They will –IF- they want to sell their home!

Often times abandoned short sales are "out of sight, out of mind" to the borrowers.  I have closed transactions where the ONLY parties who cared whether the short sale closed or it foreclosed were the agents and the buyers.

If the sellers have given power of attorney to the lister and moved away it is usually a pretty good sign that the seller doesn't care whether the house burns down, floats away, is struck by a meteor, sells or forecloses.  They have already experienced their disaster and what's left is up to the agents and the buyers.

In the case I mentioned my buyers spent $5K removing unpermitted improvements and getting it reinspected by the county so the underwriting could go forward. They still got a great deal. 

It is always about people..I don't care what the subject is. Too often we get distracted or go on tangents...People people everywhere...they come first and they always did...thank you Wanda...

Wanda -

Obviously the buyers agent needs to educate him/herself and her clients about how short sales operate.  I can almost understand her remarks with a non-distressed seller thats been on the market for a while.  But not here.  I try to educate my buyers on all the issues with short sales.  If we are writing an offer on a short sale, it is going to be a great deal for the buyer, and they need to endure a few extra hassles in order to get that deal.  In my market, short sales most often represent the best combination of condition+price.

Hi Wanda,  Excellent post as a reminder to us all that behind every distressed sale is a family whose dreams are in the toilet and whose life is spinning out of control.  Tell that #@#%@ to get a life !

Some agents and buyers just don't understand what they are getting in these situations, as well as the heartbreak behind it.

Typical case of speaking before thinking. Hope a lesson was learned.

It is annoying that the agent always has to come up with these payments. But to finally get it closed .. it might be worth it. Sometimes you have to pick your battles.

Wanda, you are the kind of agent that every client wants to work with.  I had an agent told me the same comment on my short sale, not on utilities, but on the terms and price.  I almost wanted to say something to him. lol 

Wanda, this agent must have also been in Colorado last month.  Same situation, out of state broke seller and the buyer wont cover the cost to turn on the utilities.  Unfortunately in this case the listing agent was stubborn and wouldn't either...so we did.  And in the end it was very minimal as the utility company does a 4 hour turn on for inspections....  You are right sometimes there are certain things that are more important than money, especially less than $100.

The worm will turn and what comes around goes around.  Be thankful that when you look in the mirror, you like what you see as a reflection of your soull, the opposing realtor discussed above cannot.

Wanda, here let me say it for you, WHAT A JERK, I hope they get all they deserve...