Why do short sales take so long? It's a loaded question with no easy answer. Short sales have long been transactions that banks go to great lengths to avoid. After all, who wants to be repaid a portion of the money they've loaned out. Of course, lenders were forced to become more open to short sales when the housing market collapsed, because of the overwhelming number of underwater homeowners. Banks had to accept that it's better to take less than borrowers owed than to foreclose on the property and get even less than that in a foreclosure sale. Even with the market recovering, however, millions of Americans still owe more on their home loans than the homes are worth, so short sales are likely to continue as a viable option for many borrowers for several years to come.  Read Entire Article