short sale, buying a short saleThere was some good news released this week about real estate markets in the western states of the US that reported increased home sales in September 2008. This is great news, but the footnote was that most of the increase in activity was from foreclosures and short sales. Even so, it means that people are buying homes again, and that's the best news we can get right now. If you've been sitting on the sidelines wondering if this is a good time to get into the real estate market, it just might be. There are lots of homes to choose from at bargain basement prices, and while buying a short sale is a little more complicated than buying a home from a seller or Realtor, you could save thousands of dollars. Once this market comes back, you could be sitting on a property that might make you a lot of money when you sell it. When you buy a short sale, you are taking a home off the hands of someone whose mortgage is more than the home is worth, and the mortgage lender has agreed to sell it for less than what is owed on it. It's a great way to buy right now.