Short sale agony: Waiting for the bank

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How hard is it to get a bank to approve a short sale these days? Don’t ask, unless you’re ready to wait five months for an answer, according to Diane Wedner’s piece just posted on LATimes.com, which you will also see in Sunday’s newspaper.

Highlights: ‘The waiting is torture,’ said Mark Shandrow, a Keller Williams Realty agent in Long Beach who specializes in such transactions. ‘The banks are overwhelmed with short-sale requests, and some make sellers wait five months for an answer.’ That answer, in many cases, he added, is ‘no.’

A short sale, for those just joining us, is when you sell your house for less than you owe on the mortgage -- which involves the long, confusing, difficult process of convincing your lender this is the best deal he’s going to get.

More: ‘Banks won’t grant face-to-face interviews because of the volume of short sales and foreclosures,’ said Mary Ebersole, a Re/Max Realty Specialists agent in Long Beach. Even if the seller gets approval, she added, ‘there’s only room for cautious optimism.’

But short sales are on the rise: ‘In the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys, the number of short sales increased from at least 31 sales from May 2006 to May 2007 to at least 1,956 sales from May 2007 to May of this year, according to the Southland Regional Assn. of Realtors.’

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.