When dealing with a short sale, the first thing to think about is seller motivation.

What is it?

It sure isn't about getting the highest offer.

Seller motivation may be all about a fast resolution to limit credit damage.

Is a qualified buyer more important than highest offer?

We say it sure could be!

Closing the sale and avoiding foreclosure is MUCH more important than highest offer to the distressed seller. Working with the right buyer with a short sale is one of the keys to closing these transactions today.

Losing short sale buyers remains one of the biggest issues for the seller.

It's an issue for the Realtors too because they're spending a lot of time trying to close the short sale and losing buyers is one of the most frustrating realities of a short sale in 2010.

Every agent out there will tell you about these difficulties with short sales..

This is where an investor can offer a lot of value to the homeowner. Having a committed buyer could be the difference between short sale success and failure for the homeowner.

So how can you find a committed buyer?

Here is a tip: Search Yahoo and Google for one.

This is an easy task for a listing agent or a homeowner that could result in an immediate offer on the property.  Without the offer you can't even begin working with the lender on approval of the short sale. 

In today's market you need to look at unconventional options.

Get on the internet and search terms like "Chino Valley Short Sale" for short sale help in Arizona like Sandp-Properties.com. Or search "Pittsburgh Short Sale" for an investor in Pennsylvania such as homeparachute.com.com.

Investors are out there and they can help distressed sellers. Search the internet for real estate investors and you will find them.

Search your area and terms like foreclosure, short sale, real estate, etc. You can find them in every part of the country.  Combine your local market with these search terms.  Another example is "Morris County Short Sale" for companies working short sales specifically in the Morris County, New Jersey such as EmecoShortSaleSolutions.com

If you want to sell your house quickly especially in a downmarket you must 1st prep & stage your residence which is what we call phase 1 giving your residence ready to sell. No matter what the reason why you need to sell off quickly this is a vital step to not only sell off your residence quick but getting a solid offer for your residence. Prepping a home is a simple process of performing minor repairs to get the residence ready to sell off. Cleaning the carpet, fresh coat of paint, changing not working door handles & changing light bulbs go a extended way. Clearly, if there's any structural damage & you want to sell off to a owner occupant and not an investor you will have to get this work done also.

Next is the staging phase. Now I don't mean going all out & making your own look like a model house unless you feel that you can get the value back out of it or you are selling a very high end residence & even then it is not necessary, but I do mean adding little touches that go a long way. Begin by decluttering because this will the property of fresh and new feel. This is the most important part of the staging phase. Next would be adding flowers and place settings, maybe a couple of towels and bath mats if the home is empty.

Next you want to build appeal in your house and create curiosity about your house by making it seem easy to buy &/or by making it simple to purchase. This is done with the marketing & advertising that you do for the sale of your property. Selling your home in an auction type format or with a hopeless sellers advertisement makes your home seem simple to purchase. Selling your house at a economical price, or best offer, or with fabolous terms like owner financing & no bank qualifying makes your house simple to buy.  This is how we sell all of our homes for sale in dallas tx in 5-7 days.

In your marketing you'd make sure also that you create urgency in your prospective consumers. You do not want people just looking, you want buyers. And you want them to have an urgency that they have to act immediately to purchase your home or it will be sold. There're two ways that you do this. First is in the advertising itself by running a distressed sellers type ads. Second, is in the way that you present the home. When you open up your home to prospective buyers to see it you want multiple potential buyer at a time looking at the property. If you have 3 or four families all looking at your property at the same time & they have an understanding that this home will be sold to the top offer as soon as possible this creates urgency. The families will then feel that they gotta’ act in no time & that if they wait the house will be sold. This is how you get offers in no time on your home.

Now that you need an offer on your house it's important that you follow up with the buyer & the title company on a weekly basis to make certain that everything is still going smoothly & to offer your help. Remember, don't take your residence off the market until you have an earnest money deposit and a signed contract. And even then you will be able to take in backup offers.  In summary make sure that you get your residence market ready, that you generate urgency and curiosity in your property, & that you follow up with the prospective consumers and title company on a weekly basis until the property is closed.  If you want more help in getting your home sold fast you can always use an investor.  We do this quite a lot for our clients at stop foreclosure dallas.