The Eighth misconception of short sales is that the lender/bank has to see the property on the market for at least a short time, listed at full market value. Where these rumors got started we will never know, but it isn’t true at all. There are a lot of agents out there that raise the price above market value and then you hear them saying, ” Hey I listed that house, I did due diligence at $600,000, and the property is only worth $500,000. I have no idea why it didn’t sell, so I decided to lower the price.”
The Bank and it’s employees don’t even care if the house was listed at ‘Full Payoff’ or not. In most cases they don’t care that the house has been listed for five months. The main thing the banks and lenders want, you will notice, is that the offer you submit is at least close to the full market value of the property.
So in all reality you do not need to list the property at full market value before making a short sale offer for less than the full payoff. It is important to make sure that you are aware and fully understand that the longer you wait, the worse things may get.