Disclaimer: I know that this blog post will give off the impression that I am one of those people who doesn't want to 'get along with the banks'...but in reality, I am just fed up with the lies and have to bring to light what we all know deep down but may not want to admit.
You see, my view on "working with banks" to help us get out of this depreciating market is not the same as most people. A lot of people would like to believe that banks are reaching out to work with agents. The truth is, they need us WAY more than we need them, but they have led so many agents to believe the exact opposite is true.
Most of what I will share is my view on the banks, relating to short sales. Everything they do is for their benefit, not for the borrower (seller).
I understand that most people 'hope' that banks really do want to help people... but we all know that's not the case. They care about one thing; a higher net return from their defaulted loans, whether that come by way of getting the buyer to come up on their offer, the seller to accept a cash contribution or unsecured note, or taking money from agents by way of reducing their commissions.
Can you blame the bank for trying to take as much money as possible from a deal when they are losing so much money? No, but at the same time, how can we be so naive as to believe that ANY bank representative/executive would come to a training for real estate professionals and actually TEACH us anything of value?
Yet, where there are bank executives on 'short sale panels', so many people buy into the lies that are spewed out at these events.
To get my point across, let's play pretend for a moment:
Pretend you are on the football team and you are sitting in the locker room minutes before the game is going to start. Your coach stands up and says, "listen up guys, I called up the opposing team's coach and asked him to come on over and share with us their game plan". Of course, you would initially be shocked and maybe a little excited about this news... but then, less than a second later, reality sets in as your coach goes on to say, "in a minute, the coach from the other team is going to come in and tell us exactly what kind of offense and defense they plan on using in today's game and what we can do to take advantage of their weaknesses, because their coach really wants to work with us so that we can both win". By now, you are rolling your eyes as you think to yourself, "no coach in his right mind would ever tell us, the opposing team, anything of any real value to give us the advantage... if anything, the other team's coach will come and give us BAD information so that THEY have the advantage over us".
Now, next time you hear about a 'training' or event where they have 'bank representatives' from Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America ...don't expect anything of value to come out of their mouths, but be prepared for them to tell you 1) to follow their process for doing short sales and 2) that they are working on making things easier for you and the borrower. It's always the same story.
Unless they start telling you how to get your full commission, how to protect your seller from having to pay a cash contribution, accept an unsecured note or remain liable for the deficiency balance, you can instead take a nap and come away more of a short sale 'expert'.
I honestly wouldn't expect them to tell me anything of value as their job is not to train agents, but to get as much money as possible from every file and that is easier to do if we remain ignorant.
Unless you are hearing from a 'disgruntled' or former employee who is not afraid to stand up and tell you what the banks are really doing and how to really get around their games, most of what you will hear is misinformation.
Trent Chapman
P.S.- Click below to learn how to overcome the 7 major obstacles with short sales.
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