A lovely young couple called me last week, they asked if I would be able to show them any short sale properties in the area and proceeded to provide me with their information, pre-approval, etc. Both are working in good jobs but plan on starting a family sometime in the near future and hope to find an affordable home by buying a short sale property. Their long term plan is to get a better than starter home at a starter home price and hopefully stay in it while bringing up a family.
I was delighted to send them several options and also provided them with some information that they would need to be aware of when buying a SS Property. I met with them yesterday and we looked at four properties, one of which we are putting an offer on today.
When we met, they couldn’t wait to tell me that they had called no less than 12 Realtors in the area with exactly the same information as they provided me. Not one of those Realtors was willing or able to provide them with any short sale listings. Several steered them away to other listings in their price range ($500K - $600K) but not one was willing to help them find or show a short sale property. They continued to tell me that they been given many different reasons but most had told them that a short sale takes too long to negotiate and that because most buyers get so put off by the length of the process, they end up walking away from not only the house but the Realtor. They also told me that they were so frustrated that they started to research Realtors in the area on line and found me on Active Rain. That led them to my blog and they saw that I was a CDPE and have written many blogs about the subject of Short Sales and Avoiding Foreclosure. If we are lucky enough to negotiate a deal on the property they hope to make a home, they are fully aware of the time it may take to close. They are also aware it might not go through and are willing to take the chance. So am I. Given that these buyers have all the pre-requisites we need to go forward.
Wow! Who can afford to turn down business in this economy? Well qualified, motivated buyers are like gold-dust to me. A wait longer than the norm that will culminate in a sale one day (even if it’s not this one,) is certainly something I wouldn’t turn down.
Don’t we owe it to our clients to give better service than this? Who said Real Estate was a slam dunk anyway? Is this yet another reason that we aren’t clearing the backlog? What say you??
Comments(3)