How is the family that were forced out of the home doing?

That was the comment left on my blog about a One West and Green Tree short sale I recently completed... by an anonymous user named "congrats" when I woke up this morning. I wanted to delete the comment immediately because it offended me. Instead, I decided the attempt to discredit my efforts as a Certified Distressed Property Expert, was an opportunity to blog about how my sellers are doing after the fact. Contrary to the belief of "congrats", they are typically WAY better than they were... drowning in the debt of a home they can no longer afford.

I am offended because this seller has been a personal friend for 6 years. If you are insinuating that in some way my need to make a living is forcing people out of their home, you are wrong. I marketed for 6 months, negotiated 4 offers, and counseled my client for countless hours to get this to go through. It was so time consuming, I probably made $3.00 an hour. Regardless I continue to take short sale listings,and continue to sell them for one reason... to help people in foreclosure.

Was this easy for her? No. This was the first home she owned and built it brand new...  it was her dream home. She could easily afford when she bought it. Like millions of other people, her business suffered severely when the economy tanked and the $1800/month payment became a major burden. Bankruptcy wasn't an option for her due to a previous filing. She considered (and was leaning towards) just giving the house back. Under that circumstance she would truly be, as you say "forced out of her home" by the bank. Instead, she felt it would ease the guilt of not being able to follow through with her contractual commitment, to opt for a short sale. Not only was she not forced out of her home, she lived there for free for 9 months. She chose to short sale, and thanks me constantly by sending referrals of people in the same predicament.

So how is she doing? GREAT! In fact, we had a lunch date on Friday. Work has picked up, she has moved into a more affordable place. She can now pay her bills on time, and is gradually working her way out of other debt she couldn't pay with a sky high mortgage. I was also able to get her out of the house with no deficiency judgment.... so she never has to worry about the bank coming after her for the balance. She even had the house professionally cleaned for the new owners, and gave them a brand new refrigerator... because she was so happy with her decision to do a short sale.

Now I know that not all agents do business above board and with good intentions, but the majority do.... and I am one of them. I'm not in the short sale niche to make millions... trust me, I don't. It is my small contribution to reversing the beating the housing industry has endured over the last few years. So, I hope that clears up any misconceptions about the purpose of my blog. As much as I want to delete your presumptuous and rude comment, I'm going to leave it and respond with a link to this post.

I make it a personal goal NOT to judge anyone before I know their intentions.... perhaps "congrats" should do the same.