Listing Your Home for Short Sale, Part 2: Choosing Your Listing Agent

If you are reading Part 2 of Listing Your Home for Short Sale, you've probably already spoken to your mortgage holder(s) and have realized that you are QUALIFIED to be a short sale, which I cover in   Listing Your Home for Short Sale, Part 1:  Do You Qualify?  If you haven't covered that step, click the link above and start there.  If you need further explanation of what a short sale is, click this link for the definition of a short sale.

Now it is time to choose your Short Sale listing agent.  This is no small task.  The listing agent will be the guide through the short sale process that keeps the transaction on track and moving toward a successful settlement.  The short sale listing agent will communicate with your mortage holder(s), buyers agent and you on a regular basis.  Anyone can make those phone calls or write those emails.  How do you know who to pick?

Prior experience, and success, with short sale listings is key to the success of your short sale listing.  You want to find a short sale listing agent that doesn't just talk the talk, but walks the walk.  You want to hire a short sale listing agent that not only knows your local market, but also have a proven track record of getting short sale listings to settlement.

Knowledge of the local market is key in pricing the listing, and qualifying incoming offers.  You would be in big trouble if your short sale listing agent knew nothing of the local market and submitted a high offer to the banks that got approved by the mortgage holder(s), but fell through when it came time for the buyers appraisal.  Mortgage holder(s) get their expectations set when they approve a short sale contract.  They are not so quick to go backwards once they have approved their "take" or net proceeds, regardless of the buyer's appraisal, or inability to get a loan.

A short sale listing agent with experience, and a track record of success with short sales, will know the importance of local market knowledge.  That experienced short sale listing agent will also be able to guide the short sale process every step of the way, and manage seller and buyer expectations along the way.   

A quick Google search with the words "approved short sales" and the name of your city or county, will get you started.  Or if you know someone who had success selling their home as a short sale, ask for the name and number of their short sale listing agent.  Once you get on the phone with your potential short sale listing agent, ask the hard questions.

1. How many short sale listings have you SOLD this year?  Some short sale agents have no problem getting short sale approval, but will have problems keeping buyers in the transaction all the way to settlement.
2. What specific elements do you want to see in a short sale offer submitted by a buyer?  A good short sale listing agent will know what time frames they would like to see a buyer committed to in a contract for your best outcome.
3. Ask for proof of the closed short sale listings.  MLS printouts that state a closed short sale are not hard to produce, no matter what a potential listing agent tells you.
4. Have you worked a short sale listing with your specific mortgage holder(s)? Prior knowledge of a particular banks' short sale systems and procedures certainly helps, but is not critical if you have found an agent that has had success with other banks.
5. Do you negotiate your own short sales, or use a professional negotiator?  If they use a professional negotiator, they should be using a licensed real estate agent or lawyer.  There are also additonal charges if they are using a professional negotiator.  Find out what these are up front, and if you are expected to pay them regardless of outcome.  If you are expected to pay up front, this does not speak to a professional confident in gaining a positive result for you.

Finally, a word of caution.  If any potential short sale listing agent tells you that you MUST MISS MORTGAGE PAYMENTS to get your short sale approved, run the other direction.

Next step in this series will we discuss Collecting Financial Information for your mortgage holder.