone the foreclosure process or auction date unless there is a legitimate offer submitted to purchase the property. Without an offer, a short sale property will eventually end up as a foreclosure. 2) In most cases, the bank has never agreed to a short sale price before the property is listed. There is no guarantee that the bank will even accept the current list price of the house. 3) Buyers don’t want to make an offer on a home and then wait 6 to 8 weeks to see if the bank has accepted their offer. In most cases, after the initial 8 weeks, the bank and buyer begin a series of counter offers which drags the process out even longer. 4) Most real estate agents don’t like showing short sale listings to their clients. They take far too long and most buyers give up on the process after only two or three weeks. 5) Most agents are professional Realtors and not professional bank negotiators. If you cant speak the banks language and talk to the right people inside the bank, a short sale will never close. Problems with ‘Traditional’ Short Sales