How to Buy a Short Sale in Phoenix

Short sales in Phoenix can be acquired with financing or cash purchases.

A short sale is an agreement between a borrower and lender that allows the mortgagee to sell the home for less than the amount due. Areas with high foreclosure rates are more likely to be granted short sales. AZ Biz reports in 2010, "[the Phoenix] market had the nation's seventh-highest metro foreclosure rate, with 4.28 percent of housing units---one in 23---receiving a foreclosure filing."

Instructions

1. Find a short sale property in Phoenix. Begin by looking through local Phoenix newspaper publications for short sale properties. Generally, short sale properties will be in the real estate section of these publications. Short sales often have liens placed against them, so visit the clerk of the Superior Court of Maricopa County's website and look for liens.

2. Estimate the market value. The market value will be determined by real estate conditions in Phoenix and Maricopa County at large. Look through newspapers and visit a local real estate broker's website to find homes currently for sale that have the same square footage and number of bedrooms and bathrooms. In addition, visit Phoenix real estate broker's websites for recently sold properties and the Maricopa County assessor's website. Add all the asking prices and selling prices together, then divide by the number of properties. This will be a strong indication of the short sale's value.

3. Hire a real estate broker. Contact a professional Phoenix real estate broker that specializes in short sales. Share your findings with her and ask her opinion as to your conclusions. She will have suggestions on purchase offers, negotiating repairs if the house is unsellable and the short sale buying process overall.

4. Make a purchase offer. Your purchase offer will be given to the seller or the seller's real estate agent, but it is the lender that accepts or declines the offer. During housing market downturns and/or times of high inventory, the lender can take up to three months to review and accept or decline the offer. Therefore it is best to find other properties and place a time frame stipulation in your purchase offer.

References

• Phoenix Real Estate Guy: The Short Sale from Hell
• Mortgage Professor: Should I Purchase the House For All Cash?
• Bankrate: Short sale cash-out won't work
• Frontdoor.com: Cash is King---Buying a Foreclosure or Short Sale
• AZ Biz: Mortgage Delinquencies, Foreclosures Continue to Plague Tucson Housing Market