Is a Short Sale a Quick Sale?

I spent the weekend in a trade show booth answering real estate investing questions and promoting the real estate investment college I attend.

One lady came up to me and asked what exactly a short sale was. She thought because the name is "short sale" that it meant a "quick sale." It means nothing of the sort. The name is really quite deceptive. It doesn't mean that it's a fast or quick sale in anyway.

A short sale really means that the bank is accepting a payoff for less than what is owed - in other words, an amount short of the total amount due.

This process can be quite lengthy. Usually, once a short sale offer has been submitted to the bank, it takes approximately 8 weeks before a loss mitigation officer will even look at it. Once a negotiator has been assigned, it could take an additional 4-6 weeks or longer.

One offer we sent into the bank, we submitted on November 11th and didn't get an approval until the first part of February.

Because the offer is for less than what is owed, the bank has to approve the offer. It's called a short sale because the bank is taking less than the total amount due - not because it's, in any way, a fast process.