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Semantics on Words for Showing Appointments?

I'm going down the home stretch in getting showing appointments ready for Hawaii Military Relocation clients. We all have our HORROR stories with no responses for email and showing requests but I ran across something that has me, my broker and other agents I've asked......stumped.

It took one week for an agent to respond to my calls and emails....with a simple one line answer that there will be an "open house' on that day (the first showing) for a property that was just bought in 2007 for a 150k more than the listing price. I repeatedly asked by email (no phone responses) if it was a short sale.

Finally, the listing changed and said that it was a short sale but NOT contingent on lender approval.

After repeated inquiries if it was a short sale or bank owned property I get another email with a one line response that 'the client is buying as a short sale so maybe my clients shouldn't look at it'.

I emailed back (since this person would not call or answer calls) to expound on that and the response I got was 'my client is buying it as a short sale and reselling as a regular sale to the public.

What does..... 'my client is buying it as a short sale and reselling as a regular sale to the public' .....mean?

Posted by Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman HAWAII Relocations & Real Estate on 08/31/2009 12:01 PM

Comments (21)

hawaii real esate professional, games people play, hawaii home seller, hawaii home buyer

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21 Comments on Semantics on Words for Showing Appointments?

AUG

I really didn't know that we had to beat around the bush to get answers for a listing that I may possibly want to show my clients.

First of all, I thought I understood what was going on (your post). But the more I thought of it, the more I'm confused.

So, this property is listed for sale. The agent replied back to say, "my client is buying it as a short sale and reselling as a regular sale to the public."

Is he representing the seller or buyer?

In a normal situation, I would imagine that this guy is trying to "flip".

So has the property sold?

See how I could get confused?

If it is too much and if there are no other inventory out there, I might just move on.

PS: I've had agents who would only respond via email. The phones are out-dated commodities of this business for people like you and me.

Loreena: Good....got ya thinking too :) :) Agent is representing the seller (or so I thought, as it's a listing) ... still...I am stumped :)

It just never seems to end. I had one agent tell me her "investor" group was going after foreclosures to make them into short sales... and then be a "staw buyer" and flip to another buyer... and it WAS all legal! Say what????

Woo Hoo, I am sure no lover of government interfering in our lives but when I hear things like, .................deleted while I re-compose my thoughts....................what are these people thinking? Outrageous beyond where sense and sensibilities have ever been before.

My first thought was flipping, but I may be wrong. Why on earth won't they pick up the phone and explain themselves? If you have a client who wants to see the property...it is a bank? I keep reading about REO officers not returning calls.

Do let us know if you find out anything! The curiosity has been piqued!

Hi Sally - Unfortunately, what it may mean is that the agent has no idea what she is doing and may be getting her client into a big mess. I hope I'm wrong!

Sally WOW I guess the house isn't for sale to anyone with that response. Does this Realtor want to sell the house or not?

Aloha Sally,

This sounds to me like it's a flip "in-progress", I'd check to see who the actual owner is at this point. Also, I'd look to see who has the existing loan and if there are more than one. Depending on this situation, it's possible the so-called seller already negotiated with the existing lender.

As far as the agent's online responses, there are times when I can't even get some of these agents to return a call, period. And that one really gripes me too!

Joan: Hmmm that sounds pretty odd doesn't it?

Sally - you have "FAR" more patience than I do....... (don't ya just wanna kill the other agent). To me, the poor seller has no clue "how un-professional and un-communicative" their listing agent is - which is preventing the home truly selling. As a buyer agent - I suggest your buyers to move on to more/different listings (if your area has a large selection). I had buyers here this weekend too, and made them aware of the "waiting" game on any short sale listing - so we avoided them like the plague.

Sally, I don't have a clue other then it's the most unprofessional thing I've heard of. I stop and wonder every once in a while what's wrong with some people?

William: Yup...when sense and sensibility are out the window...and to think they think this is a cool tactic. :)

Marcy: I may never know as I don't care to be a part of a game playing thing. This is my client's life and my life. I invested my time to inquire only to get a bunch of one liners without explanations.....until that last one.

Susan: When one starts evading answering questions straightforward I only believe one thing.... the transaction would be the same.

George: Uh....I really am not too sure George...in any case something to go the other way on.

Lynda: All I know is skirting the issues and questions does not warrant a good agent with a well qualified client to be in the middle of no responding.

Christine: Oh...I give a little and if I get nothing in return I have no choice but to move on. I'm not going to play the waiting game when I have clients who will need to get into a home yesterday but willing to go the regular transaction.

Hey Carole: You and me both..you wanna sell it or not? Is it a short sale or not? Is is for sale NOW or not?

OH SALLY! Hope you don't mind me linking my "flipper" post here but this is EXACTLY what I coined as the "flip flop".

Ask the agent to see where the bank agreed to this IN WRITING. It is fraudulent if the bank does NOT agree to it in writing! ALSO ~ Make sure Hawaii allows for "double escrows". If they don't, this agent and "seller" (slash buyer) could be in trouble!

I have BNI at 6:30 to 9 and then I have an appointment at 9:30. You can call me after 11 or 11:30 pacific time if you need clarification, k?

SEP

Sounds to me liek this agent doesn't have a clue and could be getting her/himself in trouble along with the client. Renee's point is right on. How can you have a short sale not contigent on lender approval?

But then I saw a listing where the agent referred to the listing as a short sale, then a pre-feoclosure, adn then an REO all within the confidential remarks.

Jeff

Sally – clearly only that agent knows what they mean by it … it smells like agent has an opportunity to double-triple end a transaction … and is likely not providing “fair” representation of the property.

I'm afraid you have my noodle cooked on this one Sally. There's no telling what he may be up to, could have borrowed the listing and now has a buyer. Could be representing buyer and seller and buyer plans to try and flip the property. Could just be yet another crazy listing agent.

SEP

Renee: I think we'll just scoot by as it's not worth waiting for when they're living in a hotel. I like the story!

Jeff: That's the kicker!

Kathleen: Who knows...but not in our best interests.

JL: Who knows :)

SEP

Sally - At one time, we received a solicitation from an investor who proposed doing transactions just like this... We passed because it didn't pass the sniff test. It sounds like they purchased subject to the existing mortgage and are negotiating with the lender and trying to sell it at the same time. Sounds like a headache sale to me.

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