long story short, our realtor is DH's mom. she is super disorganized and driving me crazy. we finally got approved for a short sale and now we are scrambling to get things done. she is horrible at communicating with the seller's agent and hasn't been helpful to us at all in telling us what the next steps are so we have had to figure things out for ourselves (part of the reason is that her and DH are fighting now, great timing!).
So here is what we have done so far: spoken to loan officer and sent requested documents, gave her check for remaining deposit to escrow, completed homeowners association application (submitting it tomorrow)
We know we also need to set up appointments for inspection and appraisal, get the contact info for the closing agent the seller chooses, and have her deposit the check into escrow. What else do we need to be doing that I might not be aware of? She mentioned something about an estoppel letter but I have no idea what that is so i dont know what is necessary for it. AHHHHH
Re: First-time buyer stress!!
This isn't first-time buyer stress, it's horrible-agent stress!
So sorry you're dealing with it all. Home-buying is stressful enough, without having to try to manage everything on your own. I have no advice, but good luck!
That stinks and you will have to have a relationship with your mother in law in the future so it's a sticky situation.
In my neck of the woods, inspections and appraisals are all done before the short sale is approved. Not sure where you are located, but it is different in different states. Here is some more info: http://stephanielsolano.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/should-you-buy-a-short-sale-in-westchester-county/