With all the bad press about buying a short sale, it's no wonder that you may have second thoughts about whether to do so or not. Will the banks accept the Short Sale? Will it take 9 months to a year before getting an approval?

The fact is that yes, Short Sales do get approved and although they do not typically take 30-45 days to close as a traditional sale does, they will take 3-4 months in most cases these days. With that being said, it takes an agent that is experience both in the buying side and selling side of a Short Sale transaction.

When choosing an agent to represent you in this type of transaction, make sure that they understand how to structure the offer for each bank is different. This will save a tremendous amount of time down the road. A buyers agent that is experienced with Short Sales will contact the listing agent and ask the right questions in order to determine if that agent has a good chance of being successful at getting a bank approval in a reasonable amount of time. They will also be able to do a little research on the listing agent to see how many transactions they have closed in the last year and how many of them were short sale (this is very important).

Buying a Short Sale is not right for everyone but can be a great opportunity for you as a buyer to pick up a great deal here in San Diego, so 3-4 months is worth the wait in many cases. Make sure that the agent that is working with you is not steering you away from them just because he/she does not understand them or simply does not want to wait the extra time that it takes to get one closed.