Some Have Trouble With Completing Short Sales

MarketWatch.com reports:

• As more people fall behind on their mortgages, lenders have been slow to take advantage of a longstanding alternative to foreclosure -- a so-called short sale. [...] Deals can fall apart because the mortgage company rejects the price that has been agreed upon by the buyer and seller. Long delays in getting an answer from the mortgage servicer are another obstacle. The process can be so frustrating that some real-estate agents and home buyers have decided that a short sale isn't worth the effort.

• Shari Adams, a paralegal, bought a foreclosed three-bedroom house in Stuart, Fla., after she tried twice to buy a home being sold in a short sale. One deal fell through when the mortgage servicer turned down her offer after six weeks and didn't make a counteroffer. Another deal collapsed because it wasn't clear that the seller was truly facing a financial hardship. "I basically started to run away from any home listed as a short sale," Ms. Adams says.

For more, see Why Lenders Are Leery Of Short Sales.

See also: Reuters: Realtors complain short-sale process is failing.