Sometimes I feel like I'm beating a dead horse, however when it comes to seller participation in a short sale transaction, the more dead horse beating, the better.As a short sale seller, you have some responsibilities (things as agents we either cannot do or that are beyond our scope of services), they are minimal, and in fact we do everything we can to take all the burden we can off of you during this stressful time.  There are still three main expectations for Short Sale sellers.

1. Keep the house show ready.  Your house is still for sale.  We need to find a buyer.  We are already trying to get the bank to take less than you owe on the property, we don't want a buyer to come in and offer us any lower than they need to because your home is in bad condition when they show it.
2. Keep utilities on.  Nothing is tougher than showing a home that is colder inside than it is outside.  The insulation in a home will trap cold air inside and they will often act as a fridge trapping cold air inside.  It's a minimal expense and will make your home show better to all.
3. Keep the yard trimmed. Angry neighbors can and do kill transactions.  We've seen an angry neighbor come out and raise a fit during a home inspection because the yard wasn't picked up and they had wanted the would-be new owners to pay them back for the upkeep.  Needless to say they bailed on the transaction.