What is bad about a short sale?

Asked by: Stanton Prohaska I  |  Last update: September 5, 2025
Score: 4.9/5 (9 votes)

The short sale is often preferable to a foreclosure, but it is not a resolution to all a homeowner's financial woes. Aside from potential tax liability and credit implications, if the homeowner is expected to pay the difference between the sale price and the mortgage, that can compound the financial difficulty.

What is the downside of a short sale?

Short sales come with fewer legal disclosures than a typical home sale. There is more paperwork involved in a short sale. Short sales can damage the seller's credit rating, but less than a foreclosure.

Does a short sale ruin your credit?

Short sales can damage your credit, and they can stay on your credit report for seven years. You might pay higher rates on future mortgages after a short sale.

Which is the most likely consequence of a short sale?

A Short Sale Will Damage Your Credit Scores

Some say short sales have less of a negative effect on credit scores when compared to foreclosures, but this claim isn't necessarily true. Short sales, as well as deeds in lieu foreclosure, are pretty similar to foreclosures when it comes to damaging your credit scores.

Can you get a good deal on a short sale?

Short-sale homes are sold at prices below the market price, allowing you, the buyer, to save thousands of dollars. The lender is eager to sell to recover some or all of the seller's mortgage loan balance. You could have a great deal if you persevere through the long and complicated transaction.

Why is a short sale bad?

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Who benefits from a short sale?

Benefits Of A Short Sale In Real Estate. A short sale can be beneficial for all parties involved. It provides greater investment opportunities for buyers and minimizes the financial repercussions that both the lender and seller would face if the property went into foreclosure.

How much do you lose on a short sale?

Potentially limitless losses: When you buy shares of stock (take a long position), your downside is limited to 100% of the money you invested. But when you short a stock, its price can keep rising. In theory, that means there's no upper limit to the amount you'd have to pay to replace the borrowed shares.

What makes a short sale incredibly risky?

Short selling means selling stocks you've borrowed, aiming to buy them back later for less money. Traders often look to short-selling as a means of profiting on short-term declines in shares. The big risk of short selling is that you guess wrong and the stock rises, causing infinite losses.

Why would a seller do a short sale?

A short sale is a situation where a homeowner is unable to continue making their mortgage payment and must sell their property when the balance of the mortgage exceeds the current value of the property.

Who pays closing costs in a short sale?

In a short sale transaction on the other hand, the seller's closing costs are usually paid out of the money the buyer brings to the closing. Normally, the seller's lender must approve all of these seller closing costs before a short sale can be approved and completed.

Do you owe money after a short sale?

After the short sale is completed, your lender might call you or send letters stating that you still owe money. These letters could come from an attorney's office or a collection agency and will demand that you pay off the deficiency.

Can a seller back out of a short sale?

Sellers Who Cancel Short Sale Contracts

In California, buyer's agents generally attach a "short sale addendum" to the purchase contract. The short sale addendum specifies that the entire transaction is contingent upon lender approval.

How long does a short sale stay on your record?

Short sales, like foreclosures, can remain on your credit report for as long as seven years. The silver lining with short sales is that your score is likely to begin improving more quickly, usually in about two years.

What's a typical reason that a seller might opt for a short sale?

A potential short sale is one where the listing agent reasonably believes the purchase price may not be enough to cover payment of all liens and costs of sale and the seller is unwilling or unable to bring sufficient liquid assets to the closing.

What are some of the pros and cons of short selling?

The most obvious benefit of short selling is the potential to generate a profit without putting much money up front. However, timing is crucial, so you don't encounter a decline. Entering too early or too late can cause infinite losses.

Does a short sale affect your taxes?

If you engage in a short sale or your mortgage lender forecloses on your home, the Internal Revenue Service treats it just like a sale. Foreclosures and short sales may also require you to recognize ordinary income if the lender cancels any of your outstanding mortgage balance and you're ineligible for an exclusion.

Is it risky to buy a short sale?

The main downside of buying and selling a short sale home is that the deal often falls through. The seller's lender may not agree to list it as short sale. As the buyer, short sale homes are usually fixer-uppers, meaning you'll likely have a lot on your plate once the deal goes through.

Can I offer less on a short sale?

They will generally approve your offer price if it is within reasonable range of value. There is a misconception that you can low-ball short sales and a bank will accept a low-ball offer. This is far from true. The banks do their due diligence in making sure they sell the home for at least near value.

Is a short seller better than a buyer?

Short selling involves the sale of a security not owned by the seller but borrowed and then sold in the market, to be repurchased later, with the potential for large losses if the asset increases in price. Buying a put option gives the buyer the right to sell the underlying asset at a price stated in the option.

Why would someone do a short sale?

A seller may consider a short sale if: → They are upside-down on their mortgage, can no longer afford their monthly payments and wish to avoid foreclosure. A buyer may consider a short sale if: → They want to buy a home for a (potentially) lower price and are willing to deal with a longer closing process.

Why do short sellers have a bad reputation?

Why Does Short Selling Have Negative Reputation? Unfortunately, short selling gets a bad name due to the practices employed by unethical speculators who have used short-selling strategies and derivatives to deflate prices and conduct bear raids on vulnerable stocks artificially.

How much money can you lose of your short sale goes wrong?

Unfortunately, it is easy to lose more money than you invest when you are shorting a stock, or any other security, for that matter. In fact, there is no limit to the amount of money you can lose in a short sale (in theory).

Do short sales hurt your credit?

A short sale could impact your credit scores as long as it remains in your credit reports, which may be up to seven years—similar to many other negative marks. If the short sale was preceded by one or more late payments, the seven-year timeline starts with the date of first delinquency that led to the short sale.

What are the risks of short selling?

There is a high risk associated with this strategy because stock prices change rapidly. Lenders may recall the borrowed stock at any time. Moreover, short sellers have minimum control over the price required to cover their position. Traders must have a margin account and pay a certain amount to make short sales.

Does the seller get any money in a short sale?

For a short sale to happen, both the lender and the homeowner have to be willing to sell the house at a loss. The homeowner will make no profit, and the lender will actually lose money for selling the house for less than the amount owed.