Las Vegas Short Sales - Short Sale Homes, Condos for Sale

Buying Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas short sale homes, condos

What is a Las Vegas short sale home or condominium or high rise condo?

A short sale home, condo or high rise condo deal in Las Vegas is done when the seller (mortgagee) owes more than what the property is worth in today's market. The seller has no equity in the home and lists his/her property with a Las Vegas Realtor who can negotiate with the lender to accept less money than they are owed. When California or other real investors call about buying short sales, they mean buying real estate at a discount, and the short sale homes and condos in Las Vegas is the last thing on their mind. Short sale process is evolving rapidly and some banks are making the process easier than others. See

Las Vegas home and condo sellers have to prove hardship

The seller has to prove hardship to the lender by filling out required forms and submitting many documents which is  time consuming and complicated. Getting a short sale approved can take several months, and if discounts gained through buying a short sale are not better than buying a foreclosed home or a regular sale, unapproved short sales should be avoided.

Must have an offer to start short sale process

Banks don't allow the short sale process to start unless the seller has an offer in hand and this is the reason for ridiculously low asking prices on some short sale homes and condos which I have discussed in:

Making offers on Las Vegas short sales that are not approved by the lender and priced exceptionally low to get an offer often fail. Long waits to approve a short sale result in the buyers dropping out of escrow often, read horror Stories about closing short sale deals in Las Vegas before tax credit runs out .

The main difference between buying Las Vegas homes and condos through regular sale deal and a short sale deal in Las Vegas is that a lender has to approve the selling price and thus the complications. I explain the differences below.

Difference between making an offer on Las Vegas short sale homes and regular sales

The Las Vegas home seller is still on the hook for all disclosures and exercising due diligence moves you into a good home.

  1. Approved short sales are homes or condos that the buyer backed out of after the bank approved the sale, and are put back on the Las Vegas MLS. All that is needed is an offer. The bank has to still approve the deal and it may take a few days.
  2. Avoid unapproved short sales. The listing agent usually asks for a long period of time (90 days is normal) for the bank to answer your offer. The chances are that you may waste your time and your offer will be rejected even after that long wait.

The problem with making an offer on a short sale home or condo is that the seller has to accept the contract and then the bank has to approve the short sale which in turn the seller has to agree to and the buyer has to accept, and there can be complications.

  1. Unless all parties agree, the contract is NOT enforceable, however the buyer has to open escrow and put up EMD deposit money and wait for a length of time. This is negotiable and we try for minimal amount and no more than 45 days for the duration of escrow, although the listing agent generally will ask for 90 days minimum in a counter offer.
  2. Competent Las Vegas Realtors who specialize in listing short sale homes or condos negotiate issues like specific performance with the lender. The lender not agreeing with removing specific performance is the reason for short sales failing in the last minute due to sellers no longer wanting to complete the short sale.

The reasons that many short sale buyers who open escrow on a home or condo end up buying another home or condominium are:

  1. The seller will often do no repairs to the house however the lender may agree to contribute toward repairs
  2. The bank may reject the short sale since they may lose on their mortgage insurance
  3. The lender may counter at way more than the agreed price. Remember, the seller ends up with nothing but the bank can lose money by agreeing to a lower price.

We explain all the pitfalls of making an offer on an unapproved short sale of Las Vegas homes or condos and try to protect our clients from complications in the escrow process by negotiating minimum EMD deposit and work in language designed to get our clients out of the contract and protect them from long waits.