It seems that there's a little confusion about and the purpose of a short sale and the owner's responsibility. The advantage to doing a short sale is that the impact on your credit is typically far less with a short sale than with a foreclosure. Therefore, it's to a homeowner's advantage to help their Realtor sell their home and not trash it.
Why do I bring this up? Well, I've shown a lot of short sale homes over the past couple of years and most of the homes are in horrible condition. I'm not talking about needing general repairs. I'm referring to homes which have trash left in them, lawns that have been left for nature to reclaim and general vandalism to the walls, cabinets and carpets. Left in this condition there is no way the home will sell. In fact, I can almost guarantee the bank will foreclose before it's sold. I'm not suggesting that the owners dump money into the home to sell it. What I'm suggesting is that the home be left in such a condition that when a buyer walks in, they don't want to turn and run. Clear out the trash, avoid spilling/pouring mysterious liquids on the carpet, don't remove everything that can be taken down with a simple screw driver and wrench (i.e., light fixtures, cabinets, faucets, etc.) and mow the grass if a gnome could easily be lost in it.
Doing these few simple tasks won't cost you any money and will definitely help your agent get your home sold before the bank forecloses.
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