Welcome to SSS, Patrick! You are going to find a wealth of information here and love the resource that it provides to you. You'll soon feel very confident with the short sale process.
I just wanted to comment on your question about submitting an Offer--the bank is not used to reviewing Offers in the Loss Mitigation department. They want that HUD-1 completed with a signed CONTRACT. Remember--you are representing the SELLER and not the bank so, you want, in your seller's best interest, to have a CONTRACT for them--not just an Offer that can easily be walked away from by a buyer.
Always submit all Offers to your SELLER (again, not the bank) and accept any back-ups as needed but, when you do have a solid Offer, have your seller sign it and submit it into the system along with all of your documents.
Comments
I just wanted to comment on your question about submitting an Offer--the bank is not used to reviewing Offers in the Loss Mitigation department. They want that HUD-1 completed with a signed CONTRACT. Remember--you are representing the SELLER and not the bank so, you want, in your seller's best interest, to have a CONTRACT for them--not just an Offer that can easily be walked away from by a buyer.
Always submit all Offers to your SELLER (again, not the bank) and accept any back-ups as needed but, when you do have a solid Offer, have your seller sign it and submit it into the system along with all of your documents.
Best of luck to you and welcome again!
Debe (in Charlotte NC)