What is the difference between a short sale, a property being foreclosed on and a bank owned/lender owned property?
In very simple, short length answers: A short sale is when the homeowner markets the property for less than he owes on it. Just because the homeowner agrees to an offer, doesn’t mean the bank will. As a matter of fact, it may take up to six months or more to get an answer from the bank. And then the answer could be no. The bank has the final say in a short sale…not the homeowner. A property being foreclosed on is one that the bank is in the process of taking back due to non-payment. Once it has been foreclosed, it will go up for auction (often at the courthouse steps). A bank owned or lender owned property is a property that was foreclosed on and didn´t sell at auction. The bank is now selling it to get it off the books. These are the lesser of the three evils when it comes to the time and hassles of purchasing a short sale property, a foreclosed property or a bank/lender owned property.
