The Annapolis MD Real Estate market is saturated with short sales today compared to just a few years ago.  Loosely defined, a short sale is a situation where the homeowner owes more on the property than it is worth and is in the process of selling the home.  The short sale scenario is that the homeowner has contacted their bank and the bank has agreed to allow the sale for less than they are owed.

When this happens the bank is usually in control of the transaction after it’s placed on the market.  This isn’t necessarily bad but it does introduce extended time frames into a transaction since all approvals have to come from the bank.  If you’re expecting an answer in 48 hours on the contract you just submitted…you’re going to be very disappointed.  48 days maybe but certainly not 48 hours.

Remember you’re dealing with a corporate entity when the bank has to make a decision.  They don’t have any emotional attachment to the property.  To an employee it’s just another transaction.  When you’re looking at a huge pile of transactions to deal with, your offer isn’t all that important to the bank.  Important to you maybe, but not as important to the bank.

They will get to it…eventually.  It is frustrating to submit an offer and than hear nothing back for days and weeks.  Having your agent call the listing agent can’t hurt but it may not help to get a faster decision.  In many cases the agent doesn’t have direct contact with someone at the bank, rather most of the transaction is done via voicemail, email or a website portal.

Hang in there.  If it’s the property you want, patience is going to be the keyword when dealing with short sales.  It may very well be worth your time.