How to Find Short Sale Homes: A Guide for Buyers

Short sales can provide an excellent opportunity for potential homebuyers to score a good deal. If you’re in the market to buy a short sale home, you’ll need to prepare for a lengthy closing process and steel yourself to jump through some hoops not generally associated with traditional sales. And if you’re a would-be short sale homebuyer, you’ll also need to arm yourself with the knowledge of how to find short sale homes near you. If you’re considering this type of home purchase, here’s our expert-backed explainer on what is a short sale home, what are the potential pros and cons of buying one, and how to find short sale home listings in your area. Connect with a Top Agent Finding and buying a short sale home can be a long process. Working with a top agent can help. What is a short sale? A short sale happens when a homeowner needs to sell their house but owes more on it than it’s currently worth. This often occurs when someone buys at the peak of the market, and then the market declines. The Great Recession of 2007 is a prime example of this scenario, and it created plenty of short sales. “People had done 100% financing on their homes,” says Jessica Wallace, a top-selling agent bas...