Kevin Best the Sales Manager from Metrolist discusses Short Sales

BrokerIPTV: Today we are talking with Kevin Best, Sales Manager from Metrolist and Kevin welcome, thanks for being with us.

Kevin Best: Thanks it's a pleasure to be here.

BrokerIPTV: Short sales this is obviously a topic that's really kind of come to the forefront particularly in the last two years. There is a variety of issues associated with them, some associated with Metrolist and How You List These correct?

Kevin Best: That is correct.

BrokerIPTV: So I imagine you have had a few discussions about how you handle these around the office?

Kevin Best: We have the rules and regulations committee came up with the suggestion and it was implemented that short sales be identified in the terms field rather than using the public or the broker remarks field, that's one place everybody should be looking for.

BrokerIPTV: So early on though realtors were saying short sale in the public or broker remarks correct?

Kevin Best: That is correct.

BrokerIPTV: And now you are making the change and its going to be in the terms?

Kevin Best: It's actually been that way now for about four months.

BrokerIPTV: Okay.

Kevin Best: We are seeing a slow transition to that but it definitely is the best place to put that information.

BrokerIPTV: Okay how do you disclose, I mean is that the only way to disclose a short sale in the MLS or is there another way that we should be doing it?

Kevin Best: That's the best way of course you could always put in the public or broker remarks, but to be in compliance with the rule it needs to be in the terms field.

BrokerIPTV: Okay now what's the difference when I see short sale and pending short sale approval?

Kevin Best: The short sale just means that it has been approved with the lender that this home is available for short sale. When it switches to the lender status that means that an offer has been submitted to the lender for their review and that's really when that changed needs to take place, is, once something has been sent to the lender.

BrokerIPTV: Okay. What about if you have to update this you know all of a sudden its how should a listing broker update their listing when it's under contract for instance?

Kevin Best: Once there has been a mutually executed contract.

BrokerIPTV: Right.

Kevin Best: The lender has approved it, the home owner, the buyer at that point, that's when you put the property under contract, up until that point it can stay in an active status as long as its identified that it is a short sale and there is an offer pending.

BrokerIPTV: And the other thing I am thinking about here is maybe there are some people out there still today that don't know what a short sale is, so can you give someone a brief description of that?

Kevin Best: Basically what it means is the home owner is going to be selling their property and they have negotiated with the lender that the home will be able to be sold for a lesser value than would pay off the loan, that's kind of the basic idea of it.

BrokerIPTV: Right so I am representing the buyer and we are going out we have already determined that we don't want to get involved with short sales we don't want to look for short sales. When I do my search in the MLS can I eliminate short sales on my search?

Kevin Best: You certainly can there is [indiscernible] logic in Prime Access and, or not where you can actually say not a short sale, not a short sale lending, a lender pending. You can also do those same things in the remarks fields but I would caution you on one thing. When brokers put in remarks there is times where they might say not a short sale. So if you search and say not a short sale it's picking up on those word short sales and ultimately you are actually eliminating the listing that you are looking for.

BrokerIPTV: Or vice versa what if I just want to search for short sales, can I do that?

Kevin Best: You can you would just put that in the remarks fields typically what we talk about is putting in a wild card foreclosure FOREC, short sale, and then maybe lender owned, bank owned and its going to find just the listing that have that specific information in the listing.

BrokerIPTV: Terrific thanks so much for the information I appreciate it.

Kevin Best: Thank you.