Price is often one of the largest factors that goes into the decision to purchase a home, during your housing search. So long as they don’t sacrifice other elements that are important to them like size and location, the cheaper the better tends to be most home buyers’ motto. Many homes are selling for far under their actual worth in today’s harsh economic climate. Short sales encompass much of these homes.

When a home owner falls behind on their mortgage payments, short sales occur. The home owner’s mortgage lender agrees to allow the home owner to try to sell the home for a lesser value than what’s still currently owed on it, instead of going through the foreclosure process, which can be emotionally draining for everyone involved. This is not without its caveats, although it can be a great deal for a would-be buyer.

If you find a home you love that happens to be a short sale, you need to get informed on a few separate things. First, a seller’s acceptance is only the first step to obtaining the home on which you’ve put an offer. It’s the lender’s loss to suffer if the home sells for under what’s still owed on the mortgage. The lender consequently is the one to accept or reject any offers placed on the property, as opposed to the seller. You may have to wait up to several months to hear a response back from the lender, even if the seller accepted your offer immediately. If you’re under time constraints to buy a house, you might have to reconsider your options.

Despite the lower house sale price, there may be hidden costs to short sale properties. Most lenders will note in the housing contract after they’ve accepted your offer that the house sale is as-is. Housing inspections are important, and it’s not so much a matter of whether or not to actually have one done but more an issue of whether you can afford to fix anything that the inspector notes as defective. It usually will not be possible to negotiate with a lender any changes in price as a result of the discovered defects.

Short sales can consequently be a good option if you’re looking for a deal of a home to buy. Just be sure to note the pitfalls and keep your expectations realistic during the process.