The Truth About Commericial Short Sales

What is a "Short Sale" anyway?

Basically it's when the amount OWED on the property, or the loan, is MORE than the current VALUE of the property.

To execute a Short Sale, the bank that holds the loan has to agree to let the current owner of the property sell the property for a steep discount to a new buyer thereby "shorting" the loan. This is done to make sure the property doesn't go into foreclosure.

A "commercial short sale" just means a short sale of a property that's classified as "commercial" by the lenders, for example apartments, retail stores, office buildings,  mini-storage, etc...


Why would the Banks agree to take less than what they are owed?

They do because the foreclosure process is so costly, especially for a smaller banks, regional banks or credit unions.  By keeping a commercial properties on their books, especially a multi-million dollar properties, it keeps the bank from being able to loan out that money.  This is a very heavy burden for a smaller bank.  In addition to this banks are not in the business of running other businesses or managing income properties.  It is a major drag on their resources, so they are forced to make deals (however crazy they may seem) to get rid of the property quickly.


Aren't Short Sales hard to do and a waste of time?

Yes, I would agree that Residential Short Sales area are a huge pain and not worth doing. There is a lot competition to get them, the sellers are emotional, the banks are unresponsive at best, but usually a nightmare to work with, and after months and months of work, stress and sleepless nights, there's a good chance of the deal totally falling apart... and yes, I am talking about the one time I tried to buy a short sale last year! After waiting eight months for the *&%@ bank, the deal went "poof" and disappeared. It was very frustrating!

Can any of you relate?

In Commercial Short Sales, though the property is probably worth much more money, the short sale process is quicker and easier.  There isn't a "Commercial Loss Mitigation" department at most banks.  That enables you as the investor/buyer to speak directly with the decision makers at the bank without having to wade through pencil-pushers and endless red-tape.  Often the bankers will actually work WITH you (yeah, amazing, right?) to help you get the property off their hands as fast as possible.  A lot of the time the bank will even go out of their way to help you finance your new commercial purchase.