The bank is going to order a Broker’s Price Opinion or an Appraisal on the property to help them determine the current market value.  The lower this value the better for your short sale negotiation.

Property values are subjective and your opinion of value is just as relevant as the  person doing a BPO or appraisal. Actually it is more relevant because you are willing to back your opinion with real money to purchase the property(even if you are doing a double close you are the person the is bringing the money to the table even if it is through a third party).

It is much easier to negotiate up from your opinion of value rather than down from the lenders opinion of value. For this reason you should always submit comparable sales that best support your price – the lowest sales you can find for similar properties.

Whenever possible submit a list of comparable sales. If MLS is available and there are individual properties that support low prices include the individual property listings.

I have found it beneficial to preface the comparable sales with the following paragraph:

The Market has been falling fast and many lenders are ordering BPO’s on a monthly basis. To be accurate the BPO or appraisal must be less than 30 days old and take into consideration comparable sales LESS THAN 90 days old, listed properties and days the market. This BPO needs to give a price that will facilitate a sale within 90 days or less – to sell in the current market you should be the lowest price property on the market. When requesting a BPO or Appraisal please ask for a quick-sale value which will be a significantly lower than a standard appraisal.