Closing Short Sale Deals With Back To Back Closings and Option Agreements

If you’re a preforeclosure investor, with the tightening credit markets, you have no doubt noticed how much more difficult it is these days to close short sale deals.

In the past, plenty of hard money options, along with double closings and simultaneous closings made closing short sales a breeze. However, with the credit crunch, mortgage fraud, and tighter restrictions with lenders and title companies, closing short sales isn’t as easy as it used to be.

However, there is still one very simple and easy way to close your short sale transactions without using double closings, hard money, simultaneous closings, or even the over complex land trusts.

That method is using back-to-back closings to get all of your short sale deals closed and funded on time. Back to back closings take a short sale deal and turn it into two separate and distinct transactions. The first transaction is the homeowner facing foreclosure selling to the preforeclosure investor. The second transaction is the real estate investor then selling the property to the end retail buyer.

The easy, legal way for the real estate investor to do this type of transaction is through the use of an option contract. The option contract gives the real estate investor a vested legal interest in the property through an Option Agreement. The option is subject to the approval of the short sale.

Once the short sale is approved, then preforeclosure investor must complete the second transaction. That transaction involves the investor selling the property to an end retail buyer. The preforeclosure investor can legally sell the property, because he has executed an Option Agreement. This Option Agreement, which should be recorded at the local county courthouse for where the subject property is located, gives the investor the legal right to sell and market the property.

Before attempting to use a back to back closing, the preforeclosure investor should make sure that they have all of the necessary forms and documentation to remain in compliance. Without the correct forms, addendums, and notarized signatures, the preforeclosure investor risks the transaction not closing on time, or even worse, not at all.

Short sales do not have to be a complex transaction if the investor arms himself with the proper tools and techniques. Back to back closings are the simplest and easiest way to close short sale deals in today’s ever changing and volatile real estate market. They are widely accepted by lenders, title companies, and title insurance companies throughout the United States.