Obviously there appears to be areas of the country doing better in short sales than others.

We have had a high percentage of ours close. Those that did not was due to the verbiage placed in the final short sale approval letter subjecting the seller to possible litigation in the future. Banks have refused to take out. Attorneys have advised sellers not to sign as by signing could remove their now protected rights under California law. California is a one action state.

Many of the REO's we have never were in short sale......either the owners were just too distraught or legal counsel advised them to foreclose due to their particular situation. Many homeowners have literally become paralyzed due to their situation and take no action.

We certainly had our share set to go to trustee sale that was continually postponed.

We had a couple that were sent to sale without our knowledge or the negotiators knowledge. That was a bummer.

You are correct there are many who claim to be experts and think short sale is the best option for all when it is not.

Investors involved really complicate the situation. There are so many variables.

We have seen several out of the area appraisers come in at values way off the board , and it can be either way. Those values were contested.

I even represented a buyer on one that the appraiser was pulling homes from Walnut Creek which is on the border and the house my buyer bid on was in Concord. Two very different markets no matter how close, different school districts etc and I had the listing agent protest and resend back in .

Eventually all worked out and my buyer closed a few weeks back.