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Short Sales......LEARN, KNOW AND GROW!!

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Hi folks. I hope everyone is having a great Labor Day. Today I want to talk about Short Sales. Big surprise right? More specifically I want to talk about the tools available to help you if you choose to handle Short Sales.

Whether you are on the listing side or the selling side you need to understand how Short Sales work. You need to have “insider“ information and support from your peers if you want to weed through the jungle that is Short Sales.

I’ve been debating with Richard Weisser on his recent post. His post and many of the comments are all about blaming the lenders for the difficulties in getting Short Sales approved and closed. I actually agree that the lenders are part of the problem BUT I would much rather put my efforts into trying to find a solution or a “work around” than waiting on the lenders to come up with a better system.

I need to find a “work around” because if I don’t.....my Sellers will be foreclosed on.

One of Richard’s complaints is that “A 5th grader knows how to write a checklist. You would think that a bank that was gifted 25 billion tax dollars could hire one to create simple directions for sellers”

Richard feels is it not our job as agents to put together short sale packages. After all “we are NOT loss mitigation negotiators by trade. Nor should we be. We are form fillers and order takers, and many agents are very good at that.”

Now folks I want to say.....I like Richard. We actually agree on most things and Richard is certainly an ethical and honest Broker. BUT, in my opinion, he is dead wrong in this case.

First....I completely disagree that we are “form fillers and order takers”. Personally I am far more than that. I found that statement very insulting.

And, as I have tried to explain over and over again, most of the big lenders DO have check lists and forms for us to use. They also have instructions for the sellers and their agents. All the agent has to do is ask. But of course.....the agent has to KNOW to ask first.

Anyway, I didn’t write this post to give Richard a hard time. I wrote it to share. To hopefully get you to understand that you do not have to go it alone. If you want to do Short Sales then LEARN the “work around”. Don’t wait on the lenders to change their process…..change yours. GROW as an agent.

Here are some freebies for you:

Are you working a Bank of America or old Country Wide Short Sale? Then click here and you will find everything you need to get the deal done. Including forms, check lists (directly from BofA) and insider information.

How about Wells Fargo?

Or Chase?

GMAC?

Fifth Third?

WaMu?

IndyMac?

Need help with tools to make your job easier?

Have specific questions on a file you are working?

Want to laugh about it all?

http://ShortSaleSuperStars.com is for agents helping agents. We LEARN, KNOW and GROW. We are not complaining…..we are conquering. And it’s FREE!!! Please join. We'd love to have you.

Wendy Rulnick and I have spent hours upon hours putting this site together. We did it to be of service. Eventually we will have groups set up for EVERY lender. The members of www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com have CLOSED 100s of Short Sales.

Did you know just faxing the LOA (letter of authorization) to the wrong number can delay your short sale by weeks?

Did you know not updating your seller’s financials every 90 days can cause the file to be closed?

We really do want to help. Let Wendy or I know if you have any questions. Together we CAN make a difference. What say you?

Available Short Sale Training:

Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://CentralFloridaShortSales.com

http://ShortSaleSuperStars.com

Are you a Florida REALTOR(R) looking for a change? Check it out.

CENTRAL FLORIDA REALTOR(r) OPPORTUNITIES

Posted by Bryant Tutas Broker/REALTOR(R) Tutas Towne Realty, Inc on 09/07/2009 01:43 PM

Comments (68)

Short Sales in the Training Channel

short sale, short sale superstars, education

Originally posted at: BrokerBryant.com: Short Sales......LEARN, KNOW AND GROW!!

Post is included in group: Short Sale Support Group
Post is included in group: Short Sales Specialists
Post is included in group: Short Sale REALTORS®
Post is included in group: Realtors®
Post is included in group: Real Estate Rookie

68 Comments on Short Sales......LEARN, KNOW AND GROW!!

SEP

Great Info, thank you. Together we CAN make a difference.

I'm late :)

Better late than never, but since I am a nice guy watch this.......

Unparked.

HI Bb - I don't want to get into a dispute about what our job is, but I consider myself more than a form filler and order taker. I think that might have fit during the heydays when people were standing in line to buy and sell, but these days, we have to work hard just to get the sale and then work even harder to get it through escrow. When it is a short sale, there is even more work involved, and it is more than simply filling out the forms. The folks who give us the approvals are called negotiators for a reason. We are the ones with whom they are negotiating.

That said, I think Richard may have just been quoting from language in his state that limits the authority of its agents - not meant to belittle our profession, I'm sure.

Thank you, thank you, BB for this great post and the wonderful website you have set up with Wendy to help us all to help each other.

Bryant - Great list of resources! Nice job and thanks for all the labor (on Labor Day). I do agree with the premise of what Richard says, however. Short sales are a risky business. They are more difficult and can cost an agent future business with clients because of the convoluted nature of the transaction and the lenders' reluctance to cooperate with RE agents. Your lists will greatly improve our chances as agents to keep our clients happy and to induce a lender to follow the path of least resistance...a concept unknown to most of the lenders I have had to deal with.

BB - I think you guys putting the site up is amazing. I can just imagine the work that goes into it. I will also bookmark and will be sure to send anybody wondering to the site. ~Rita

Bryant, this is GREAT information. I am going to check it all out, and thank YOU for putting at our fingertips. I often hear agents talking about how they think we are so competitive with each other, and don't want to share what we know. I totally disagree with this theory. I think we need to share what we know, because the more we all know, the better we look in front of our clients, as well as our peers. How wonderful of you to share this info.

Hey guys don't forget to pop over and join the site. The more the merrier. We want to make it THE place to go for Short sale information.

Here's the link again http://shortsalesuperstars.com

Wow - I'm blown away by this one BB. What an incredible resouce this is - huge. And lots of work putting in together. Thanks and then some.

On the more serious side - order takers - no. We are highly skilled and trained brokers with years of negotiation expertise - clients that understand this appreiciate it.

Paper-pusher? Form filler? Well, Yeah. But more and more in this business, I realize I'm an educator. While my degree is in education, I have never taught for a living. But the sellers and buyers AND agents I have been working with in short sale transactions desperately need information and process and reassurance. Short sales aren't plug 'n' play, as much as everyone would like them to be. They are gut-wrenching, tedious, frustrating, and time-consuming. But if I keep to the idea that I'm a teacher, then the extra work is worth it.

BB - I'm really grateful to you and Wendy for this site. It has helped me tremendously and the learning experience is endless with various discussion in each group.

If you are not a member yet and interested in short sales seller and buyer side, this is the best site. It's like a support site for Short Sales :)

Bryant- I agree, we are much more than just form takers. If that were the case then we would not be getting the high pay that we get. We are marketing consultants and negotiators. People pay big bucks in the corporate world for good negotiators. People skills and communication skills is what gets the deal done even with short sale banks, really they are servicers.

All the banks have a checklist! But like you said, the agents first have to understand what a short sale really is and how to do one. Still, even in this day, I spend hours on the phone with agents who want to write an offer on one of our short sales and yet don't have a clue of what they are doing or how to educate their buyers. So the buyers get on the phone with us and we explain it also to them.

I could keep going on and on,

the fact is the banks blame the agents and the agents blame the banks- that is not coming up with solutions.

And last but not least, I love it that it is NOT easy to do short sales, we get a ton more listings because of that one thing! Katerina

Bryant,

Thank you for the timely post. I just had a call today from a seller who contacted me from my website www.buywilliamsburghomes.com. He is upside down on his mortgage but now behind in sales yet. I have sent him a couple of questions to get started but am sure that your checklist will be invaluable to me when I list the property!

I could keep going on and on,

the fact is the banks blame the agents and the agents blame the banks- that is not coming up with solutions.

And last but not least, I love it that it is NOT easy to do short sales, we get a ton more listings because of that one thing! Katerina

BB - This is a tremendous resource. I have learned a ton just by reading your posts. There is also a fellow I know in the next county who does a terrific job on short sales and has talked with our Mastermind group as well as our CRS Chapter. Seems that the appropriately done short sale package and getting it to the right person in the right format is a huge part of the process.

Looking forward to continues learning adn sharing as we will be doing these for some time.

Jeff

BB--I've already sent this link to my teammate who is CDPE certified and thinks your resources ROCK already! Very impressive list of instructions which are clear and concise for both the agents and their short sale sellers. THANK YOU!!

Thanks for the post, Bryant...what a great source of information! I just bookmarked it. :)

Leilani (Souza Realty)

Hi Bryant -- There is some really good stuff in here (and associated links). Short sales are very complex and so many variables. I think it's an evolving field and it's a mess that dramatically needs more standardization (so I can see Richard's point here), and I can also see your viewpoint on solving problems, regardless of the issue at hand. Not for the faint of heart!

WOW!!!! What a great resource. I have avoided getting involved with short sales but with all of this information I think I'll take advantage of it.

Thanks for making it all available.

do you now this was your 666 post?

Nice one Bryant! I haven't done short sales up to now, but won't feel intimidated when it does come up, because I'll know where to go...(Obviously I'm going to bookmark this!!)

Bryant -- This is a very impressive undertaking. I don't know how you find the time to do all this. This will be a phenomenal resource to both those with and without experience in short sales. I will join and look forward to sharing, learning, and contributing to standardizing the whole process. Thank you!

This is a well formed collection of pertinent information. Web site looks well organized and easy to maneuver. Good luck with all of this and thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge continually.

Short sales are a matter of reality at this point. But I will be the first to applaud the person that puts the last stake in the heart of this way of doing business. I am sure few tears will be shed when the last short sale takes place in this country. Good riddance.

BB - What an amazing resource you have provided here. A true value to the community...

BB - Thank you for putting these resources together and being so willing to share.

Thank you Broker Bryant! We here at AR are feelin "the love". I can't say thank you enough for your contributions. They have been an incredible help to me.

Thank you for sharing your list of resources. There more we know the better we can advise our clients. A couple weeks ago I attended an online seminar wtih Wells Fargo and Bank of America where both banks committed to turning foreclosures into short sales. Bank of Ameirca intends to launch a website where both the listing agent and negotiator have access to the file. They explained what they need us to do, and why incomplete files don't close. The Realtor who has closed 100s of short sales closed with, "You make the difference."

Every frustrated and confused homeowner that we help out of a financial jam, and every house we help turn into someone's home helps the economy. Our training and experties poise Realtors to guide our clients through the maize of red tape and excruciatingly long time frame of a short sale. Yes, we have to fill out a few forms, but in doing so we are laying the foundation for a new economy and building a stronger community. We can do for our clients what attorneys, financial planners and accountants cannot do. We see them through the whole process, and on to a new life.

Broker Bryant: Yo really havr gone to a lot of work to put this together for us here in the rain ~ thanks.

I just bookmarked it. Having closed a dozen or more shorts this year, I still found good info in your post. Thanks for taking the time to write about this important topic.

Bryant, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it! We are definitely way more than paper pushers. It's our gray matter that gets these deals through, not the reams of paper. Thanks for sharing from your vast wealth of knowledge. You are one of the prime examples of what makes it so great here at AR. Happy Labor Day!

Sharon

Great post. Thanks so much for the info.

BB: This is one powerful post loaded with lots of great information. Thanks to you and Wendy for taking the time to put all this together. The short sale series was great !

BB, I see short sales as an evolving element of our business. Either you are shaping it or, it is shaping you. We are signed up at your other site. We have a Litton deal, and can start a group with that one. Thanks! John

Bryant,

I agree with you, every real estate agent in today's market will get engage in a short sale situation whether they like it or not. Agents the market has changed and we need to change with it, so let's get educated about short sale and learn to work around it. I have three active short sale, with Indymac, Aurora loan servicing, Green Tree, Select Portfolio Servicing and SLS. Let me know if you have done a short sale with any of these banks. Thanks

SEP

Great information, thanks for your time and resources.

Great stuff Bryant, thanks for making the forum available to us all. Good work!

Bryant, that is a great group over at Ning. I joined all the groups I have done or in the middle of short sales with. I could go on and on about unqualified agents "trying" to do them.

But, I won't.

You and Wendy are doing a fantastic job.

Thanks ! Invaluable info!

Linda Metallo, Re/max Impact, Lockport, Il.

Good morning all.

A couple of things: The members of ShortSaleSuperStars are the ones who are building the site. I just put up the site and Wendy did most of the heavy lifting with setting up groups. We opened the site so we can all help each other.

Personally my short sale business is just now starting to really take off. I knew I had to learn the process and I knewe I needed to learn it quickly. That's why I asked Wendy to help me put together the Short Sale Agent Training Course.

I used that teaching platform as an oportunity for me to learn. By doing that I was able to spend weeks researching and picking Wendy's brain. From all of that www,ShortSaleSuperStars.com was born.

I also want to let ya'll know that Richard is a friend of mine. He wrote his post and I wrote this post to get you guys thinking. While the two of us have different thoughts about short sales we both agree that these comment threads and posts are how we learn.

OK that's it for now. I have some lenders to call!!!!

Hi Bryant - Thank you for sharing our creation, and inspiring others to join and grow our site. As for agents doing short sales, it is a fine art and takes the most keenly honed skills to do the best job to serve our sellers and the public and to do it right!

Very well organized and good information. Short sales are my life. My team and I find the game changes almost weekly so we are grateful for groups like this to help us stay on top of our game. Working together we all can save time and energy and make more moey too. Thank you!

Bryant, as a leader of a short sale team I agree that it is more than order taking. Yes Countrwide is frustrating and slow, but they are also the people who did a ton of loans that have now gone bad, and they are overloaded. I am frustrated by the number of Realtors trying to do short sales with a throw it up against the wall and see if it sticks mentality. It hard work, and a lot of trainig is needed. I am gload you are doing your part, because we have people in our hands thast we are rescuing. It is not a game or just a commission. It's all about helping an individual or family look forward to the future with hope not back to the past with failure.

Thanks for the info. I'll pass this along to my realtor partners. One of which works exclusively on short sales.

BB,

Share and Grow and as you grow you will prosper.

Bryant,

Just wanted to say that as a member of Short Sale SuperStars I find the site a fantastic resource for Short Sales. There is so much knowledge and support available to you and all for free. Why would you not join!

Bryant - This is great information. I don't list short sales, but my client do buy them, so this is very helpful.

What a great resource you have put together -- our hat is off to you. All the best.

This just proves that you are more than just Moose Meat :) great post

Bryant - thank you for such a great resource...I just joined the Short Sale Superstar site.

Thanks for the great resource!

BB...

Aw, I was just feeling a little down last night. You KNOW that we can say what is on our minds because we are all friends here, and I value and respect your opinion. I apologize for whining!

With that said, this is an amazing site that you set up and a fantastic resource for those involved in short sales or even thinking about doing short sales.

Thanks for putting all of this together, I am thrilled to be a member!

Great...

There's that 666 again. What's with that anyway? :)

TLW...ROAR!

That website looks like a very interesting reference...I will check it out as well as pass it along to my clients. Thanks for sharing!

I have taken classes in short sales, and am a CDPE (Certified Distressed Property Expert). I took the classes out of necessity, but I still HATE working with these. Sorry.

lots of good stuff

BB: Everyone has their own thoughts on the infamous short sale, and apparently you and Richard do not agree. Kudos to you and Wendy for giving those agents who need and want to work their short sales additional support.

My only question is this: how is it that I write wonderful blog posts on short sales and they never get featured? I've only been featured for random stuff like some questions about twitter and stuff like that. I guess you are just more popular and I will have to live with that.

Have a good one!

See? I told you I had a song for it :)

Apparently, I can come up with a song for just about anything :)

TLW...ROAR!

Aaaaaaah......I'm sorry Melissa ;( Just keep at it and keep doing what you do. None of us know what causes the features to fall where they do. Popularity is certainly a big part of it. Some of us have been members for years and have built up a following over a long period of time. It's hard work just like any thing else. Did you go over and join the site yet? You have a lot of experience and your input over there would be greatly appreciated.

Richard, No problem my friend. If you hadn't of written your post I probably would not have written this one. BUT...because you did we have now had 35 new members join www.shortsalesuperstars.com which means more sellers being helped. So it's all good. By the way I had to go look up excoriated (?) or whatever it was. That was way beyond my education grade.

OK folks, if you have already joined the site ..THANKS! If not....why not?

Form fillers and order takers? Well!

Thanks for the post. I just listed 2 multi-family properties as short sales and I definately will join short sale superstars. I mean a guy needs all the help he can get, right?

Great, well written blog. It is now book marked. Thanks.

You'd think "asking" would be common sense. But that's harder to find than interested buyers for my higher end listings!

Learning new things from your posts is not new. Keep up the good work. By the way, I know a <a href="http://www.coachingbypeter.com?a_aid=ron">real estate coach</a> who could also help many in the real estate industry make money despite the current crisis.

SEP

That is some great information and can be used by all Realtor's to learn even if you are not pursuing short sale listings.

Great list of resoucres and site. I will definitely utilize this information in the future.

SEP

What an awesome resource :)

SEP

Now THIS is the kind of post I became a member of AR for! Real information, real assistance, real sharing between members! I'm going to pass the information of the content on to everyone I know too ...

Thanks for the hard work and effort .. and the sharing!

Gene

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