At what point do I "SEEK" buyer for Shortsale????

Hey all,
Ok so I think i’ve gotten a real good understanding of a Shortsale process. From finding a motivated/distressed seller, to getting them under contract, and putting a solid Shortsale package together to present to the Lender. I know there’s some other in between stuff like possible junior lienholder’s and such.
But what i’m having trouble with (:help) is, at what point do I start marketing the property to my endbuyer’s? Common sense would be when it’s approved by the lender right? But what if you’re relatively new to investing and don’t have an extensive list of endbuyer’s? Wouldn’t it be sad to see a lucrative deal fall by the wayside because I couldn’t close on the deal because my financing option was transactional funding and and i didn’t have my endbuyer in place? :banghead
And yes i do know there’s other financing options like Hardmoney or private. But most i’ve researched want you to have some deals under your belt and have your LLC formed. I actually plan on forming my LLC in the immediate future but i’ve read so many success stories on here and other sites, where people haven’t and still pulled off deals.
So I guess my question is…should i start putting feelers out there for buyer’s even if the shortsale wasn’t approved by the lender? And if so how do i go about that? What if i get a taker on my offer and it’s not approved yet?
Any and all input would be appreciated. Oh yeah i’ve also been contemplating a possible mentoring to give me the extra insight and push to help me through my doubts and hesitancy.
Thanks again all and take care.

Glenn

Glenn,

Feel free to follow my post, I asked the same question… What state are you in?

http://www.reiclub.com/forums/index.php/topic,46583.0.html

David,

    Hey thanks for the insight. So your property wasn't listed with the MLS? I guess that saved you somewhat of a headache. But then i read your followup post and now they've inserted an addendum on you that says you can't assign? Have you found a way around it yet? Can you give me some of the particulars on the deal itself like how long it took and what questions did you ask of realtor to get them on your team? 

    I myself am so close to jumping in the game and any knowledge of possible hurdles would help. And thanks again man. Oh and by the way I live in MA.

Glenn

You could potentialy have it state in the contract something like “Upon successful approval of short sale by the financial institution, the buyer(s) have the right to purchase the said property under (Whatever Terms) are agreed upon, upon buyer’s approval.” This way, it covers your butt and tells them that if the short sale with the bank is approved, you have the right to purchase the stated property (or not to purchase) under whatever terms you agree on.

I agree with the member reply above. If you put the clause in the contract to protect you, and the buyer understands, than you are fine.
I start marketing properties as soon as I have a good feeling that the process is going well (after the BPO is done and the bank doesn’t dream up some crazy sale price :). If you set up your short sale offer and package correctly, that should not be an issue. I start marketing the property at the highest range of the wholesale value and adjust every 10 days or so until a buyer hits the mark. So, if you offer $100k to the bank and the wholesale range is $120k to $130k, start marketing at $130k and adjust a few thousands down from there. This way you have enough room to work with waiting for the right buyer and the short sale to go through.

WHEN TO MARKET TO YOUR END BUYER?
In my state, if I have an accepted offer from the seller contingent on a short sale approval- I usually market after the lender has completed their BPO unless I would be able to ‘predict’ the bpo value.