When the Short Sale Buyer Walks Away

I don’t know why they call it walking away in a short sale. When a short sale cancels, the buyer doesn’t always walk. Sometimes, the buyer is kicked out of the short sale, booted to the curb. Sometimes the buyer runs away because the buyer is frightened. Sometimes a buyer just can’t get financing together so the buyer can’t close. But buyers rarely walk. They don’t take a leisurely stroll. They don’t wait patiently with you for a green light like some little old lady who needs help hobbling across the street. They bolt. Like cotton.

A few days ago a buyer’s agent sent this Sacramento short sale agent an email to say her buyers were canceling. Those weren’t the words she used — because she did not understand that her buyers were canceling — but that’s exactly what was happening. She just didn’t seem to know it, for whatever reason.

You can tell a buyer she is purchasing a short sale in “as is” condition but that information often falls on deaf ears. People think they are special and their situations are special, but the truth is they are not. When a buyer signs an “as is” addendum, which all buyers do for a Bank of America short sale, this means regardless of what a buyer finds in a home inspection, there are no renegotiations. None. No price reductions. No discounts. Not only is that because of the “as is” addendum, but the market dictates it as well. That’s because another buyer will buy the home in its “as is” condition. In a heart beat. The bank knows it. I know it.

The only person who doesn’t seem to know it is the buyer. Oh, and the buyer’s agent.

But the really good thing about Equator and a Bank of America short sale is a new buyer can be slipped into the old buyer’s position. It’s called a soft decline. Providing that the negotiator at Bank of America doesn’t press the wrong button and close out the file by mistake, which has been known to happen, the new buyer approval doesn’t take very long. Within 30 days, the new buyer should receive short sale approval.

So, if your short sale buyer walks away, don’t despair. It’s not a huge deal in the overall scheme of things and your Sacramento short sale. In fact, walking away is a fairly common occurrence.