Some Things Are Not So Bad for Short Sale Listing Agents

A few weeks ago, I read an interesting article on Housing Wire entitled “New Normal Means a Lot More Pain to Come.” The article addresses our existing housing market. An economist for the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis discusses how our “new normal” in housing is marked by 2% to 3% growth rates, more frequent recessions, and decreased consumer spending. The article also states that equity investors who can purchase properties and then rent them out may be the key to cutting our recovery time.

What I liked most about this article was the phrase “new normal.” Our economy has seen both buyers’ markets and sellers’ markets. And, I am constantly running into agents who moan and groan about the current market and wish things would return to “normal.”

What is normal? In Southern California, we must be in the midst of normal. We have been deluged by short sales and foreclosures since the end of 2007 (that’s four years ago) with no end in sight.

Heck, according to an analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics data on unemployment, our national unemployment rate is not expected to return to normal (read: 5%) until 2017. That slow return has gotta impact our real estate market significantly.

So, with all that gloom and doom, what’s a Realtor® to do? There are two options: 1) Get out of the business, or 2) Change the way you do business. I prefer the latter.

If you are not already doing so, you need to strategically plan ways to get in front of people who need to list their homes with you today (right here, right now). Those are people who are probably having trouble making ends meet or may be in danger of imminent default. These borrowers may not qualify for loan modifications, so they might only have a few additional options: short sale (my personal fave), deed-in-lieu, and foreclosure.

Never in my life (and I realize that I look really young) has there been an easier time to become a master listing agent. With so many people who need to sell their homes today, there is a huge opportunity available to take more listings than ever before. Yes, some of them may be short sales. Yes, short sales often take time to close. It’s possible that you do not have tons of experience with short sales. But, with a strong short sale team on your side and lots of listings in your pipeline, I guarantee that the new normal could be good for you (just like chicken soup, but better).

 

Melissa Zavala 
BROKER/REALTOR® ● DRE #01324959

BROADPOINT PROPERTIES, INC. 
760.839.3838

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